Transformation | Project-Sustil: How Conflicts Over Land Use Can Be Avoided
Final Conference of Leuphana University and its Partners
2024-10-01 Housing, employment, recreation, and food production: these are all functions that cities and districts must accommodate, and all within limited space. Leuphana University Lüneburg, in collaboration with its partners, has examined how this can be achieved in the context of sustainable development and has developed solutions. The project participants recently gathered for a final conference to summarise their findings.
Ulrike Ahlers succinctly captures the issue: “We are not where we need to be,” says the representative from the German Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), speaking at Leuphana University's Central Building. According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), no unused land should be sealed—i.e., developed—by 2050 at the latest. Instead, already used land should be made use of more intensively. However, local municipalities are moving slowly towards this goal. “We must preserve our land as a vital resource,” Ahlers insists, highlighting the importance of a successful transformation of our society.
But what options exist to reduce land consumption and distribute space more equitably in the city and district of Lüneburg? This was the central question addressed by project partners over the past five years in the "SUSTIL" project. "SUSTIL" stands for "Szenarien zur Umsetzung der UN-Nachhaltigkeitsziele in Stadt und Landkreis Lüneburg (Scenarios for Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the City and District of Lüneburg)." Leuphana, the city and the district of Lüneburg, and the BUND have developed solutions through this project.
At the final conference, Tobias Neumann from the Sustainable Urban Development Department of the City of Lüneburg presented the "Upward Development Potential" model, which identifies opportunities for "internal densification" within the city. In other words, it illustrates where it is permissible to add floors to existing buildings. "The model does not yet cover the entire city, as we do not have complete initial data from all development plans," explains Neumann. However, the findings so far suggest that the potential for densification in Lüneburg is much lower than political players have assumed. Neumann continues to work on completing the data set. Another outcome of the project: the calculation model developed by SUSTIL can be adopted by other cities as well.
But what about rural communities? Here, Vanessa Subke, from the City and District of Lüneburg, along with her colleague Janna Hoveida from the District of Lüneburg, assessed expectations and perspectives. Rural areas face entirely different challenges. One issue is the use of agricultural land, which is also needed for renewable energy production. Another is rural depopulation, which results in vacant buildings. These buildings remain unused, while new residential and commercial spaces are constructed on undeveloped land, as they better meet modern needs. Through a series of events, Hoveida and Subke informed local communities about these challenges. One outcome: “The parties involved now have a better understanding of each other's problems,” says Vanessa Subke.
“We have an urgent need for action regarding the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” stresses Jacob Hörisch, Professor of Sustainability Economics and Management at Leuphana and leader of the SUSTIL project, which will conclude in early 2025. For Hörisch, one of the most exciting aspects was seeing how different interests converged over the course of the project and how mutual understanding improved. This is a crucial foundation for achieving the SDGs, alongside the practical outcomes of SUSTIL. Some municipalities in the Lüneburg district have already initiated follow-up projects based on SUSTIL’s findings. Moreover, the town of Bleckede, located along the river Elbe, has developed concepts for the so-called "Blue-Green Infrastructure," a particularly relevant topic that focuses on planned networks of natural and semi-natural areas in different natural spaces.