Together with DOM Publishers, Reiner Götzen recently published “Handbuch und Planungshilfe Quartiersentwicklung” (“Construction and Design Manual. Urban Quarter Development”). Our maxfrei project in Düsseldorf is presented as a central case study, among others. The site of the former “Ulmer Höh‘” prison is being transformed into a lively urban space with short distances, a livable ambiance, and a sustainable mixture of uses. As part of the large-scale project by the INTERBODEN Gruppe, HAMBURG TEAM, HPP Architekten, GOETZEN Architekten, and studio grüngrau, caspar. is planning two buildings for offices and retail trade, a daycare center, a service point, and restaurants, plus a residential building with 27 apartments and 2 guest apartments.

The central task of urban development in the wake of the pandemic is to counteract the desertification of city centers. Not for the first time, we need to convert urban centers in such a way that they correspond to the values and goals of our society, including fundamental attributes of the city as a cultural space: supportive communities responsible for both ecology and economy. Written by practitioners for practitioners, the anthology edited by Reiner Goetzen deals with all aspects of a central issue of contemporary urban planning: mixed utilization of inner-city quarters from their planning to their long-term use, from financing and securing building approval to mobility concepts, the challenges of climate change, and the opportunities of digitization.