More and more people are moving to Munich. According to the administration’s forecast, by 2040 the number of inhabitants could increase by a quarter of a million to more than 1.8 million. The fact that all these people need living space is particularly noticeable where there is still free space: in the outskirts of the city. Where green spaces are used for local recreation today, residential buildings could be erected in many places in the future – which local people often see with concern.
This is also the case in Feldmoching-Hasenbergl in the north of Munich. The further development of the district was one of the central topics at this year’s citizens’ meeting on Wednesday evening. “Future urban development must be in harmony with nature,” said Rainer Großmann (CSU), chairman of the Feldmoching-Hasenbergl district committee, in front of several hundred citizens in the well-filled multi-purpose hall on Georg-Zech-Allee. He assured that the preservation of the open spaces in the district has top priority for the district committee. “Green belts must be strengthened and networked with green spaces in the area,” demanded Großmann.
Around 62,400 people currently live in Feldmoching-Hasenbergl. According to city forecasts, the district is set to grow by half over the next few years and by 2040 will have room for more than 93,000 residents. Several areas in the district are to be built on for this purpose, such as Lerchenauer Feld. Großmann announced that construction could probably begin there in 2024. The Munich city council also wants to create living space in the Ludwigsfeld settlement in western Feldmoching: up to 2,000 apartments are to be built there. Grossmann said: “The results of the urban planning competition will be presented in March 2023.”
The district committee rejects new quarters and densification in Hasenbergl
According to the will of the district committee, residential construction projects should be limited to the areas already planned. The district committee rejects the creation of a new urban district as well as densification in Hasenbergl, explained Großmann. Leisure and local recreation areas should not be further developed.
Concern about a declining quality of life due to the increasing population also drove many visitors to the citizens’ assembly. A resident of the Ludwigsfeld settlement described how more residents there automatically mean less green space per capita. That’s why he called for an expansion of the green spaces and a better connection to the Allach Forest. The city should apply for the State Garden Show 2026, where you can then redesign the green areas around Ludwigsfeld. With the application, which the majority of the citizens present accepted, the residents followed on from an initiative by the city council faction of the CSU and Free Voters. After the city of Schweinfurt withdrew as organizer because the costs were too high, the Munich Christian Socialists applied at the end of October for the state capital to apply for the garden show.
More green spaces for the citizens could also be made accessible by opening the Virginia depot west of Schleissheimer Strasse. A special biotope for animals and plants has developed on the former military site over the past decades, which can only be entered as part of guided tours by the State Association for Bird and Nature Conservation, which looks after the area. A citizen now demanded that the city should start a participatory process with citizens, scientists and specialist planners on how the site can be opened to the general public. A concern that many citizens obviously share: the motion was passed with a large majority.
A large majority of the residents present also voted in favor of a motion calling for the controversial development of the Eggarten settlement to be stopped. However, the city council has long since decided that the historic garden settlement between Nordring and Lerchenauer See should give way to a residential area. The demolition of the garden houses has been going on since autumn last year.