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Tale of Two Ecosuburbs in Freiburg, Germany

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Andrea Broaddus at San Jose State University
Andrea Broaddus
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Abstract

This paper compares two ecosuburbs of Freiburg, Germany, created over the past 10 years and similar in many respects except for provision of parking. Both are transit-oriented developments designed as familyfriendly live-work-play places, composed of mixed-use commercial and residential buildings meeting ecological best practices. Both suburbs have similar high density, are located about 3 km from the city center, and have excellent transit and bicycling connections. Rieselfeld followed the German convention of one parking spot per residence, while Vauban was designed by environmentalist citizen-activists to support car-free living. Parking cost and location were unbundled from housing, with parking spots provided at construction cost in garages on the periphery of the Vauban district. Demand was strong for this pedestrian- and bicycle-oriented housing, and residents used these modes at a higher rate. Fewer households in Vauban owned cars, and car-owning households were observed to drive less often. Travel behavior data showed that residents of Rieselfeld had higher rates of transit use in an otherwise typical modal split, while Vauban's residents had an extremely low share of cars and a high share of bicycles. These differences were attributed in part to Vauban's more restrictive parking policies.
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A TALE OF TWO ECO-SUBURBS
IN FREIBURG, GERMANY:
PARKING PROVISION & CAR USE
Andrea Broaddus
PhD Student, UC Berkeley
TRB January, 2010
What is a suburb?
Single-family detached homes
Car required
Freiburg, Germany
Population 200,000
Solar industry HQ
Ecological policy innovator
University town:
70% between 18 and 45
Freiburg’s “Five Pillar” transport plan
1. Transit - extensive network with trams every 3-5
minutes at peak
2. Bicycling – extensive network 100 miles of bicycle
trails, signals, bridges
3. Walking –city center pedestrian-only zone, riverfront
trails
4. Car traffic restrictions – traffic calming, street typology
of “living streets” with 20 mph speed limit
5. Parking management – no free parking, center has14
off-street garages
Transit-focused planning since 1970’s
Goal – compact
and pedestrian
oriented city
Development
focused around
transit system
“City of Short
Distances”
A multi-modal city
Freiburg has resisted the trend of increasing car use
in Germany over past 30 years
57%
31%
10%
18%
10%
27%
23%
23%
Germany
Freiburg
Car
Public Transit
Bicycle
Foot
Source: National Mobility Panel, 2007
The eco-suburb concept, 1990’s
Re-imagining suburbs as sustainable development for
families
Range of housing options at a mix of income levels,
ownership and rental
No single-family detached housing
Many planning codes were changed to meet ecological
best practice, but not parking
High standards for energy efficiency and water
conservation
Minimum parking requirement has been one spot per
residence (1:1) in national law since 1939
Ecological and child-friendly urban
design features
Green buildings – passive heating, solar power
Water management with berms, pervious
pavements
Buildings arranged in horse-shoe courtyards with
gardens and play areas on the interior
Walkable destinations include shops, restaurants,
schools, day care, library, community center
Slow (20 mph) traffic speed on all streets
Two eco-suburbs have been under
construction since 1994
193 acres
4,200 housing units
(3,300 currently)
10,500 residents (8,800
currently)
1,000 jobs
84 acres
2,000 housing units
5,000 residents
600 jobs
RIESELFELD VAUBAN, “CAR FREE”
City Center
Rieselfeld
Vauban
Eco-suburbs are just as dense as city center
Source: Freiburg Office of Planning
Eco-suburbs are transit oriented
developments (TODs)
Transit corridor as the “main street” (~1 km)
Three tram stops in district, with tram line terminating
Residences within one-third mile (.5 km) of a tram stop
Frequent (10 to 15 minute headways) bus and tram
service all day
10-15 minute ride to the city center
City Center
Rieselfeld
Vauban
Tram network - eco-suburbs are the
newest extensions
Source: Steve Melia, UWE Bristol
Eco-suburbs are also bicycle-oriented
developments
On-street - bike lanes, marked and signalized street
crossings
Off-street – separate network of pathways
Cyclists can make the 3 km trip to the city center
totally separated from car traffic
Vauban requires a bicycle parking shed at the
entrance to every residence
Both eco-suburbs are popular with
young families
FREIBURG
ECO-SUBURBS
Residents/acre
19
38-50
Households with
children
17%
38-48%
Source: Freiburg Office of Planning, 2008
Source: Freiburg Office of Planning
Rieselfeld has conventional parking
provision
1:1 ratio
Parking
garage under
every building
Free curb
parking except
on main street
Estimated
3,300 spots
Source: Freiburg Office of Planning
Vauban’s transportation plan
Guiding design principle: bicycling should be
the most convenient and driving the least
convenient option
Housing fronts onto bike paths or “play
streets,” not streets with car traffic
Provision of car-sharing vehicles
Vauban has reduced parking and
“unbundled” parking provision
Parking is purchased separately from housing at the
garage building cost, $22,000 per spot
Car free households must buy a non-existent parking
spot at the land cost of a future garage, $4,800 per
spot
Car-free households must register annually with a
declaration that they do not own a car or use one on
a regular basis.
422 car-free households
Parking garages located on the
periphery of Vauban
Source: Freiburg Office of Planning
Vauban’s “bicycle first” policy
Housing
designed so
that bicycle is
within a 2-
minute walk,
transit within
a 5-minute
walk, and the
car within a
10-minute
walk
Vauban’s “play streets”
Homes front
onto streets
with loading
access only,
no parking
allowed
Speed limit 5
kph / 3mph.
Car ownership is lower in both eco-suburbs
Strong self-selection bias
Income effect assumed, (income data unavailable)
Source: Freiburg Office of Planning, 2008
Car use is lower in Vauban only
0% 50% 100%
Total Germany
Total Freiburg
Rieselfeld
Vauban: car-owning households
Vauban: car-free households
Car
Public Transit
Bicycle
Foot
Source: Freiburg Office of Planning, 2003
Note: Vauban figures reflect bus use only from 1999
Vauban household mobility survey, 2003
Questionnaire asked residents about travel habits,
particularly changes since moving to Vauban.
Many reported making significant lifestyle changes to
become less car-dependent , like increased use of
bicycles, buses, trams, taxis, and car sharing services
Car-owning households reported using their car only
slightly less frequently, but 41% used their bicycle more
often
Among car-free households, 19% had never owned or
had regular access to a car; 57% reported they gave
up a car upon moving to Vauban
Cars used for bulk purchasing
shopping trips
Source: Claudia Nobis, 2003
Cars used for leisure trips
Source: Claudia Nobis, 2003
Conclusions
Bundling of housing and parking is a pervasive norm
defended even by cities with ambitious environmental
goals
Frieburg environmentalists who wanted a “car free”
alternative had to finance it themselves, because the
city and lenders were too risk-averse
Perhaps zoning and street regulations should be
revised to allow for greater variety of housing
choices and resident self-sorting
Conclusions
Both eco-suburbs have higher transit and bicycle use,
but only Vauban residents had lower car use
Car use was discouraged by street design and speed
limits in Vauban, but most significantly through
parking policy:
Unbundling the cost of parking from housing gave a
financial incentive to forego car-ownership
Separating the parking spatially from the residential
property made it less convenient, and therefore less
attractive, to use a car
Conclusions
Rieselfeld demonstrates that building excellent
transportation alternatives like transit service and
bicycle trails is not sufficient to achieve significant
reductions in driving
Residents drove approximately the same amount as
the rest of Frieburg
To achieve a goal of reduced driving, measures
should be paired: encourage alternate modes and
discourage car use, for instance through parking
policy
Questions?
Why do we care about parking?
Land consumption, destinations are further apart,
longer travel times
Free parking means car owners are more likely to
drive than use other modes
... Car ownership and use were predominantly compared to the corresponding figures for the whole city and to other comparable contexts which proved to be lower in the majority of cases (Broaddus, 2010;Foletta & Henderson, 2016;Nobis, 2003;Sprei et al., 2020). Respectively, the share of sustainable modes was found to be substantially higher, also among car-owning households in the car-independent settlements (Nobis, 2003). ...
... Respectively, the share of sustainable modes was found to be substantially higher, also among car-owning households in the car-independent settlements (Nobis, 2003). Comparison to similar settings with conventional car policies pointed to the importance of financial, contractual, and spatial disincentives for parking to effectively reduce car dependency (Broaddus, 2010;Ornetzeder et al., 2008). The evaluation of nine case study developments by Scheurer (2001) showed a high ambiguity in terms of car use and ownership. ...
Driving Towards Car-Independent Neighborhoods in Europe: A Typology and Systematic Literature Review
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Car-independent neighborhoods can be seen as a planning strategy for overcoming car dependency and achieving urban sustainability goals. This implies a structural and psychological car independency of people, which manifests itself into positive attitudes and perceptions towards sustainable mobility, acceptance of corresponding measures, and a shift from private cars to active transport, public transport, and sharing modes. Despite their relevance, knowledge regarding the actual implications of the various existing strategies remains scarce. This gap is addressed in this literature review, which aims to: (a) identify types of implemented car-independent neighborhood policies; (b) explore their rationales, main characteristics, and implications for mobility behavior, psychological factors, perceptions, and acceptance; and (c) investigate how they have been evaluated. Existing implementations in Europe can be divided into four types: car-independent central areas, residential developments, citywide implementations, and temporary interventions, which differ in their rationales and scope. Overall, little research was found on this topic, with most studies focusing on newly built residential developments, compared to the other types. There is evidence of positive impacts on sustainable mobility behavior in the relevant use cases. However, it is often unclear whether this is a causality or correlation due to the absence of comprehensive (longitudinal) evaluations. Less is known regarding the implications of implementations for psychological factors and perceptions and their interplay with mobility behavior. For future research, it is recommended to evaluate other types of car-independent interventions beyond newly built developments through long-term observation of attitudinal and behavioral changes.
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... That is partly due to the scarcity and high price of land in Germany and partly due to government land-use regulations that restrict new development on previously undeveloped land (Hirt, 2013(Hirt, , 2014. In some cases, however, suburban developments are specifically planned to be compact and well-served by walking and cycling facilities and public transport while restricting car use and parking (Bottero et al., 2019;Broaddus, 2010;Buehler et al., 2015;Newman and Kenworthy, 2015;Neill, 2017). ...
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... Of the aforementioned precursors in conversion projects, Vauban (Freiburg), built as a partially car-free neighborhood in the 1990s, 2000s, appears particularly instructive (Broaddus, 2010;Gies et al., 2021;Growe & Freytag, 2019;Mahzouni, 2018;Späth & Ornetzeder, 2017). The central Vauban Avenue, half of which is designed as a pedestrian zone, and the adjacent residential streets are completely traffic-calmed. ...
Mobility Hubs: A Way Out of Car Dependency Through a New Multifunctional Housing Development?
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Today’s urban design of new quarters in the fringes of German metropolises shows a renaissance of the garage building as a cluster for car parking. In contrast to the past, parking garages are planned as multifunctional “mobility hubs.” Planners enrich them with new mobility and sharing options and incorporate sports or social infrastructure facilities on the roof and the ground floor, thus contributing to vibrant neighborhoods. In contrast to the internationally renowned example of Nordhavn (Copenhagen), we observe a decentralization in the mainstreaming of the approach: Mobility hubs are to become constitutive parts of small subcenters. In this respect, they can be seen as a common leitmotiv for urban design in Germany’s metropolises. The hubs form a new model of local mobility, guaranteeing a certain flow of pedestrians and freeing the adjacent streets of car traffic. Integrated into a system of alternative modes of transportation and nearby mass transit, those infrastructural and mobility clusters might contribute to a change in mobility habits and ultimately reduce car dependence. If their underlying mobility policies can be implemented and if they are ultimately more successful than traditional parking garages or even create an incentive not to use private cars at all remains open to further investigation. For this purpose, the article will trace the emergence of mobility hubs in the discourse and practice of urban design with a particular focus on major new developments at the periphery of German cities. It analyzes urban design competitions and the formal planning and implementation following them.
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... The city of Freiburg, which accounts for around 230,000 inhabitants, is the major city of the region, while the remaining area is mostly rural. Freiburg is often considered to be Germany's leading city in terms of sustainable urban development, including among others sustainable transportation (Buehler & Pucher, 2011;Fitzroy & Smith, 1998) and bicycle-friendly land-use (Broaddus, 2010;Ryan & Throgmorton, 2003). ...
Empirical analysis of cycling distances in three of Europe’s most bicycle-friendly regions within an accessibility framework
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In this paper, we study observed cycling distances within an accessibility framework, using data from the Netherlands, the Copenhagen Metropolitan Area and the Freiburg Region. As a scope, we look at outbound trips in home-based tours which include a single destination. We relate these observed cycling distances to a rich set of explanatory variables using both quantile and ordinary least square regression models. The results provide evidence that cycling distances are similarly distributed in all three regions. Most cycling distances are rather short, with a median of only two and a mean of three kilometers. These values vary depending on the type of activity at the destination, gender and age of the traveler and the type of bicycle that has been used. Moreover, a few remarkable differences have been found between the three regions, such as substantially different effects of age and e-bike use on observed cycling distances. Noteworthy is the missing effect of urban density. The findings of this research provide urban planners with differentiated information about how far people cycle to daily-life destinations. As shown for the example of the “15 minutes city,” the outcomes can also be used to refine existing concepts of bicycle accessibility. Finally, this research offers valuable insights into three of Europe’s most developed bicycle cultures. © 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
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... Addressing land-use patterns, a US based study, Ewing et al. [14] shows that demand for parking is significantly lower not only in urban TODs but also in self-contained TODs outside urban cores compared to suburban developments. An example from Freiburg, Germany, Broaddus [15] illustrates the potential of TOD in urban fringe locations to counteract car use and increase bicycling by pricing and restrictions on parking. A study addressing the quality of public transport [12], argues that for TOD areas in low-density contexts it is useful to consider larger catchment areas connected with feeder transport, and it is concluded that public transport planning strategies focusing on integration of multiple feeder transport mode have the potential to significantly increase the attractiveness of public transport in low-density contexts. ...
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... Samtidigt är andelen resor med cykel och/eller kollektivtrafik högre. Genomförandet av restriktiva bilparkeringsmätningar i en av förorterna ledde till en ännu högre andel av användningen av kollektivtrafik och cykling(Broaddus, 2010). ...
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... and urban design consultancy firm Arup published an agenda-setting report on child-friendly urban planning and design. 73 The following year UNICEF published a handbook on what it called child-responsive urban planning, setting out substantive measures to flesh out its Child-Friendly Cities programme, with a focus on low-and middle-income contexts. 74 Many practice guides, handbooks and collections have emerged. ...
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... Table 1. Methods and tools in the literature to support studies of districts and U-ZED novelty (adapted by [24]). ...
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The Zero Energy Idea in District. Application of a Methodological Approach in the Case Study of Epinlieu (Mons)
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