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Old Posted Nov 9, 2006, 4:36 PM
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The Berlin Cityscape – an analysis : An outline of Berlin's open space system



Recreation areas on the outskirts of the city
The three traditional recreation areas around the lakes Müggelsee, Wannsee and Tegeler See fulfil several important functions simultaneously: they are vital ecological mitigation areas - most of the city's drinking water comes from here –, sensitive nature reserves and places for the city's inhabitants to relax. The Berlin open space system allows both green corridors to stretch from the city to the surrounding countryside and open space concepts to be implemented in the region. An outer ring of parks is planned for the outskirts of the city.

Planning activities are currently focussed on the north-east of Berlin, where the quality of the landscape and corresponding recreational opportunities are particularly poor. A large recreation area is being developed on an area of over 3,200 hectares in the Berlin sector of the Barnim district. It is the mutual objective of the Berlin and Brandenburg Länder to create spacious recreational landscapes both here and on the southern periphery of the city.

The ring of parks around the inner city
The heavily built-up inner city, which arose during the German Empire, is surrounded by the inner park ring, a belt of public parks, cemeteries and allotments. It must be maintained and in several places enhanced by further open spaces.

The Großer Tiergarten and the green corridors
The Großer Tiergarten is a large park which forms the heart of the city's open space system. It is an integral part of two green corridors in the shape of a cross which are important for the structure of the city: the River Spree, which flows from East to West and the green corridor running from North to South, including the Pankeniederung (lowlands on the Panke River) and the Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal (shipping canal) as far as the Großer Tiergarten. To the south of the Großer Tiergarten are a number of prestigious squares (Potsdamer Platz), open spaces (the Schöneberger Südgelände park), a planned park, the Gleisdreieck area surrounding the railway lines and a green link from the Teltow Canal to the southern outskirts. In addition to these green corridors, the Landscape Programme including Nature Conservation aims to provide a network of green areas which connect the inner city with the outskirts, link the green and open spaces together and link the districts to one another. A plan to create twenty green routes has been taken from the Landscape Programme including Nature Conservation and integrated into the Urban Development Concept 2020 so as to ensure that the limited funds available are used in a sensible fashion.

Private gardens and semi-public open space in residential areas
The wide variety of private gardens, semi-public open spaces and well vegetated residential areas adjacent to the highly concentrated urban districts (and extending far into the inner city) must also be maintained in future because of their instant utilisation and recreation value and ecological importance.
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