The Munich Perspective

The growing region of Munich is facing ongoing challenges. In 1998 the city council decided on a major urban development strategy called The Munich Perspective. EBP carried out a post-evaluation of this strategy and made recommendations for an optimal future approach. This study was carried out jointly with the Department of Spatial Development at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and with the contribution of Planning Professor Barbara Zibell from the University of Hannover.

A pioneer evaluation of a complex urban development strategy

The Bavarian metropolis is well known for its high quality of life. The city’s urban policy greatly contributes to its high quality development. The Munich Perspective is an important part of that, covering essential urban policy issues such as economic prosperity, public spaces, neighbourhood development and integration policy. Our encompassing review of the city's strategy was a pioneer job both for the city and for our team and as far as known no similar studies have so far been undertaken for other cities. It included the systematic evaluation of the achievement of objectives from the year 1998. Moreover, we examined the efficiency of internal city processes and the communication with the public. Thirdly, we assessed the contents and structure of The Munich Perspective on their future applicability. In extensive workshops we came up with approaches of how the city wants to master future challenges.

Great success, challenges remain

What have the guidelines and strategies that were decided in 1998 achieved? It was, for instance, possible to greatly increase the inner city residential and commercial densification, accompanied by an increase of the inner city population density. The city was actively and successfully cooperating with private investors and actors in this area. Challenges remain with the binding cooperation with the surrounding regional communities.

What's next?

In the summer of 1997 we submitted our evaluation report to the city council. It serves as a basis for The Perspective's revision and the city's future internal process design.

Picture Credits: Wikimedia Commons, chumwa, CC-BY-SA 2.0 DE