Freiburg Case Study

Guten Tag! Are you ready for a trip to Germany's most environmentally friendly city? If the answer is yes, then let's hop on board a flight straight to Freiburg airport! Seeing as we're talking about being more environmentally friendly, perhaps it's better to avoid planes altogether. Let's try a train instead. After arriving at Freiburg Hauptbahnhof (main station), you're going to explore some of Freiburg's sustainable transport, take a look at the town of Vauban, and maybe even learn some German words along the way! This Freiburg Case Study, just like other case studies in geography, will be a great example of a sustainable city and sustainable living. Los geht's! (Let's go!).

Freiburg Case Study sustainable city

Before you begin your trek into Freiburg, let's quickly dive into some geography. Our topic is sustainability and sustainable cities, so let's define these before heading out into the city.

Sustainability is all about finding ways to live that reduce the impact on the environment and provide what is needed for current and future generations, without endangering the future. This concept of sustainability can be applied to cities; cities are pretty environmentally unfriendly, so finding ways to combat this is vital.

Freiburg Location

You're a geographer, you've probably got a pocket map with you. But, let's just make sure you know a little about where you're travelling to!

Freiburg is known for its medieval characteristics, wine, tourism, and of course, the Black Forest. Alongside this, Freiburg is a super green and super sustainable city. From 1970 onwards, Freiburg had its eyes set on sustainable urban development. By 2035, Freiburg aims to be using completely renewable energy, and by 2050, aims to be entirely carbon-neutral.

Fig. 1 - location of Freiburg, map data: © 2022 Google

Freiburg Case Study sustainable living

Now that you know more about the city, we can start to explore some of the characteristics that make Freiburg so green and sustainable. As you explore the city, these features of sustainable living will become evident.

Green is good!

Freiburg is known as the green city. Walking around Freiburg, there is a lot of green! Both the colour green and the environmentally friendly kind of 'green' can be spotted just about everywhere. What are you going to come across in Freiburg that is greener than usual?

Alternative transport

As you make your way through Freiburg, you'll probably be greeted by great public transport, like trams, and you can use the city transport card to get around. You most likely won't see many cars, though. Most favourably, cycling on the network of bike paths, or just walking, are the best ways to get around the city; in some areas, cars aren't allowed! Environmentally friendly alternative transport is a great example of sustainability in cities, helping to reduce emissions and pollution in the city.

Green space

Green spaces are a key characteristic of sustainable cities. In Freiburg, it's no different. There are plentiful green spaces around the city, such as parks and forests, and even an animal nature park! Green spaces help to improve air quality and reduce pollution, protect ecosystems, as well as provide social and exercise spaces for the people living there. Interestingly, things like shops are actually on the bottom floor of residential buildings, so that extra green spaces aren't used for building. Typically, these green spaces are the most important thing during urban planning, meaning green spaces have protection.

Fig. 2 - the botanical garden at the University of Freiburg

Food

Freiburg has a food market every day, where local sellers can provide their produce. Farm shops and allotments are also characteristic, which help to produce more local food, and therefore reduce food miles. Food miles are the distance that food travels from production to consumption, which often produces a lot of carbon emissions. Locally produced food helps to reduce this and therefore environmental impact.

Resources and conservation

Renewable energy comes from sources that are continuously recharged, i.e., they won't run out. This can be exampled by things like solar or wind power. Interestingly, Freiburg is known as the 'solar city' of Europe for its use of solar energy. The city hall is described as zero-energy, which means, the renewable energy it produces (from hundreds of solar panels), is enough to power the whole building! Freiburg's football stadium also has a solar panel-covered roof. Solar power is a major characteristic of the Freiburg town of Vauban; we'll visit this town a little later.

Solar isn't the only form of renewable energy that Freiburg is proud of; the city is also powered by biomass, wind energy, and also hydroelectric power. The rubbish in the city is transformed into biogas to power the city, and wood can be turned into biomass for energy too! There is also a hydroelectric plant just outside the city centre. Freiburg also has a pretty extensive wastewater system, which means that less water is wasted, and more is conserved. Rainwater is either kept and reused, or it's able to be absorbed by the ground. Recycling systems are another sustainable aspect of this city.

The town of Vauban

You're about to enter what is said to be Europe's most sustainable town. The town was built on an old military base. Solar panels can be seen everywhere, in what's called the 'solar settlement', which is a collection of 59 houses, made of wood with colourful exteriors.²

Fig. 3 - Vauban in Freiburg

So much solar energy is produced, that these buildings become 'plus-energy', which means that more energy is produced than is needed, so residents can sell the energy back to the national grid. Most of the people who live there don't own a car, as it's pretty expensive to pay for a car parking space, and the road design makes it difficult for cars to drive there. Vauban is also a great example of water conservation; residents, here, are paid money to reduce their water usage. Roofs are covered in vegetation, the tram routes are grass-covered, and permeable pavements all allow rainwater to be conserved.

People

During the time that sustainable urban development planning was occurring in Freiburg, people were prioritised. Residents were given opportunities to have their say and impact on how the city was going to be developed, and that included children too. People who invested in renewable energy products were even given free football tickets! There have been numerous employment opportunities for the people of Freiburg, as sustainable development became the ultimate goal; for example, 10,000 people have received employment from the solar energy sector, or 'solar valley'.

Freiburg Case Study importance

Now that you've explored the incredible city of Freiburg, it's time to think about why this city is so important. Let's bullet point some of the major factors.

• It's important for the city itself, bringing benefits to the people and the environment.
• Because of the eco-city that Freiburg has built, it's become a tourist hotspot, especially for sustainable tourism.
• It's created a vision city, which the rest of Germany, and the world, can take notice of and follow in its path.
• Freiburg shows that sustainability is entirely doable.