Suchergebnisse

On 10 June 2011, the district council of Ahrweiler in the north of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany took the decision to meet 100% of the district's electricity needs through renewable energy by 2030. Yet the share of renewable energy in the district's overall electricity consumption has barely grown since then. This major discrepancy between political will and reality gave rise to a local research project entitled 'EnAHRgie - Nachhaltige Gestaltung der Landnutzung und Energieversorgung auf kommunaler Ebene. Umsetzung für die Modellregion Kreis Ahrweiler' ('EnAHRgie - the sustainable organisation of land use and energy supply at the municipal level: implementation in the model district of Ahrweiler'), funded by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research). At TU Dortmund University, the Department of Planning and Environmental Law of the Faculty of Spatial Planning is responsible for questions relating to planning law and public administration in the context of the project. With these issues in mind, an analysis of the status quo was completed in September 2016 and showed that, from a planning point of view, the prevailing circumstances for a local energy transition in the district of Ahrweiler have been extremely unfavourable right from the start. This applies in particular to the use of wind power, which conflicts with issues surrounding the conservation of sites, species, cultural landscapes and historic buildings and monuments. The EnAHRgie project is thus likely to face a major challenge in terms of developing a sustainable energy strategy for the area under study.

The long lasting unsolved spatial problems and the lack of a sustainable integrated transport system in Greece indicate the insufficiency of the formal planning procedures. For such complex problems, the complementary use of informal processes, like the test planning process, is especially useful. In 2015, at the initiative of ETH Zurich, three European universities (ETH Zurich, University of Patras, and National Technical University of Athens) collaborated on the pilot implementation of the test planning process revolving around the issue of the railway and spatial development in Patras, the third largest city on the Peloponnese. Such an attempt to use informal planning methods in the rather conventional milieu of Patras was directed towards creating a new planning culture in Greece. Furthermore, such a European project that enhances international cooperation and the transfer of know-how finally leads to the strengthening of European cohesion, a vital goal of any international project.

This chapter describes the process by which a cross-border metropolitan region develops, using the example of the Greater Region. Between 2008 and 2010 the idea of a cross-border, polycentric metropolitan region in the Greater Region was investigated and further developed within the ESPON project 'Metroborder'. In recent years, driven by policy declarations, strategic approaches for implementing this metropolitan region have been developed. A Spatial Development Strategy of the Greater Region with a focus on the metropolitan dimensions of the sub-regions provides the foundation for this. The issue of governance in relation to the crossborder interactional area (in the narrower conception of this area) is also discussed.

In recent decades the challenges of globalisation, European integration and strengthened regionalisation have led to a reassessment of metropolitan regions. In Germany, the guiding principles issued by the Conference of Ministers for Spatial Planning in 2006 provided an occasion on which to rethink the role of border regions in the context of the discourse on metropolises. The metropolitan potential of border regions is far from fully exploited. This is particularly true in relation to cross-border spatial development. The concept of metropolitan border regions could be a promising way of intensifying cross-border cooperation and territorial integration. A precondition for this is that metropolisation strategies are proactively pursued using key measures and that existing structures of cooperation are further developed towards 'metropolitan' governance.

The paper provides an overview of the most important technical requirements for railway infrastructure as regulated by the standards proposed by the European Union. More precisely, the paper gives an insight into the following Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) requirements: track gauge, axle load, train length, electrification and speed. In addition, each parameter is illustrated by a practical case where appropriate.

The institutionalisation of border regions has a long history. Initial forms of cooperation usually emerged in relation to a specific event. The 1970s were decisive for the emergence of cross-border organisations in both the Greater Region and the Upper Rhine region. Over the decades the structures were consolidated, although regionally specific adaptations and developments continue both on a conceptual and practical level. The European INTERREG A programme has played a significant role in improving cross-border cooperation, and INTERREG continues to be an important factor in the implementation of cross-border projects. Efforts to further develop the institutional framework and cooperation structures in recent years demonstrate that there are still many challenges but also unexploited potential in the Greater Region and the Upper Rhine region.