Shaping Urbanity - 3 Questions for Prof. Dr. Matthias Ottmann, TU Munich

Cities and municipalities increasingly have to be designed in a climate-friendly, resource-conserving, economically efficient, socially compatible and high-quality manner. How can these challenges be successfully met? We talked about this as part of our series "3 Questions for ..." with Prof. Dr. Matthias Ottmann, Honorary Professor in the Department of Urban Development and Real Estate Management, Chair of Spatial Development, Faculty of Architecture, Technical University of Munich.

Settlement and neighborhood concepts of the future

In your experience, what must future integrated settlement and neighborhood conceptslook like?
Prof. Dr. Matthias Ottmann: In order to convince neighbors and affected citizens of an urban planning, we should get a picture of the needs of those seeking housing, but also of the possible concerns of residents. Looking at both sides and possibly uniting them is the focus of the municipal task. Only then can we speak of an "integrated approach."

Redensification: opportunities vs. challenges

Recultivating brownfields, closing gaps between buildings, and adding more floors - with an eye to increasing demand for housing, redensification is taking place, especially in growing cities. How much chance and how much problem resonates in the term of the Nachverdichtung with?
Prof. Dr. Matthias Ottmann: The possibilities for the Nachverdichtung are various, which remains also here the question whether and to what extent the desire of the owner to bring about a (preferably) higher-quality use also meets with approval. The fundamentally good thing about the existing planning law is that the right to build cannot be interpreted in favor of one party. So if building and planning takes place on one side of the street, the neighbor on the opposite side is entitled to the same right to build if there are no rules to the contrary. However, this in turn means that the right to add a storey or close a gap in the building must be based on the building right that already exists. At the very least, this building right should be granted, unless there are overriding urban development reasons for raising the density further.

Quarter development with an integrated mobility concept

In the E-Motive-City concept study, you looked at a quarter development with an integrated mobility concept. What influence will changes in mobility have on our neighborhoods of the future?
Prof. Dr. Matthias Ottmann: Personally, I would like to see us exploit the possibilities of mobility and digitalization much more. If stationary traffic leads to land consumption and search traffic, on the other hand, is not very time-efficient, we really have to ask ourselves if there is not another setting. In our research seminar at TUM, which formed the basis for "E-Motive City", we were keen to achieve a paradigm shift: we do without our own cars. With this demand, or "assumption", we can finally start looking for a new and optimized mobility offer: Abandonment of parking spaces and underground parking lots, instead decentralized mobility hubs, offer of use and diversity, which can offer to every user of mobility the concrete need of locomotion such as. shared mobility, autonomous driving or small and commercial vehicles can deliver, and finally: turning away from the monofunctional orientation of a new residential neighborhood  - we also like to talk about the so-called "sleep city"- and creating urban neighborhoods with vibrant, attractive new district cores.

Thank you very much for the interview!