The city wants to plant up to 150 additional trees in the pedestrian zones of the old town. This is intended to improve the quality of stay and take into account the increasing heat on summer days. Awnings, mist systems and mobile water dispensers were also examined as alternatives, but were rejected by the building department as difficult to implement.
There should also be improvements for the summer roads from 2025. The sometimes very dreary furnishings are to be attractively supplemented by a private provider, for example with wooden furniture or play equipment.
“With additional trees, we are now providing cooling on hot days and a better urban climate – and making our pedestrian zone fit for the future,” explained SPD city councilor Klaus Peter Rupp after the corresponding decision in the building committee. In addition, more greenery together with attractive shops and restaurants also ensure greater attraction.
But it will take some time until the first new trees are up. The 150 potential locations, for example on Neuhauser and Kaufingerstrasse, Dienerstrasse and Weinstrasse, Rosenstrasse and Sendlinger Strasse, still have to be thoroughly examined for technical feasibility and must be coordinated with residents and the monument protection authority. “This prudent approach takes into account the highly sensitive and highly frequented area of the old town,” explained building officer Jeanne-Marie Ehbauer, according to the announcement.
To cool down on hot days, the CSU would also have liked to set up water mist dispensers that could cool passers-by with extremely thin droplets. According to the building department, around 200 mobile devices are being set up in Vienna to spread such spray mist. Building an infrastructure for this in Munich would be too complex and too expensive, explained the building department and the Munich municipal utilities as water suppliers. In addition, there is always the risk of contamination, for example from legionella.
The summer streets should also become significantly more attractive. Since 2020, the city has closed around ten streets to traffic every year under this motto in order to make them available to residents and passers-by. For this purpose, the building department kept around 2,000 plants available per year. But the furnishings often seem uninviting; the planters and chairs common in pedestrian zones were “not sufficiently attractive,” according to the building department.
A private provider is now expected to deliver the furniture from 2025, and only seven to nine summer streets will be designated for this purpose each year. They should then be used more. “Game elements such as table tennis tables are also important to us,” explained Green Party city councilor Florian Schönemann.