Building Minister Klara Geywitz has called on cities and municipalities to adapt to climate change in terms of construction. This is one of the major challenges at the moment. The cities need more fresh air corridors, more water and more greenery, which helps to cool the area, said the SPD politician in Babelsberg.
"We need more green in the city, and our cities must also be able to store more water when we look at the heavy rain events," said the minister. "If we want to plant trees, then of course they need space," she told the broadcasters RTL and n-tv. Therefore, the mobility concepts would have to be reconsidered, because cars take up a lot of space. It's about "not wasting space just for parking, but that you have a combination option," said Geywitz.
Green facades – rivers in the city
The federal government wants to promote projects for street and facade greening and also the construction of inner-city rivers and streams – this "of course also cools the area and is also beautiful".
Municipalities can submit applications until October
Within the framework of urban development funding, the federal government provides 790 million euros in funding for urban development every year. In order to receive money from this pot, it is now a basic requirement that the funded projects also serve to adapt to climate change.
In another pot, the federal program for the adaptation of urban areas to climate change, another 467 million euros are available. Municipalities could still submit applications for at least one million euros by October in order to show “modelly” what is possible, said Geywitz.
Green and open space projects that bind CO2 or combat "urban climate deficits", such as heat islands, are funded. The entire program is therefore aimed at complex projects that combine existing green spaces into more efficient networks, and quarters that heat up particularly well, relieve them in a targeted manner or convert large asphalted areas into green and water areas.
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