Local agenda 21 and ecological urban restructuring : a European model project in Leipzig

AGENDA 21 as one of the final resolutions of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro stresses in chapter 28 the important role of cities, towns and communities in globally sustainable development. One of the most important European model projects in this respect was carried out in Leipzig from 1993 to 1997. The Leipzig Ostraum Project was supported through the LIFE support program of the European Union with the largest subsidy awarded till that time (4,3 mill. DM, with a total project budget of about 20 mill. DM). The central goal of this project is the use, testing and further development of present knowledge with regard to sustainable urban restructuring in combination with innovative strategies of economic and employment policies. The scope of traditional urban ecology is extended to comprise adjacent rural areas and to revitalize regional material flows. In the meantime, affiliated projects have won support by the THERMIE program of the European Union and the EXWOST-program of the German Federal Ministry of Construction. This paper reports on the most important results of the Leipzig Project to date. In particular, the authors show that the concept of ecological urban restructuring and the Local Agenda 21 are in harmony with one another and can play a decisive role in stimulating consensus on future urban development. All urban actors can be winners in this process. Difficulties arose, however, through dishonest use of financial support by the project agency.