Since 2016, Munich residents have been collecting votes for the citizens’ initiative “Preserve green spaces – design Munich carefully”. The trigger was the debate about the Truderinger Useless Meadow. The chance that the city council will soon have to deal with the matter increases with the number of signatures. Two of the initiators, Christine Burger and Stefan Hofmeir, explain what they are about.
SZ: You collect signatures for the preservation of green spaces. Why?
Stephen Hofmeir: I come from the citizens’ initiative “Save the useless meadow”. We were able to save the meadow from development. After the success we wanted to do it for the whole of Munich. For all green areas that are designated in the land use plan and included in the green area statute. So it’s about urban areas.
Christine Burger: Preserving green spaces is a social issue. It is important that all people in the city have access to green spaces within walking distance, and not just the better off who can afford to live close to them. Those who live there enjoy fresher, cleaner air that has been proven to be filtered of pollutants. It is important to me that there is a change in awareness in politics and administration. Green spaces are not nice to have. The people who want to preserve them are committed to an elementary common good for all citizens of this city.
What exactly are you requesting?
Citizens: Quite simply: All green areas listed in the green area statute remain in place and are not speculative and negotiable for building projects. And the next demand is that politics and administration finally stop with the contradiction they have constructed between housing construction and green spaces. Both are equal commons that must not be played off against each other.
Does that mean you are not against the creation of new living space?
Citizens: No way. On the contrary: new living space must be created, but intelligently. Green has to be considered, and it is not a solution to seal off existing green areas to create living space, and the people there then have no green again.
How many Munich residents have already signed for these concerns?
Hofmeir: We have passed 55,000. With an assumed validity rate of around 60 percent, the quorum has been reached. We are still collecting so that we can submit 60,0000 signatures.
Citizens: Personally, I’m overwhelmed. The numbers roll over. We notice that this is an absolute wish of the people of Munich.
Hofmeir: Especially now, in weeks like this, when you notice the overheating every day.
What’s next?
Hofmeir: We collect until autumn. As soon as the number of signatures is marked as sufficient by the district administration department, it goes to the city council, which then has to deal with the question. Then there are several variants: Either he accepts the request directly. That would be ideal. The second variant is that he uses a council decision that the citizens have to answer two questions on the day of the election. Or they only allow it to be voted on, set a date on which all Munich residents are then called upon to make a decision. It will be a very big campaign for us to encourage more than 100,000 people in Munich to tick ‘yes’.