Concrete, Not Abstract: Hands-On Urban Planning
The University of Siegen, in collaboration with netzfactor GmbH, the City of Bad Berleburg, and the Municipality of Erndtebrück, has explored new approaches to citizen participation in urban planning. The KAIROS project focused on the question of how planned changes to public spaces can be clearly visualized and further developed collaboratively. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR). As the project comes to a close at the end of September, the participants are taking stock.
The developers combined virtual elements with real-world environments. This allowed citizens to view planned changes—for example, via smartphones or virtual reality headsets—and contribute their ideas to the planning process. The aim was to reach young people in particular through this approach. “The starting point and crux of the matter was that young people, in particular, rarely participate in citizen engagement initiatives. That’s why our goal was to supplement traditional participation formats and create hybrid spaces,” says Prof. Dr. Thomas Ludwig, KAIROS project director at the University of Siegen. Originally from Wittgenstein, he coordinated the project first for the Fernuniversität Hagen and then—after his move—for the University of Siegen.
Marketplace and Schoolyard as Concrete Use Cases
In Bad Berleburg, the ideas generated by the Future Council—involving numerous young people—were incorporated into the planning for the redesign of the town square. In Erndtebrück, students at the Realschule developed concrete proposals for their schoolyard. Both municipalities were thus able to translate experiences from the participatory process into actual planning. Another use case was on the grounds of the old cemetery in Erndtebrück. There, the ideas developed have yet to be implemented. Design concepts from the project are also available for the new Odebornzentrum site in Bad Berleburg.
“With KAIROS, it was possible to rethink planning processes from the ground up. This is a huge opportunity for future processes,” says Henning Gronau, mayor of the municipality of Erndtebrück. “Abstract urban planning becomes something concrete, something visible. In this way, we can successfully involve people in these planning processes—and not only maintain but also continuously improve the quality of life here in our community,” explains Volker Sonneborn, mayor of the city of Bad Berleburg.
From Research to Further Application
One thing is clear: the project’s completion does not result in a finished product. “Research funding is designed to produce so-called demonstrators that are made available to the general public—as is now the case in Bad Berleburg and Erndtebrück. Companies can take these ideas and turn them into a business model if they wish,” explains Thomas Ludwig. For example, placing virtual objects into a real-world environment using smartphones or VR headsets requires a significant amount of preparatory work beforehand. Technically, all of this is already possible and has been implemented in the KAIROS project. For Bad Berleburg and Erndtebrück, the company netzfactor GmbH has consistently created tailor-made, individual solutions. To reach market readiness, a universal tool would need to be developed that generally meets these needs. “We would have to move the project from the laboratory environment into project development in order to turn it into software,” explains Prof. Dr. Jörg Muschiol, managing director of netzfactor GmbH.
For the University of Siegen, this was not just about individual construction projects. The researchers wanted to demonstrate the possibilities opened up by hybrid participation formats. “There are many points of connection and simulation possibilities, for example with regard to climate adaptation, drought, our forests, civil safety, and evacuation routes at large events such as the Stünzelfest,” suggests Ludwig. “The interplay of virtual reality and artificial intelligence can and will play a central role here.”
