Village Renewal in the F. R. of Germany

Abstract

This paper focuses its attention on the historical development and status quo of the legal framework of village renewal in the F.R. of Germany.The village renewal in the F.R. of Germany contrasts with that in Japan, in that the former includes the development or renewal of built-up areas and the removal or large-scale improvement of houses.This village renewal has been conducted as part of rural land consolidation projects since the early 19th century. After World War I especially in Preussen, it was put into common practice due to the development of large-scale and intensive cattle farming which demanded modernization of facilities. After World War II urbanization and growing demand for urban land uses in rural areas made it more popular.Two legal bases are necessary for implementing the village renewal projects; the first one makes it possible to establish a plan to control land-use and housing, and the other gives the authority power to reoder land and realize the plan. The two bases are delivered by the Bundesbaugesetz (Urban Construction Act) on the urban planning side and the Flurbereinigungsgesetz (Land Consolidation Act) on the rural planning side. In this way the two planning sides share the task and co-operate with each other legally. Actually in many cases the rural land consolidation authority carries out the task, because the combination with rural land consolidation gives many advantages and subsidiary programs are available only on the rural planning side.It is not self-evident that the rural land consolidation projects can include the built-up area of a village and implement village renewal measures. Historically we can trace back the efforts on the rural planning side to firm its legal base for village renewal.