'LesSON' – Liveable roads, places and neighbourhoods

The project is one of a series on the environment, nature conservation and transport funded by the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia to transform urban neighbourhood roads into climate resilient, green and decarbonised meeting places that are more pleasant places to live.

After a conceptual framework was devised, the concept was tested on two specific neighbourhood roads in Dortmund (Neuer Graben) and Gelsenkirchen (Lothringer Straßen). The example of the two roads has shown how the transformation to liveable neighbourhood roads can be achieved.

The two projects developed ambitious, socially sustainable designs for the two roads in a jointly creative and collaborative process. The extensive planning and participation processes were enabled by the project consortium. The drafts were approved by the municipal authorities and political bodies and submitted as part of a regional competition entitled 'Zukunft Stadtraum' (Future of Urban Areas) and received support from the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Homeland, Municipalities, Building and Digitalisation.

As a result, both cities have access to urban development support and the implementation of the draft plans. Experience from the project will now be used for other cities/roads.