Freiburg: The emblematic green city

The City of Freiburg in Southern Germany is seen as a model case of urban sustainability in general and green building in particular. It features a high density of research institutions focused on alternative energy, strict sustainability policies including Freiburg’s energy standards, early pioneer projects in green building and large-scale sustainable greenfield and brownfield neighbourhoods. Driven by concerns around renewable energy, local experiments with alternative and green buildings can be traced back to the late 1970s. Freiburg’s green neighbourhoods of Rieselfeld and Vauban have attracted international attention since their development in the 1990s. This chapter discusses these developments within the local context of an alternative milieu characterised by engaged and environmentally conscious citizens, a concentration of support institutions and strong political will. While Freiburg’s green legacy is largely ascribed to bottom-up processes linked to strong narratives of this alternative milieu, Freiburg’s recent greening policies have become more entrepreneurial and outward facing. This marks a shift in Freiburg’s green building transition away from civic initiatives focused on the provision of liveable and sustainable neighbourhoods for the local population towards more top-down initiatives of city branding and competitive positioning at the supra-regional scale that risk neglecting social objectives in favour of economic and environmental dimensions of green building.