Sustainable planning and development of spatial and settlement structures

The guiding principle of ⁠sustainability⁠ aims to assume comprehensive responsibility for economically, socially and ecologically sustainable development for all generations. In this context, it is clear that sustainability always has a spatial dimension.

Settlement and infrastructural development processes

In the case of settlement and infrastructural projects in the areas of housing, work, leisure, utility supply and mobility, decisions must always be made about locations and areas – their use and allocation. The necessary decisions regarding the utilisation of new areas or the conversion of existing areas have a considerable impact on the environment. The loss of semi-natural areas, increased material and energy consumption and the increase in traffic-related emissions all have a negative impact on the environment. Decisions on the utilisation of land must therefore always be checked for their environmental compatibility.

Coordinating demands for land use

In urban and rural areas, there are many competing demands for land use, such as:

• expansion of settlement areas,
• protection of green and open spaces
• expansion of electricity supply grids,
• construction of wind farms,
• road building projects.

The demands for land use are constantly increasing and require sustainable solution strategies from the federal government, federal states, regions and municipal authorities.

More than ever, there is a need for precautionary, interdisciplinary and coordinated planning and development of scarce space, both on land and at sea. The guiding principle is sustainable spatial development that harmonizes the social and economic demands on space with its environmentally relevant functions. At the same time, it ensures that the impact on the environment does not exceed an acceptable level.

What are the objectives of sustainable spatial planning?

The objectives of sustainable, environmentally orientated spatial planning and development include:

• securing and developing areas and structures of environmental value to the extent that is necessary. Above all, their capacity and sensitivity must be taken into account;
• avoiding or minimising as far as possible negative environmental impacts that would result from various uses on environmental assets, resources and areas to be protected;
• using land sparingly and efficiently, promoting compact, mixed-function settlement structures with high environmental and residential quality and preserving large, undeveloped open spaces;
• taking account of the spatial requirements of climate protection, both through measures that counteract climate change⁠ and through those that promote adaptation to climate change⁠.

Instruments for comprehensive spatial planning

The concerns and instruments of sustainable comprehensive spatial planning and development are primarily anchored in the following laws:

• Spatial Planning Act (ROG) for the supra-local planning level, which provides for the preparation of federal and state spatial plans with objectives, principles and territorial designations for the organisation, development and protection of space,
• 
  Federal Building Code (BauGB) for local planning, which regulates the preparation of land-use plans by the municipalities. These include the legally binding description of the basic principles of land use in the land use plan for the entire municipal area as well as legally binding stipulations for individual building areas in the development plan.

Informal instruments and specialized planning

Informal instruments, as they are known, can also be used to prepare, develop and implement spatially significant plans and measures. For example, these can be development concepts or management strategies and networks that emphasise the process approach to planning by involving various stakeholders and sectors at an early stage. These instruments support the legally anchored planning procedures.

In addition to overall spatial planning, there are several specialized plans with specific spatial and environmental aspects, such as:

• network expansion planning,
• transport route planning,
• water management planning,
• landscape planning.

Some of these have their own legal basis and are linked to spatial planning in different ways.

Important areas for action

Sustainable spatial planning must meet the current challenges of environmental protection New substantive requirements include, for example:

• the provision of land for the expansion of renewable energies,
• spatial adaptation to climate change and demographic change,
• the inclusion of underground and maritime space,
• the resurgence of housing and living in urban neighbourhoods.

In this context, the federal government increasingly has its own planning instruments at its disposal. These include, for example, the federal government’s spatial planning in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the North Sea and Baltic Sea as well as federal requirements planning and federal sectoral planning for the expansion of the extra-high voltage transmission grid. In addition, the federal government is increasingly involved in framework planning initiatives of the European Union.

The German Environment Agency is primarily responsible for the following activities:

• environmental monitoring of international and national initiatives to implement the EU Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning and the EU Recommendation on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (⁠ICZM⁠). This includes the application of the ecosystem approach on which they are based,
• representation of spatial environmental concerns in the preparation and updating of spatial development plans in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea EEZs. support in the implementation of the HELCOM roadmap for maritime spatial planning in the Baltic Sea region and initiation of pilot projects with countries bordering the Baltic Sea,
• participation in existing and new federal sectoral planning, for example in federal requirement and federal sectoral planning for grids and in federal transport infrastructure planning,
• further development of regional planning and construction planning law towards sustainable land use and support for the responsible planning authorities in the implementation of planning law through practical assistance. Current topics include “Climate protection and climate adaptation in spatial planning”, “Planning of habitat corridors”, “Environmental quality in compact and mixed-use urban structures with short travel distances”,
• recommendations for the establishment of underground spatial planning,
• tips for the design of resilient, resource-efficient and demography-proof infrastructures,
• assessment of existing and testing of new economic instruments in order to achieve environmentally orientated, efficient land use. These include, for example, structural support, taxes, levies and land certificates.

The activities and contributions are based, among other things, on the results of research and development projects carried out by the ⁠UBA⁠ to promote sustainable, environmentally friendly spatial development.