Actividades de coordinación y toma de decisiones

Building culture ("Baukultur") is currently a key focus in Germany, as evidenced in the govern- ment’s establishment of the Federal Foundation for Building Culture in Potsdam at the end of 2006. Building culture is understood as comprising both construction in and of itself as well as the treatment of the constructed environment (buildings and open spaces) and has a significant effect on residents’ living conditions. Changing conditions in the city, e.g. a shrinking population or the difficult financial situation of public budgets, gives building culture new meaning and new dimen- sions (such as the culture of demolition).

Cities are identity-defining spaces, places for community life and the production of culture. An ur- ban identity and attractive public spaces can above all develop where the urban environment ca- ters to the residents and their needs. This requires preserving historic monuments in a way that cleverly combines the pre-existing building fabric and architectural heritage with contemporary re- quirements and structural solutions. But there is also an imperative for urban development to re-

78 Ibid.: Der Spitzencluster-Wettbewerb. http://www.bmbf.de/_search/searchresult.php?URL=http%3A%2F%2F¬ www.bmbf.de%2Fde%2F10726.php&QUERY=spitzencluster (27/05/09).

79 Cf. Gisela Philipsenburg: Clusterförderung im Rahmen der Hightech-Strategie für Deutschland, in: Holger Floeting (ed.): Cluster in der kommunalen und regionalen Wirtschaftspolitik. Vom Marketingbegriff zum Prozessmanagement, Berlin 2008, p. 149-62.

tain and preserve ensembles of architectural significance, urban cultural landscapes and typical regional architecture in order to protect its existing identity.

Sustainable urban development is based on realizing projects, initiatives and programmes in a comprehensive manner, ensuring consistently high quality in terms of design and procedure. Con- sequently, building culture concerns not only planners, architects and engineers, but also politi- cians, developers and citizens. These diverse stakeholders must work together in order to be able to engage in the joint community effort required to initiate and maintain building culture in cities, their open spaces, squares, parks and gardens, and above all in private and public buildings. Sustainable urban development also encompasses private and public green areas. These consti- tute an important location advantage for a city and enhance the quality of life considerably, thus assuming ecological, economic, sanitary and social importance. Intercultural gardens are a rela- tively new facet of urban green areas. They are mostly created by refugees, migrants and German families, and combine autonomous integrative practice with an interest in ecological issues.

3.4.1 Legal instruments

The main legal instrument with respect to "building culture" is the German Building Code (BauGB). With its general municipal planning provisions, it constitutes the legal basis for preparatory and binding development plans, exerting a strong influence upon land use and urban planning aspects of urban development policies. Urban planning remediation and development measures are gov- erned by special urban planning legislation (Chapter II). This constitutes the legal framework for activities within the context of urban renewal, the so-called "Socially Integrative City" and urban landmark preservation, involving key areas of urban development policy in recent years.

The regulations based on the Federal Land Utilization Ordinance governing the type and degree of building utilization constitute an essential requirement for protecting and refining European cities with their mixed, multi-faceted and spatially diverse architectural structures and for fostering popu- lated inner cities that are not only work and business locations, but residential areas and living spaces at the same time. It is this inner- city development in particular that is essential to the fur- ther development of European cities in terms of sustainability. Consequently, urban development support interfaces simultaneously with practically all of the National Urban Development Policy’s priorities: building culture, the innovative city, creating opportunities, but also aspects of the civil society and climate protection.

In addition to legislation on building and historic monument preservation, there are other regulations that influence the development of building culture as an aspect of sustainable ur- ban development policy. The German Income Tax Act provides considerable incentives and assis- tance for financing construction measures and therefore exerts a significant influence on urban development. For instance, it provides tax relief for expenditure on heritage listed buildings that are to be used as owner-occupied dwellings80 or are leased for residential purposes,81 _{thus pro-}

moting housing construction. In addition, it also includes greater tax deductibility for the manufac- turing costs for modernization and maintenance measures in a formally specified redevelopment area or urban development zone for both owner-occupied residences,82 _{as well as for leased}

dwellings.83 _{It therefore provides special support for maintaining, renewing and using buildings}

that are worthy of protection due to their historic, artistic or urban planning significance in a func- tionally appropriate manner, thus promoting building culture in cities. The volume of funding pro- vided as tax relief alone for owners to maintain and utilize historic buildings of cultural interest or architectural monuments themselves (§ 10f EStG) amounts to between 16 and 17 million euros

80 § 10f EStG. 81 § 7i EStG. 82 § 10f EStG. 83 § 7 h EStG.

annually (42.5% from the federal government, i.e. seven million euros).84 _{The higher rate of tax}

deductibility for buildings in redevelopment areas and urban development zones (§ 7h EStG) re- sults in a total funding volume of around 40 million euros annually (42.5% from the federal gov- ernment, i.e. 17 million euros).85 _{The tax incentive provisions have proven to be successful in re-}

development areas and are contributing to the preservation and renewal of urban districts that have evolved historically, especially in eastern Germany.86

3.4.2 Financial instruments

The greatest active impact on the building culture field as found within the framework of the Na- tional Urban Development Policy comes from those programmes explicitly involved with urban de- velopment support, urban renewal and the conservation of historic buildings which fall within the scope of BMVBS responsibility.

These include for instance the urban rehabilitation and development measures, Conservation of

historic buildings – East and West, Urban Renewal – East and West, and the Active District and Neighbourhood Centres programmes.

The federal government has been supporting programmes for urban rehabilitation and develop-

ment measures for decades with a consistently high level of funding.87 _{The relevant programme is}

the basic programme for urban development assistance. This is designed to support the preserva- tion and modernization of buildings and improve the residential environment in cities and munici- palities. An urgent priority is the revitalization of inner cities and their surrounding neighbourhood centres.88 _{A total of around 3,800 initiatives in around 200 municipalities have been funded since}

1971. This programme has a significant ongoing impact on the urban planning and building culture of cities, towns and municipalities, not least due to its broad spatial distribution across a wide range of variously sized municipalities. Furthermore, urban development funding is linked to nu- merous effects on business and labour markets in the cities, generating various multiplier ef- fects.89 _{Federal and Länder urban development support stimulates public and private construction}

investments. Consequently, one euro of federal and Länder urban development support is com- bined with an estimated 1.60 euros of other public funds in redevelopment areas; each euro of these combined public urban development funds then stimulates 6.40 euros of private investment. The volume of construction stimulated by these private and public investments then amounts to well over eight times the urban development funds invested in the redevelopment areas.90

The federal/Länder Protection of the Urban Architectural Heritage programme91 _{aims to preserve}

entire city centres of historic cultural interest with a rich architectural heritage, transforming them into vibrant residential, work, cultural and recreational areas. Since 1991, 178 cities in eastern Germany have received funding totalling 1.65 billion euros through the programme. All projects are assisted by a team of "Protection of the Urban Architectural Heritage" experts. Numerous redevel-

84 Federal Ministry of Finance: twenty-first federal subsidy report. Bericht der Bundesregierung über die Entwicklung der Finanzhilfen des Bundes und der Steuervergünstigungen für die Jahre 2005 – 2008, Berlin 2007, specifically: Annex 9, p. 275.

85 Federal Ministry of Finance: loc. cit., specifically p. 272.

86 Federal Ministry of Finance: loc. cit., specifically: Annex 9, p. 275.

87 Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs: Programme der Städtebauförderung, Berlin 2008.

88 Urban development and redevelopment measures, http://www.nationale-

stadtentwicklungspolitik.de/cln_016/nn_246694/sid_D026A540E6D78CED819C4D58D3BED8C9/

nsc_true/EN/Programmes/UrbanDevelopmentAndRedevelopmentMeasures/UrbanDevelopmentAndRedevelopmentM easures.html?__nnn=true.

89 Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (ed.): Stadtentwicklungsbericht 2008, loc. cit., p. 61. 90 Blume, L. et al.: Stellungnahme zur DIW-Expertise, über die Anstoßwirkungen öffentlicher Mittel in der Städtebauför-

derung aus dem Jahr 1995, Kurzexpertise im Auftrag des Bundesamtes für Bauwesen und Raumordnung, Berlin, Ju- ne 2004, p. 24.

91 Federal Centre for Knowledge Transfer for the Protection of the Urban Architectural Heritage , Protection of the Urban Architectural Heritage programme (in German), http://www.staedtebaulicher-denkmalschutz.de/programm/das- programm/index.php (07/06/09).

oped historic town and city centres make clear the significance of the programme in terms of build- ing culture. In addition, the programme has major positive economic benefits, as evidenced by the creation of jobs in the building trades as well as the tourism industry. Because of its success, the programme was expanded to include the former West German states (Protection of the Urban Ar-

chitectural Heritage programme in the Old Federal States) in 2009.

With the joint federal/Länder “Urban Restructuring in the New Federal States” programme, the federal government was responding to demographic developments and their structural ramifica- tions in eastern Germany. At the beginning of this millennium more than 1.1 million dwellings in eastern Germany were unoccupied. With the Urban Restructuring programme, the federal gov- ernment and Länder provided funding worth a total of 2.5 billion euros from 2002 to 2009. This was used not only to demolish excess dwellings with the aim of stabilizing the eastern German housing market, but also to demolish social and technical infrastructure and upgrade urban neighbourhoods. Almost 200,000 dwellings were demolished using Urban Restructuring funds in a total of 390 towns and cities by the end of 2007. This meant that the vacancy rate fell in eastern Germany from 16 to 14.6%. It was possible to reduce the number of vacant dwellings through measures funded by the programme. This resulted in towns and cities being reinvigorated as resi- dential areas, at least in comparison with surrounding areas and with the situation at the com- mencement of the programme. The programme has assisted in utilizing opportunities to improve the quality of life in towns and cities and to revitalize inner cities by "demolition from outside in".92

Since 2004, the Urban Restructuring in the Old Federal States programme93 _{has also been estab-}

lished in the old federal states to help municipalities deal with the consequences of economic and demographic change. This means that investment for upgrading and demolition enjoys equal status.

In recent years the development of towns and cities in the new Länder has largely been influenced by the provisions related to the Accumulated Debt Assistance Act. The act aims to provide relief to the housing industry, thereby contributing to an improvement in the residential situation in eastern German towns and cities. Capping existing accumulated debts is intended to unburden the future development of housing stock. Accumulated debt relief was provided on condition that residential stock be privatized to tenants and members of housing cooperatives. This proved to be difficult in practice, so other forms of privatization have also been approved since the mid-1990s (interim ac- quisition, founding of housing cooperatives). Consequently, the Accumulated Debt Assistance Act greatly enhanced the efficacy of urban development programmes in eastern Germany (Urban Re- structuring in the New Federal States). For example, it has been possible to include housing cor- porations badly affected by the problem of vacant dwellings in demolition processes, which in turn play a vital role in the transformation of urban areas in eastern Germany.

The socio-economic transformation in towns and cities is demonstrated spatially by a rise in inner- city commercial real estate vacancies. The BMVBS “Active District and Neighbourhood Centres”

programme is designed to preserve and develop inner cities and central neighbourhood areas not

only as business areas, but also as places where people live, work and engage in cultural activi- ties.94 _{In 2008, federal funding totalling 40 million euros was made available through the pro-}

gramme95 _{for the upgrading of public spaces, reparation and modernization of buildings that}

shape the urban landscape, building and urban planning initiatives for re-utilizing land and city management projects.96 _{The publicly funded municipal planning measures have a direct impact on}

development in terms of the building culture. In addition, the programme also contributes to the creation of functional inner-city economic structures and therefore to innovative towns and cities.

92 Cf. Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, Federal Construction and Regional Planning Agency (ed.): Evaluierung des Bund-Länderprogramms Stadtumbau Ost, Berlin 2008.

93 Federal Centre for Knowledge Transfer Urban Restructuring in the Old Federal States, Forum GmbH: Stadtumbau West, http://www.stadtumbauwest.de/ (07/06/09).

94 Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs: Aktive Stadt- und Ortsteilzentren (Innenentwicklung), http://www.bmvbs.de/Stadtentwicklung_Wohnen/Stadtentwicklung/Programme-,1548.1025207/Aktive-Stadt-und- Ortsteilzentr.htm (07/06/09).

95 Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (ed.): Stadtentwicklungsbericht 2008, loc. cit., p. 73. 96 Verwaltungsvereinbarung 2008, p. 25.

But funding programmes administered by the KfW (Reconstruction Loan Corporation) also have an impact on urban construction activity and can contribute indirectly to building culture. The KfW is a government-owned credit institute that funds building at municipal (e.g. construction infrastruc- ture) and private (e.g. home ownership) level. Consequently, the municipal KfW loans in place until the end of 2008 supported not only funding for investments in municipal grid-based infrastructure or transport infrastructure, but also specifically measures involving the maintenance of culture, city, town and village development and tourism infrastructure. In 2008, global loans amounting to one billion euros were utilized within the framework of the programme, with almost 1,500 projects esti- mated to have received funding.97

Private residential building construction is funded through the KfW Home Ownership Programme. Loans are issued for building or buying owner-occupied houses or apartments.98 _{In 2008, an esti-}

mated 90,000 loans totalling around 4.6 billion euros were issued within the framework of the pro- gramme.99 _{In addition to general funding for home ownership, the programme also aims to create}

individual housing models and to reduce the number of vacant dwellings and spaces between buildings, thus contributing to efficient urban development. In light of sustainable urban develop- ment objectives, the programme may lead to some undesirable suburbanization effects, however. The BMVBS KfW Housing Modernization programme, which was discontinued at the end of 2008, was also managed by the KfW and supported the modernization and maintenance of residential buildings. The loans funded building activities to improve the utility value (e.g. dwelling layout, plumbing installation, water supply) and the general living conditions (e.g. addition and extension of balconies/loggias, installation of lifts), to carry out repairs and to rectify structural deficiencies through repair and renovation (e.g. windows, floors), as well as to improve the external facilities for multi-family dwellings (e.g. creating garden areas or other building-related external facilities) and constructing playgrounds. These activities have an impact on building culture in broad terms. The National Urban Development Policy also addressed other priorities. For instance, new opportuni- ties for elderly and disabled citizens were created through the programme, with funding for rede- velopment catering to the needs of the aged and disabled (including barrier-free living). The pro- gramme contributed to climate protection by issuing loans to fund the renewal of heating technol- ogy for example. In 2008, loans amounting to approximately 2.2 billion euros were approved under the programme, equating to an estimated figure of more than 41,000 applications.

The Housing Modernization ECO-PLUS programme, also phased out at the end of 2008, provided loans to the value of around one billion euros, distributed over approximately 43,000 applications. This programme assisted in thermally insulating the outer shells of buildings and upgrading heat- ing technology based on renewable energy sources, combined heat and power systems and dis- trict heating, i.e. climate protection objectives.100 These can have both a positive and a negative impact on building culture in the broadest terms, as changes to the outer shell of a building can lead to significant design modifications.

3.4.3 Research-based instruments

Research-based instruments for improving the design of towns and cities in terms of building cul- ture fall primarily within the jurisdiction of the BMVBS. These include the accompanying research project into urban development funding and research activities conducted within the scope of the

Experimental Housing and Urban Development project.101

97 KfW Banking Group: KfW Förderstatistik. http://www.kfw.de/DE_Home/Die_Bank/Unser_Unternehmen/¬ Zahlen_und_Fakten/KfW-Foerderstatistik.pdf (29/05/09).

98 KfW Banking Group: KfW-Wohneigentumsprogramm. http://www.kfw-foerderbank.de/DE_Home/Service/KfW- Formul26/Merkblaetter/Bauen_Wohnen_Energie_sparen/KfW-Wohneigentumsprogramm.jsp (29/05/09).

99 KfW Banking Group: KfW funding statistics, loc. cit. 100 KfW Banking Group: KfW funding statistics, loc. cit.

3.4.4 Informational instruments

Informational instruments promoting building culture also fall within the scope of responsibility of the BMVBS. This includes the Federal Foundation for Building Culture, the successor to the BMVBS Architecture and Building Culture Initiative. As an independent institution it aims to provide advice on all building culture issues, increase the level of publicity for good planning and building and support the exchange of information in this area. As an informational instrument, the Building Culture Report provides information on the current building culture situation in Germany.

The BMVBS competition Stadt bauen. Stadt leben (Building a city. Living a city) awards prizes to projects and methods that contribute to sustainable urban and regional development reflecting the "European city" objectives as defined in the Leipzig Charter.102 _{The competition, which reflects the}

areas covered by the National Urban Development Policy, honours contributions to building culture as well as contributions in the categories "creating opportunities", "civil society" and "climate pro- tection".

In smaller municipalities, BMELV activities such as the federal Unser Dorf hat Zukunft (Our village

has a future) competition103 play a role in the development of building culture.

3.4.5 Conclusion

In terms of building culture, it is the BMVBS (or the BMELV in smaller municipalities) which is re- sponsible for the instruments that provide incentives for sustainable urban development. Funding from other programmes aimed at improving urban design and promoting building culture is only in- direct. It would appear that it is only partially possible to influence these programmes in a targeted fashion to help achieve building culture objectives. Nevertheless, aspects of building culture should be formulated at the time of programme design.