The Transformation of Industrial Sites to Recreational Areas - in Duisburg

Pre-University Paper from the year 2009 in the subject Geography / Earth Science - Demographics, Urban Management, Planning, grade: 1,8, , language: English, abstract: his essay will be about the transformation of industrial sites to recreational areas in Duisburg. This will be done by taking a closer look on the projects 'Heinrich Hildebrand-Höhe' and 'RheinPark'. These two projects were chosen because they are relatively young projects and are located in the author's hometown. For the given information concerning the two projects I mainly took into consideration current sources like newspaper articles, brochures by the city of Duisburg and articles from the Internet, mainly from news pages. Regarding Duisburg's industrial history I concentrated on books that could easily be found in the municipal library of Duisburg. The topic was chosen due to the fact that I noticed more and more recreational areas emerging on former industrial ground in my immediate surroundings. This is the reason why I got interested in these projects. I wanted to know why and how they were built in a more detailed way than I already knew from newspapers and other media. The essay is basically divided into three parts. First there is this introduction to introduce in my ways of working on the topic. In the second part there will be an overview on the industrial development in Duisburg to make the need of transforming industrial areas better understandable. After that the aims and ways of the transformation from industry to recreation will be presented using the examples of the future designing program 'IBA Emscher Park'. Thereafter, in the third part, information on the two projects from this essay's title in Duisburg will be given in a more detailed way. In the case of Heinrich-Hildebrand-Höhe I also put the emphasis on the history of the area and ground due to the importance concerning the contemporary use. Regarding RheinPark I did not concentrate on that aspect because it does not affect today's use in a considerable way. Finally there will be a conclusion on the topic highlighting advantages and disadvantages for the place of location Duisburg and for Duisburg's inhabitants.