Statute on the avoidance of gravel gardens - Chemnitz

The Statute for the Avoidance of Gravel Gardens (Satzung zur Verhinderung von Schottergärten) in Chemnitz, Germany is a dedicated law to ensure and promote an appropriate greening and design of building plots. Specifically, the creation of gravel areas is to be avoided in green designs to improve living conditions and counteract health hazards caused by the urban climate. The 2022 statute serves to ensure the long-term climate protection goals of the city of Chemnitz and the improvement of water retention as a precaution against flood events. By regulating binding design requirements for the design of the ground conditions and the surface of the undeveloped areas of built-up properties, the same requirements are to be defined for all properties (private and public) and legal certainty is to be guaranteed for the owners.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Dedicated strategy, plan, or law

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Soil quality
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Heat stress and heat island effect
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The Statute Avoidance of Gravel Gardens secures the existence and persistence of nature and therefore also nature-based solutions on the property of private and public owned land in Chemnitz. The qualitative target for the statute is to avoid biodiversity loss where possible, secure rainwater infiltration areas and avoid the local heat island effect created by gravel gardens on built-up properties.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

City of Chemnitz, Urban Development Department, Urban Development Office

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

Chemnitz's Urban Development Department's Urban Development Office was responsible for initiating and overseeing the design of the statute. All relevant departments in the City of Chemnitz were invited to give feedback on the draft during its design and taken into account during its finalization. In addition, all village and city councils had the opportunity to provide feedback and amend parts of the statute.

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The main role of the public and private property owners is to obey the statute during the establischment of their green areas next to their built-up areas. There are no local funds to support the implementation of the statute.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public local authority’s budget

Details about instrument financing:

The municipality paid for the development of the Statute, but the exact amount is not known since it was developed internally. The municipality dose not pay any funding for the implementation actions associated with the Statute.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The intended outcome will be the avoidance of the creation of new gravel gardens within the city boundaries of Chemnitz on private and public land. Thus those private and public green spaces will remain rich in biodiversity and green space, offer infiltration areas for rainwater, contribute to the prevention of flooding events and contribute to a cooler city climate. Given the newness of the statute, no quantified impacts are able to be presented yet.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The creation of the statute was welcomed by the City Council since it already showcase what the upcoming Masterplan on Urban Nature could be capable of. Since it is a binding statute for all built-up areas, it is effective and easy to communicate to citizens and to implement. Since applications of exemption are possible, time will tell how binding the statute is in practice.

Sources and further information

References

Interview(s):

City of Chemnitz, departement for city development , office for city development

Photos

@Stadt Chemnitz