After a swift breakfast at our Hotel Hopper in Köln, we boarded a chartered bus and drove an hour through the rainy and gray Ruhr region to Duisburg. Duisburg on the Rhine River, the largest inland harbor in Europe, looked to me alot like Newark or Port Elizabeth in New Jersey! Upon arrival, we were received by the head of the Strategic City Planning for Duisburg and entered the City Hall. Another Patre Nostre elevator! These unique elevators never fail to entertain! The presentation by the city planner focused on how the industrial city of Duisburg redefining itself by redoing its infrastructure and urban planning.
Why was all this necessary for Duisburg? Duisburg's city planning after WWII was fraught with bad decisions: clearing city areas to make space for wide roads (to accomodate the boom in auto ownership, reflecting the "freie Fahrt, freie Bürger" mentality), building a major road that cuts through the historic downtown, scaring off investors by backing out of a retail zone project at the last minute, spending lots of money building a U-Bahn that is not used, building pedestrian paths too wide, building too many surface parking lots, etc. These issues were to be dealt with by awarding the city planning contract, Innenhafen Rebuilding & Development, to Foster & Partner, a British firm.
The solution? A master plan from this world-renowned firm that would regain investor trust and give the project political support and momentum. The speaker gave us Foster's presentation which went into great detail and supported its ideas with interesting research and data. Some suggestions include rebuilding the pedestrian Innenstadt (core part of town), developing the waterfront property, diverting commuter traffic, promoting multifunctional services, attracting artists, and focusing recreation and resources to the waterfront.
Duisburg on the Rhein River
Patre Nostra: these elevators are constantly moving and you have to jump on and off them. Nothing like a little risk dimension to a workplace!
Getting seated: our group is getting assembled in the conference room where we will learn about the city planning project in Duisburg. Notice the large map on the back wall. Much of the area is covered with steel processing and other industrial business.
the Alte Rathaus: we toured this beautiful municipal building after the presentation.
Walking tour: on this tour we saw first hand how the city is in the process of getting a face lift. Here we are in the mall and noticing its unique construction.
The "core competency": the Duisburg waterfront was identified as the key unique selling point of the city and thus became the destination for investment.
Looks like New Jersey!: here cars are awaiting further transport to dealerships.
Realwirtschaft: here we see the "real economy" in action. This Ruhr region is home to steel manufacturers such as Thyssen-Krupp and many logistics firms. Mr Thyssen built his empire on grand visions of capitalist value-added and some of the world's largest smelters and steel ovens.
Forlorn: mothballed mansions of the industrial elite of the days gone by. The tour guide on the bus told us these homes are on sale for cheap. Anyone interested in industry-front property?
"Coexistence of faiths - the DiTiB Mosque and religious meeting place in Duisburg-Marxloh"
Spectacular: the interior artwork of the mosque dome.
Following the tour of the industry parks of Duisburg, we bussed to a quiet residential part of town where Germany's largest mosque was just completed on October 2008. On first impression, the mosque did not seem that large at all. Once inside, we discussed the role of a mosque in the Muslim faith and how this mosque was a model institution for religious tolerance. The mosque, in addition to being a traditional prayer house and meeting place, extended beyond its religion and embraced Jewish and Catholic citizens in dialogue. The scholar showing us around was very informative and even showed us where the prayers took place. Amazing!
The mosque sign.
The mosque exterior.
Sitting in the prayer room: here we sat and learned about the religion and how its members integrate into the Western-European societies. The highlight was when he sang us a prayer and it revereberated beautifully in the dome.
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