The Working Group on Urban Development and Open Space Planning met for its online session on 22 April 2026, for the first time under the chairmanship of its newly elected specialist spokesperson, Thomas Dietrich.
The working group focused intensively on issues of social participation and safety in public spaces. The members agreed to incorporate the approaches developed in this regard into existing event and communication formats in a targeted manner and to continue the professional exchange on an ongoing basis. A first step is the inclusion of relevant issues in this issue of the association’s journal on station forecourts. Furthermore, further possibilities were discussed for embedding the professional discourse within the association in the long term and for addressing different target groups.
Considerable time was also devoted to a discussion of current legislative developments. Discussions centred on the draft bill to modernise urban development and spatial planning law, which addresses numerous issues relevant to landscape architecture. In addition, the working group prepared to provide technical support for the National Restoration Plan for the implementation of the EU Regulation on the restoration of nature. Following the meeting, several members took part in the online consultation organised by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, contributing in particular their expertise on Article 8, ‘Restoration of urban ecosystems’.
With a newly established list of topics, the working group is also turning its attention to future challenges. Topics such as planning and building within the existing built environment, the ‘sponge city’ concept, ‘grey energy’ and the implementation of European guidelines are intended to structure future technical work and help set the priorities for upcoming meetings.
Source: bdla association journal “landschaftsarchitekt:innen” 2/2026
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