Free space for Bern! A Gasworks Charter
1. building at city level. Open space at alluvial level.
The 2014 test planning already showed that the alluvial plain cannot be accessed by public transport and that the connection to the urban plain is not very suitable for bicycles due to the topography. The STEK 2016 shows that there are many densification areas in Bern. Smart internal densification means not building in poorly developed locations!
2. the Aare valley makes Bern.
The slopes of the Aare and the alluvial plain shape the historical identity of the city of Bern. The coherence of the Aare valley as a natural space is a condition for the preservation of the historic townscape of the densely built-up old town and the green Aare area. Overbuilding on the alluvial plain is not compatible with the objectives of the Aare Valley Protection Ordinance!
3. housing destroys the urbanity of the alluvial plain.
The alluvial plain is one of the most urban places in Bern today for EVERYONE due to the multi-layered use of open space, precisely because people do not live there. A small development that is poorly integrated into the urban road network does not make a “vibrant quarter”, but leads to conflicts of use. Residential use prevents vibrant use of alluvial plain due to federal noise ordinance!
4 A growing city needs central green spaces.
Bern is growing. According to the housing strategy, thousands of new apartments will be built in the next few years, there will be many more Bernese. Not only the houses, but also the easily accessible open spaces in the city must be able to grow with them. The alluvial plain is the unique Central Park for the greater Bern of tomorrow!
5. a denser city needs social open spaces.
Future generations also need spaces for their Free Lands Zaffaraya, their gas kettles, their festivals… Inner densification also means the loss of social open spaces and niches due to increasing pressure to upgrade and increasing conflicts of use. The Schwemmebene is the last big social open space of Bern, especially for the youth!
6. a hotter city needs large cooling rooms.
Climate change and interior densification exacerbate the heat island effect. In a few years, Bern will have the climate of Milan. The Aare valley is the city’s main wind tunnel, the dense vegetation cools through shading and evaporation. The Aareraum is the most important cooling space for the city, but only if it remains unsealed!
7. a unique natural space for all living creatures.
The city of the future must offer space for the coexistence of all living beings. The habitat and the central networking of habitats must be preserved in the Aare Valley!
8. a bank of the Aare without dams.
The costly dam construction, which restricts the spatial coherence, ecological connectivity and usability of the banks of the Aare, can be dispensed with without settlement development in favour of object-related measures. The first commandment of settlement planning is: Do not build in the floodplain!
9. a free alluvial plain without financial loss.
From the City Council’s submission of 11 September 2019: “However, if the population were to reject a rezoning, there would be a loss for the fund, at least temporarily. Based on the fact that ewb is a wholly owned subsidiary of the city and the fund is a municipally owned company with special accounts, the purchase would not result in any additional financial risk for the city as a whole, since it is merely a transfer of the site from ewb to the fund.”
10. added value for the whole of Bern and the region!
The seasons can be experienced on the open alluvial plain, the Aare swimmers run upstream, young people find their space for new things, nature is in the city, the circus performs, there are views of the Münster and the Bundesterrasse, bicycles ride along the banks from near to far. The Aare Valley belongs to all, not just a few!
