Hangweide neighbourhood development

For many years, the Hangweide site in Kernen im Remstal offered living space for people with disabilities. Now that the social welfare organisation Diakonie Stetten has moved away and the site has been sold, the municipal authorities in Kernen im Remstal are planning to use the area to create an ›urban village‹ together with Kreisbaugesellschaft Waiblingen mbH and LBBW Immobilien Kommunalentwicklung GmbH. The eight-hectare site is to be used to combine the advantages of urban and rural life. The aim is to build a neighbourhood based on solidarity and community where people can engage with one another.

The urban planning for the ›urban village‹ will be based on the winning design put forward by UTA Architekten from Stuttgart. The design provides for the Hangweide site to have a vibrant centre with spaces for people to meet. Cooperative and affordable housing will mean that people will also be able to have a reasonably priced home in the urban village. Different floor plans will facilitate the flexible design of individual living spaces. In line with the legacy of Hangweide, the urban village will pursue an inclusive approach, with barrier-free accessibility and housing for people with disabilities as well as for refugees. Public spaces will serve as a place where people can meet. There will be generous, community-owned open spaces, some of which extend right up to the edge of the buildings. In the future, cars can be left in neighbourhood garages.

An important element of the urban village is how to organise community interaction. The project consortium wants to set up a village cooperative that will represent the interests of the community upon completion of the project and expand and maintain the infrastructure. The members will comprise the project partners, property owners from the housing sector geared to public service as well as a residents’ association to be set up at a later stage. The concept of the village cooperative will be accompanied by a research seminar at the Technical University of Munich.

All of this is to lead to Hangweide becoming home to more than 1,000 people from 2025.