Abstract
Sustainable rural development in Germany was examined by linking conceptual and applied aspects of the land and housing question, broadly considering the ownership, use, and regulation of land. In the state of Bavaria, a new interagency initiative aims to curb land consumption by persuading villagers to embrace rural infill development. The study explored the background debate leading up to the Space-saving Offensive (Flächensparoffensive), the resource providers involved, and the options for funding actual rural infill building and renovation projects. Here, space-saving managers and other resource providers actively promote the positive societal meaning of central infill sites in contrast to unsustainable land consumption. In addition to the communications campaign, planning, regulatory, and funding interventions round out the multi-level initiative, as described in this study. A modern barn reuse exemplifies the Bavarian bundle of resources, while demonstrating how modern village infill redevelopment also contests oversimplified notions of stagnant rural peripheries. The initiative’s focus on linking key resources and bolstering communications can be read as validation for a more social perspective on land consumption and village infill development.
Highlights
German Land Consumption and the Promise of Infill Development In Germany, 56 hectares of land were consumed on average per day during the 2015–2018 time period; this generally refers to land that is converted from natural areas to various types of human land uses and transportation land uses such as roads [1]
This study explored these intertwined concepts in the German state of Bavaria, situating a new policy initiative (Space-saving Offensive or “Flächensparoffensive”) within long-standing conceptual considerations of land and property, or the land question
The 5 hectare amount represents a compromise; prominent planning experts had called for a net zero target by 2030 [26]. (Arguably, one can wonder how anything above zero would be sustainable in the long run.) The chosen less absolute approach may either add a sense of urgency to meet the goal in order to avoid more strict limits at the local level, as largely conveyed by Bavarian media [27], or it may be seen as leniency
Summary
Village infill development is at once a topic with promise for countering land consumption as well as for contesting dominant preconceptions of homogenous rural conditions [3] consisting of either empty, aging peripheries or suburban-style single family housing developments. This study explored these intertwined concepts in the German state of Bavaria, situating a new policy initiative (Space-saving Offensive or “Flächensparoffensive”) within long-standing conceptual considerations of land and property, or the land question (see Section 1.2)
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