Vauban () is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

(''Stadtteil'') to the south of the town centre in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was built as "a

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

model district" on the site of a former

French military The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' military ...

base named after

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban Sébastien is a common French given name. It is a French form of the Latin name ''Sebastianus'' meaning "from Sebaste". Sebaste was a common placename in classical Antiquity, derived from the Greek word ''σεβαστος'', or ''sebastos'', mea ...

, the 17th century French Marshal who built fortifications in Freiburg while the region was under French rule. Construction began in 1998, and the first two residents arrived in 2001.

History

The site was originally developed as a military base in 1936 and was taken over after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by the French forces occupying the region. The military left in 1992. Over a period of some years the vacant structures were occupied by various tribes of

hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

and

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...

. Following battles with the city government, squatters won the rights to four of the original twenty barracks. Some former occupants of these structures have taken up residence in a diverse assortment of cars, vans, and retired civil service vehicles, forming what has been named Wagenplatz. At the same time a group called "Forum Vauban" was pressing the City Council to develop the site in an eco-friendly way. The remaining 38 hectares were acquired by Freiburg City Council, who delegated the mandatory community consultation to Forum Vauban. This collaboration between the Council and Forum Vauban led to the masterplan with its car-free concept. Most of the individual plots were sold to community-led housing ('Baugruppen') groups whose bids were assessed against criteria favouring families with children, older people and Freiburg residents. Some Baugruppen were formed by architects, others by prospective residents planning varying elements of self-build. Some of the other plots were sold to private developers. Another part of the site was developed for student dormitories for the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

. More "alternative" projects have, among other things, converted old barracks at a low cost, such as S.U.S.I., a self-governing independent residential initiative that, through an alternative living concept, developed living spaces for students as well as

subsidized housing Subsidized housing is a subsidy aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housing". Forms of subsidies include d ...

. A self-governing "

Community Centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

Building 037" () has been established in one of the preserved

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

. Some former barracks were occupied in early 2005, as they would have been

demolished Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apa ...

. Vauban has 5,267 residents as of 2020.

Transport

Within Vauban, transport is primarily by foot or

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

: according to Scheurer (2001), 38–73% of movements were performed by walking or cycling, as opposed to 5–16% by

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

. Scheurer (2001) found that cycling was the main mode of transport for most trips and most activities, including commuting and shopping. The development is connected to

city centre by a

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way and is laid out linearly along the tracks, such that all homes are within easy walking distance from a tram stop. In 2006, just after the tram network had been extended, 70% of local public transport trips were made by tram, and 30% by bus. The level of car ownership has fallen over time: "Scheurer (2001) and Nobis (2003) found that just over half of households owned a car" (Scheurer: 54%; Nobis: "over 40%" carfree), but according to Melia et al. (2010), "parking levels suggest a substantial majority of households do not own cars there today." The preference for walking and cycling can be partly attributed to the layout of the district. Building on previous experience, the plan departs from the simple inherited grid and creates a network, which incorporates the principle of “ filtered permeability”. It means that the network geometry favours the active modes of transport and, selectively, “filters out” the car. This is accomplished by reducing the number of streets that run through the neighbourhood. Instead, most local streets are crescents and

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

s (see drawing). While they are discontinuous for cars, they connect to a network of pedestrian and bike paths, which permeate the entire neighbourhood. In addition, these paths go through or past open spaces, adding to the enjoyment of the trip. The logic of filtering a mode of transport is fully expressed in a new comprehensive model for laying out neighbourhoods and districts – the Fused Grid. Most of Vauban's residential streets are described as ''stellplatzfrei'' – literally "free from parking spaces". Vehicles are allowed down these streets at walking pace to pick up and deliver but not to park, although there are some infractions as the system depends essentially on social consensus – there are few

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

controls. Each year, households are required to sign a declaration stating either that they do not own a car, or that they do, in which case they must buy a space in one of the multi-storey car parks on the periphery, at a one-off cost of €17,500 plus a monthly service fee (in 2006). According to Melia (2006), "the citywide car sharing club has the greatest concentration of its 2,500 members in Vauban – at least ten of its cars are stationed around the district."

Sustainable construction

All houses are built to a low-energy consumption standard, with 100 units designed to the '' Passivhaus'' ultra-low energy building standard. Other buildings are heated by a combined heat and power station burning wood chips, while many of the buildings have solar collectors or photovoltaic cells.Delleske, Andreas: ''Passivhaus Wohnen & Arbeiten''
/ref> Perhaps the best example of sustainable building is the

Solar Settlement The Solar Settlement at Schlierberg () is a 59-home PlusEnergy housing community in Freiburg, Germany. Solar architect Rolf Disch wanted to apply his PlusEnergy concept, created originally with his Heliotrope (building), Heliotrope home, to ma ...

in Vauban, a 59 PlusEnergy home housing community. It is the first housing community worldwide in which all the homes produce a positive energy balance. The solar energy surplus is then sold back into the city's grid for a profit on every home.Rolf Disch Solararchitektur
/ref>

References

Sources

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External links