dc.description.abstract
This diploma thesis at hand, entitled "Encounter space downtown - Reassessment and enhancement of the pedestrian area Klagenfurt" focuses at a topic the former head of urban planning in Klagenfurt, Dipl.Ing. Eduard KRAIGHER looked at in the early 1960's: The transformation of inner-city areas into pedestrian-related zones and their exclusion of individual motor car traffic.<br />From his considerations, Austria's first pedestrian area was established in 1961 within the medieval city of Klagenfurt, expanding over an area of about 18.400 m². In the following decades, further street sections have been transformed, but an appropriate and comfortable connection between these spread street sections has not satisfactorily been accomplished. The thesis at hand looks at this task and offers an urban development model for the city of Klagenfurt, considering the development in the next eight to ten years.<br />The established urban development model offers a concept based on three ideas. The first idea looks at the situation in Klagenfurt nowadays with its new shopping mall "City-Arkaden Klagenfurt", established in March 2006, which was built on the old ground of the "Neuner-Areal" north of the city (alongside St. Veiter Straße). This latest inner-city shopping attraction caused changes in the urban development of Klagenfurt. On the one hand, shopkeepers, in fear of the overwhelming new supply of goods for mid- and long-term usage, escaped their established surroundings to set up shop at the new shopping mall and leave some areas abandoned and out of business (especially in Bahnhofstraße and interlocking streets), creating vacancy in the ground floor zones of some buildings within the inner-city shopping areas even before the grand opening of the shopping mall. On the other hand, the establishment of the new shopping mall, as well as the upcoming European Soccer Cup in 2008 gave birth to the idea to enlarge the "Klagenfurter Ring" - four roads connected to each other, circling the city districts I to IV. The newly enhanced "Ring" would then provide four lanes for individual motor car traffic to go all around the city, thus reducing traffic in the inner-city streets.<br />The idea of enlarging the "Ring" and building a "four lane city motorway" was used and further developed in this thesis. This leads to a new traffic concept for the city of Klagenfurt, with less traffic within the inner-city: the biggest traffic problems clearly are caused by transit traffic, meaning traffic that only passes through the city without stopping by. Whether it is possible to create car free zones and pedestrian-friendly areas through traffic-reducing measures and to exclude any form of transit traffic from the city, leaving only a "loop concept" for the individual motor car traffic to enter the city, is part of this thesis.<br />The introduction of a new traffic-reduced zone within the city (located in Burggasse, north of Neuer Platz), done by the Department of Urban Planning, is the second idea this thesis deals with. The newly established zone provides ground only for busses, cabs, emergency vehicles and cars coming out of the subterranean garage, situated beneath Neuer Platz, taking this idea to let the existing pedestrian area in Klagenfurt "grow" and merge with the area of the "Neustadt" (the inner-city area built in Renaissances times), or "Rasterstadt" ("grid city") as it is called, too. The third idea derives from the fact that highly frequented streets cause severe pollution through CO2-Emissions and particle emissions - the city of Klagenfurt ranks in the top ten of air polluted cities in Austria -, thus reducing traffic frequency also reduces air pollution.<br />Taking the idea to let the existing pedestrian area in the medieval city expand and grow into the recently mentioned "Neustadt", this diploma thesis deals with a pedestrian area enhancement, done in three phases.<br />"Phase 00" would be the starting point of the project, thinking about the ideally finished enlargement of the "four lane city motorway" and accompanying measures, such as afforestation of the alleys with trees, which were cut down during the enlargement process, and additional road side construction works.<br />During "Phase 01" the existing pedestrian area should "grow" for the first time, merging with the other pedestrian zones, mentioned previously. Some minor roads, that are not so highly frequented by traffic should also be shut down and transformed into pedestrian areas.<br />Following "Phase 01", there will be a transition period which should give the inhabitants of Klagenfurt, as well as the city government and the Department of Urban Planning time to consider further steps. A positive response of the public - obtained through an opinion poll - should mark the transition to "Phase 02".<br />In "Phase 02", the pedestrian area encounters its final dimensions, as proposd in this thesis. This interim stage will be reached by also cutting off streets, that are highly frequented by individual motor car traffic and therefore has to be done fast and efficiently, without letting the city-life run out. During the enhancement of the pedestrian area, the "loop concept" for the individual motor car traffic will also be established, making it also possible for non-residents to enter and exit the city by their cars.<br />"Phase 03" will be the final stage of the proposed measures. During this phase, the shopping mall "City-Arkaden" will undergo certain refurbishments to fit the urban master plan. The establishment of a shopping passage, as well as the development of a "roof park" and the recovery of an urban green space nearby will mark the end of "Phase 03" and of this thesis.
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