Reviving the Ruhr

Preparing the Peri-urban Ruhr for an uncertain energy & climate future

More Info
expand_more

Abstract

With the climate change and energy transition becoming evident and ever so relevant, industrialised regions focussed on fossil fuels need to rethink their socio-economic plan. Furthermore, urban designers are obliged to rethink the energy paradigm. This report combines energy landscape and resilient region theory and applies it on the peri-urban and industrialised polycentric metropolitan region of the Ruhr, Germany. The present structure of the metropolitan region is analysed and linked - using existing literature - to energy consumption and potential energy production. Using scenario building, design exploration is applied to strenghen ecosystem services as a way to adapt to the climate and implement sustainable energy landscapes. These sustainable energy landscapes are the spatial element of the energy transition and the new energy system. Furthermore, these landscapes facilitate climate adaptation. This report is a research-based design experiment, proposing an alternate energy transition strategy, focussing on ecosystem services, while improving the spatial quality of the peri-urban Ruhr area.