Take-Aways aus der Planungsgeschichte: Infrastrukturplanung und Siedlungsbau

Abstract What is noticeable about contemporary housing developments in Germany, whether they occur on city fringes or inner-city brownfields (for example, harbour or station areas)? It is not only the return of large-scale housing, but also the leitmotiv that shapes new towns and urban districts. Holistic approaches and integrated planning are experiencing a renaissance. In order to illustrate whether and how past epochs are linked to today’s leitmotivs, a review has been undertaken into how social infrastructure, in particular, has been planned in recent decades. The aim is not to compare the urban design of housing from the Late Modern period with today, but to focus on non-housing in housing developments. What role does/did infrastructural planning play? How is/was infrastructural planning woven into integrated approaches and urban design leitmotivs? How are/were planners striving for urbanity in the new housing developments? Back then and today, these new housing areas are/were not meant to be “dormitory towns”, but urbanised districts of a lively city. Do planners actively learn from the past, not only from Late Modern housing but also from the Careful Urban Renewal of the past three decades, as many large-scale settlements were and are the backdrop to renewal? This article aims to connect evidence about the past with current planning approaches. It links recent infrastructural demands (for example, regarding education and mobility) with past and present planning approaches and discusses the impact of societal reorientation towards a common good for the urban leitmotivs of today’s large-scale housing developments. English title: Takeaways from planning history: Infrastructure planning and housing development construction