The Citizens’ Hall is transformed into a showroom for civil society engagement, with banners, posters and information sheets everywhere. “Green instead of grey”, “Save the urban climate”, “Heat kills. The Minister of Health advises you to seek the shade of large trees”. It doesn’t take long before it gets loud. So many are talking and discussing, engaged, angry. Munich citizens’ initiatives (BI) meet in Forstenried for the purpose of better networking. Active members from around 30 initiatives from all over the city are there.
A sign with a Bavarian Superman leans against one of the tables. The painted mascot of the BI Altstadt-Tal wears Gamsbart and Loferl, as we know them from Oktoberfest visitors: “I am there Willie, there Burger Willie.” Politics from below will be presented for four hours.
“Green spaces versus building” is the title of the fourth BI trade fair. This outlines one of the ongoing conflicts in Munich: What is more important, meadows, fields and trees or new residential buildings? At the meeting organized by Gisela Krupski and Reiner Lang for the Association of Munich Citizens’ Initiatives (BMBI), most people agreed: No further sealing! Save green spaces and fresh air corridors! Many ecologically committed people are in opposition to city politics.
Jürgen Müller sits behind the table at the Aubing-Neuaubing Citizens’ Association and explains how he imagines the future of Munich. The retired manager is active as chairman of the BMBI and criticizes the fact that city politics do not define a limit to how much Munich should grow. He has an answer for himself and the BMBI: “We have already reached the limits.” The city is no longer allowed to build on green and arable land, as is currently the case in Freiham or, according to the plans, soon in Feldmoching and Daglfing.
The city should not attract more companies with lots of jobs
For climate protection reasons and also to cool the heat island of Munich at night, fresh air corridors should no longer be cut. And what about the housing shortage that is supposed to be alleviated with new quarters? In doing so, says Müller, the city is not curbing the price increase, but is actually encouraging further immigration. You can never build enough to accommodate everyone who wants to go to Munich, says Müller. “We have to think of something else.”
The city should stop its “active advertising” so as not to attract more companies with many, often well-paid jobs. Those who come anyway are enough; you can’t ban it. At the same time, the Free State must make those regions more attractive where people are moving away and there is enough living space, especially in the north and east of Bavaria. They suffered from the pull of the heavily promoted metropolitan areas. The state government must compensate for the differences in the country in order to reduce Munich’s pull.
How big this is is shown by figures that Dirk Höpner, city councilor on the Munich list, brings to the trade fair; he took them from official sources: From 2009 to today, the number of residents has increased by a good 16 percent (by around 224,000 people). , that of jobs by 36 percent (almost 250,000 plus), that of students by almost 64 percent (plus 58,000); The number of apartments, however, has only increased by almost eleven percent (a good 81,000).
Compared to stopping the Munich maelstrom, another demand from BMBI chairman Müller would be almost easy to implement: In order to protect green spaces, the city should use areas more sensibly: For example, no longer allow single-story supermarkets with huge parking spaces. Where there is a large shop below, additional floors could be created above. And the city with its stilt houses proves that cars can be parked under elevated houses. Parking spaces should be unsealed so that rainwater can seep away. Overall, Müller would like to see a change in mentality in the town hall: “This pride in the prosperous Munich – this pride is fatal.”
The man who is allowed on stage first is an ally of the pro-green initiatives. Which makes sense, after all Christian Hierneis sits for the Greens in the state parliament. But if you consider that Hierneis’ party has been in power in the town hall almost continuously for decades, his criticism of the conditions in Munich is, even if unspoken, criticism of the city council Greens. For example, he would like to see an expansion of public transport without cutting down hundreds of trees, as is happening for new tram and subway lines.
Almost 100,000 trees were felled between 2011 and 2022
The tree balance in the entire urban area, including private areas, is clearly negative: almost 100,000 trees were felled from 2011 to 2022. Including the 76,000 newly planted, the bottom line is a minus of more than 22,000. He contrasts this with the city’s plan to plant 3,500 trees in public spaces in the next few years for more than 50 million euros, and up to 25,000 euros per tree. It would “almost make more sense,” says Hierneis smugly, to leave the old trees standing.
Sylvia Hladky, former head of the German Museum’s transport center, represents civil society on a voluntary basis in the city’s climate council. She explains how the committee works, how time-consuming it is to work through extensive city council templates in a short time and write a statement. The climate council’s opinion, says Hladky, would then be given to the city councilors as one of many statements; it would be lost in all the papers. The Climate Council’s influence is small, she says; in fact, they have “none at all,” which is why the work is “sometimes frustrating.” But she hasn’t given up hope of increasing effectiveness, after all, “sometimes it’s a thorn in the side.”