The euro-files

Adam McAleavey looks at the aspects of the German response to the challenges of sustainable development through integrated public transport systemsusing Dortmund as a case study.

Dortmund: A Blueprint for Sustainable Public Transport Development?

Sustainability has been, and will undoubtedly remain, the key word in planning and city st development for the 21 Century. The most commonly cited definition of sustainable development is that which is found within the Brundtland Report, development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs1. According to Ott (2003)2, the ideology of sustainability, and that of sustainable development, encompasses three main aspects: environmental, social and economic It is widely . believed that the outcome of successful sustainable development will result in an improved quality of life and well being of inhabitants and the environment. In few other parts of the world is there as much interest in sustainability as in Europe, and as much tangible evidence of applying sustainable development concepts toits cities and urban environments3. Dortmund is now widely known across Europe for its approach in utilising brownfield land in improving the economic potential of the city and thus strengthening the economic structure of the wider Ruhr region through the ever growing information technology market. This rebranding and regeneration of the city from a polluted and heavily industry reliant area to a sustainable, business and technology led city can be best displayed through the current Phoenix Project. The project is a stellar example of sustainable development that looks to improve the urban environment; the quality of life of its inhabitants; promote entrepreneurial activities and a start-up culture 4 all of which is supported by the state and funded in part by the EU through partnerships and funding mechanisms. Despite the clear economical improvements of the Dortmund city region, the city is also known as Westphalia's green metropolis with nearly half of the municipal territory consisting of waterways, woodland, agriculture, and green spaces with notable parks such as Westfalenpark and the Romberg Parko; many of the streets and buildings are lined with trees or shrubbery/planting, making green connections between open space systems and ensuring that local people are never far away from wedges of green areas. This environmentally sustainable approach to the regeneration of the city is most impressive when you take into account Dortmunds integrated public transport system. In a time when many cities throughout Europe are working hard to expand and enhance public transit in the face of rising personal vehicle use, Dortmund has followed guidance and advice on a national and European level to ensure public city transit modes are integrated to an admirable degree. There has been a clear attempt to coordinate investments and routes so that transit modes complement each other3. For example, much like the Dutch cities of Arnhem and Amsterdam, regional and national train systems are fully integrated within local routes/networks, and the opportunity to shift from one mode of public transport to another is facilitated.

Adam McAleavey Above Bicycle parking outside of Dortmund Hauptbahnhof station facilitating a shift in sustainable transport modes.

On a European scale, Dortmunds transport infrastructure provides regional, national and international connections through various transport systems in and around the city. Like many other cities of its stature, unsurprisingly, Dortmunds ever growing airport is a key gateway to other hubs of Europe improving the number of tourists coming in and out of the city. The city is also the location of the largest canal harbour in Europe, offering the Ruhr regions businesses the opportunity to a direct connection to the sea motorway of Europe. Dortmund also hold one of Germanys most important railway stations with approximately 150,000 passengers passing through its central station every day to reach other

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cities in Germany and Europe. It should also be noted that Dortmund has one of the fastest and largest motorway networks in Europe, with seven regional and subregional routes meeting within the region and allowing residents to reach the rest of Europe with ease by car. However, despite these clear international transport assets, it is the cities local approach to sustainable transport that is most impressive.
Adam McAleavey

dependence, national German policy has led to a widespread success across the country in creating sustainable integrated public transport networks. According to Bauerman & Burdick (2006)6,the concept of sustainable development in Germany was established late on in public discourse; it was also relatively late in arriving both on the political agenda and in scientific discussion; however, it is arguable that Germany was one of the first countries to pioneer the fight against automobile dependence with traf ic f calming being implemented in the 1980s on through roads and other busy areas in cities such as Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin and Dortmund in an attempt to slow down traffic, and deter people from using cars so that the street environment was safer for pedestrians and cyclists (traffic calming actually stems from the German word verkehrsberuhigung) 5. There are five categories of German government policies that have been particularly important in facilitating the development of Dortmunds sustainable integrated transport system7: 1. Taxes and restrictions on car use have helped to reduce the number of people choosing to use a car and thus mitigating its harmful impacts. The German government have made a distinctive effort to make driving a car more difficult and more expensive across the country, with a strong policy of annual increases in petrol and vehicle tax in the past 20 years7. These increased taxes on vehicle ownership have in turn been used to cover a massive percentage of the governments spending on road and transport infrastructure from 92% in 1975 to 259% in 20068.
Adam McAleavey

Above Dortmunds extensive motorway and rail network has helped to establish the Ruhr region as an economic hub for Germany and a central European crossroad.

As more and more experts place transportation at the centre of the urban sustainability challenge, it is unsurprising that a rapidly developing city such as Dortmund should display some characteristics within its urban form that are highlighted by Newman & Kenworthy (1999) 5 as key in overcoming automobile dependence:
y

Traffic calming to slow auto traffic and create more urban humane environments better suited to other transportation modes. Improved transit, bicycling, and walking to provide genuine options to the car. Improved land use, especially urban villages that can create multimodal centres with mixed, dense land use that reduce the need to travel. Growth management to prevent sprawl and redirect development into urban villages. Economic incentives such as taxing transportation better.

Above In central Dortmund, roads have been closed & pedestrianised in this case what was once a dual carriageway is now a childrens play area.

While a city such as Dortmund may impress a UK native with its clear attempts at overcoming automobile

Many German cities have structured the layout of their roads to restrict car travel within the urban centre, this is notable in Dortmund where there is a combination of one-way streets, restricted access to roads at certain times of day and the use of deliberate dead ends in one case, a

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former road had been closed off, pedestrianised, and converted into a childrens play area. Such car-free zones are common practice in Dortmund with strong emphasis on the pedestrian and cyclist with a number of paved squares setting the scene of liveable spaces that offer a dynamic mix of cultural, economic and social functions. The excellent public realm of the city is a knock on effect of its stellar attempt to reduce automobile dependence, improving the permeability of the city to pedestrians while making it difficult for cars to get from one side of the city centre to another 9. 2. The provision of high-quality, attractively priced and well-coordinated public transport services offer an alternative to the car within the city. German public transport vehicles are generally quite new, increasing reliability of service to the public, creating a more comfortable journey, and reducing maintenance costs that are notorious with older public transport vehicles. Many of the buses and trams in Dortmund are articulated, while the trains and underground train carriages also have the capability of carrying more passengers throughout the day while requiring fewer drivers per passenger. It is also possible for the public to buy one simple ticket that allows them to travel on all modes of transport over a certain period of time, whether it be on the trams, the buses, the U-Bahn or the suspension railway to the University (H-Bahn).
Adam McAleavey

German public transport has found success due to its multi-modal coordination of its services, fares and schedules - you can quite easily switch from a U-bahn carriage in Dortmund and catch a bus within a few 100 yards to your next destination. This coordination stems from the creation of regional public transport organisations (Verkehrsverbuende) across Germany that have made it their aim to expand and improve public transport services while making it seamless for the public to transfer between different types of transport, different routes, and different operators7. The public transport network of Dortmund also successfully integrates walking and cycling services within its U-Bahn stations, railway stations and bus stops by providing bike parking facilities and making car-free zones at the entrance of each station, essentially pedestrianising the immediate area. Probably the best example of Dortmund providing high quality and well coordinated public transport is the H-Bahn monorail that services the University of Dortmund. This automatically controlled suspended monorail system was first opened in 1984, and is perfectly integrated within the public transport networks of the city of Dortmund as its time table is coordinated with the urban railway of the city. It serves over 5,000 passengers a day, running over approximately 1.9 miles of track that run from Monday to Friday and connects the two university campuses with the district of Eichlinghofen where the science park is lo cated 10. 3. Infrastructure has been improved for those that choose to walk or cycle. Since the 1970s, German cities have been encouraged by national policy to improve the transport infrastructure used by pedestrians and cyclists11. As already mentioned, Dortmund has displayed clear attempts of pedestrianisation with many carfree zones and public squares dotted across the city centre, along with well-lit side paths on all streets, and typical zebra crossings and crossing traffic signals. Cycle paths across the city are commendable and are well integrated within the surrounding transport network. Whether the cycle path is alongside the pedestrian walkway or on the road with automobiles, there is always a clear and distinguished designated path for cyclists and this also includes specialist traffic signalsat junctions. In an attempt to further encourage people to cycle to work, the Metroradruhr bike programme has been put in place and works in a similar way to the Mayor of Londons rent-a-bike scheme. Those that want to rent a bike can take one from one of the designated bike stations, and then call the rental number which will then charge the user 1 Euro an hour for use of the bike (or 8 Euros for 24 hours).

Above The H-Bahn successfully (and sustainably) links the University campus to the city centre and Dortmunds technology park.

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Adam McAleavey

inner city boundaries for which further development can grow from within the urban core. This will combat decentralisation and ensure that the integrated public transport network remains integral to the sustainable development of the city. 5. All of the policies have been coordinated to ensure they provide a mutually reinforcing impact. It is recognised that it is essentially impossible to restrict car use unless there are high quality alternatives available, while on the other hand, sustainable transport will not be used unless the use of a car is made more expensive and restricted further. Any policy that places shackles over the use of a car must work in tandem with policies that encourage the highest quality of public transport service and the best facilities for pedestrians and cyclists. In Dortmund, measures to restrict car use have been employed but it is unlikely the car will ever be completely eradicated and thus it is the infrastructure for walking, cycling and public transport that is most impressive. Planning for an integrated sustainable public transport network should be at the forefront of all European cities sustainable development agenda and not the afterthought it has perceived to be in the past. The range of transport options available to the local people of Dortmund may be viewed by some as a luxury - it should instead act as a blueprint for other European cities to successfully develop their integrated public transport networks in the future.
Adam McAleavey is an MPLAN candidate at the School of Environmental Sciences; University of Liverpool. The views expressed here are personal.

Above One of the many Metroradruhr bicycle hubs in central Dortmund where bicycles can be rented for a cheap hourly rate.

4. Urban development policies and land use planning has encouraged compact, mixed -use development, making trips across the city short enough to walk or cycle. Although decentralisation is a common theme within the st majority of Western cities in the 21 Century, cities such as Dortmund are attempting to create a greater mix of land uses and increase population densities which will lead to shorter trips across the city and improve the chance of people walking or cycling an increased population density will also improve the economical success of other modes of public transport as it will generate higher volumes of passengers.
Adam McAleavey

Notes

1. United Nations Commission on the Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future, Oxford: Oxford University Press (The Brundtland Report) 2. Ott, K. (2003) The Case for Strong Sustainability In: Ott, K. & Thapa, P. (2003) Greifswalds Environmental Ethic, Greifswald: Steinbecker Verlag Ulrich Rose
Above A high volume of passengers using Dortmunds integrated transport network pedestrians & cyclists with the famous U Tower in the background a key landmark of the , city centre.

3. Beatley, T., (2003), Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities, Island Press 4. Herrmann, S. (2011) Technologie Zentrum Dortmund Speaker Series Dortmund. 5. P.Newman & J.Kenworthy, (1999), Traffic Calming from Sustainable Cities, Routledge, New York 6. C, Bauerman & B, Burdick, (2006), German Response to the Sustainability Transition, Earthscan, London

German policy enforces that new development is limited to areas immediately adjacent to already built-up areas, avoiding urban sprawl and reducing the effectiveness of inner city sustainable transport12. An example of this is the local councils initiative to develop landmarks/skyscrapers to mark key gateways and

Town & Country Planning May 2011

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