Green-blue streets: resource-hub Ückendorf

Ückendorf is a neglected urban area in the post-industrial city of Gelsenkirchen and is frequently confronted with stormwater events flooding streets and basements in the area. Resource-hub Ückendorf proposes to regenerate the area by improving the existing streets, a close-by park and a WW II bunker and by creating new public spaces allowing to manage stormwater, storing water and thermal energy in the bunker transformed to a resource hub and improving the quality of life in the area. Based on the orographic analysis of the area the project proposes a green-blue masterplan distributing and guiding stormwater in a cascade of retention and infiltration areas in private and public space and using the park as a storage for the remaining overshoot. While being usable as pocket parks or playgrounds in dry periods, the redesigned public spaces can be filled with water during storm events. The historic WW II bunker with its thick walls will be transformed to store rainwater for service water use. A large water tank will as well serve as thermal storage connected with a local heating system to be developed.

While the redesigned main road of the area, Bochumer Straße will accommodate rainwater, the existing tramway and the car traffic also in the future, Stephanstraße with the local elementary school can be redesigned integrating bioswales as a main connection between the urban area and the park.