Urban development
A city develops
The “new” Stuttgart main station – Stuttgart-Ulm rail project
“It’s getting weirder and weirder, but it fits the other, – in my opinion, do it,” said senior building director Neuffer to architect Paul Bonatz, after the latter had repeatedly made changes to his original design, which he had won with Friedrich E. Scholer in 1912. The architects called the original design “umbiculus sueviae”, the “navel of Swabia”! The construction was carried out in two stages, as train traffic ran via the western area to Bolzstrasse until 1922, where the first railroad station was built in 1846, which had to be extended just 20 years later to accommodate the traveling population. The actual construction period lasted from 1914-27, with the First World War alone delaying the initial building work. Directly behind the current station building, the Bonatz building, the new station is being built over a length of almost 900 m. In contrast to today’s terminus station, it is being converted into a through station. This can only work if it is connected to a largely underground rail circuit of approx. 15 km in length. This will eliminate the bottleneck in the entrance area and increase capacity by around 30 percent. S-Bahn traffic will be separated from regional and long-distance traffic. The track areas will be converted into a new central district, which has already been purchased by the city; the local council is currently in the process of tendering the urban development planning. The new station is expected to open in 2025. I recommend a guided tour of the construction site. Plans and extensive photographic material are available.
Harbor tour Stuttgart
Admittedly, the port of Stuttgart is not comparable with the port of Hamburg, but it still plays a very important logistical role for the regional economy and the supply of the state capital. Think about it, in terms of sustainability, a Neckar ship with a load of 2200 tons replaces around 80-90 trucks! As I have a special permit, we can observe the loading and unloading of ships, depending on traffic and the day of the week, and it is possible for me to drive relatively close to the quays. There is a large model in the “harbor museum” that can be visited on weekdays. A tour is also possible here.
Bean Quarter Stuttgart
Admittedly, this is a somewhat strange name for a small urban quarter, but it is no accident! At the beginning of the 16th century, the garden or broad bean was introduced from America, which was very welcome as an additional food source in the structurally poor district. The citizens planted beans everywhere, in gardens, on house facades, in front of the city wall and later also in the vineyards. Beans everywhere, hence the bean quarter, it was as simple as that. The name was and still is a “popular” term, it does not officially exist. The district officially belongs to the “Leonhardsvorstadt”, which was the first extension of the city from the 14th century, modeled on the first extension of Prague, where Wenceslas Square was laid out in the middle of the 14th century by order of Emperor Charles IV, who had commissioned his master builder Peter Parler from Schwäbisch Gmünd to do it. As this part of the city is largely a pedestrian zone, a tour is also recommended here.
Urban climate Stuttgart
Stuttgart’s urban climate is subject to the same conditions as all other areas around Stuttgart and beyond. Decisive for a local climate are the geographical latitude, altitude, nature of the subsoil, surface design and landscape changes caused by humans. For Stuttgart as a large city, however, there is a significant difference to all other large cities in Germany: its location in a “basin”, with differences in altitude of more than 300m. So it is no wonder that the city repeatedly hits the headlines because of its very high levels of particulate matter, especially at the “am Neckartor” junction. We can view the city from different perspectives, travel to the heights and you will learn more about Stuttgart’s green lungs, greening concepts and other ways of supporting the flow of fresh air and improving the city’s climate in the long term.
Building project Stuttgart
At the moment, you could say that Stuttgart is a city of cranes. They are certainly not pretty. But they indicate that something is being built, something is happening and apparently there are also financial resources available to realize these projects. While elsewhere finances are tight and larger construction projects or investments tend to be put on the back burner, land prices in Stuttgart are constantly on the rise. The city seems to be so interesting that the commitment is worthwhile. We would visit some of the best-known construction projects or you can ask me what interests you.
- Have you been to the new Europaviertel? Does this district live up to its name? Do you know the new city library?
- In the north of Stuttgart, almost 400 municipal apartments are being built on the former Staiger site. Not far away, the city has refurbished the Wagenhallen, a special cultural project, for around 30 million euros.
- The Olga-Areal is being built in the west of Stuttgart and is described as a “showcase district” with 220 residential units with a focus on sustainability and citizen participation.
- In 2027, one hundred years after the world-famous Werkbund exhibition of the Weißenhofsiedlung on the Killesberg, the International Building Exhibition StadtRegion Stuttgart will take place under the direction of the Swiss architect Andreas Hofer from Zurich. Perhaps you would like to know more? What is the IBA, why an international building exhibition?
Urban development Stuttgart
It all began with a small moated castle to protect a stud farm around 950, known as a “Stuotgarten”, which later became today’s Stuttgart. The “marshy” Nesenbach valley is surrounded by hills that extend up to 300m in a horseshoe shape around the city center. Today there is hardly a road longer than 500m without a gradient, the steepest gradients are 18%. No wonder there is a rack railroad and a funicular railroad that are integrated into the public transport system. In Stuttgart, terracing is often necessary in order to be able to build at all. No house may be higher than the collegiate church, an “unwritten law” that has (almost) stood the test of time.
