Dundorf

[TheNick]

Chontalen Launches "GrünWerk", the State's First Ever Urban Revitalization Project
May5673

---

People in the "Flussufer Viertel" neighborhood of Rabesburg, a project of the Rabesburg city government that inspired the new State Government.

---

Rabesburg - The Landtag of Chontalen, the state's legislative body governed by a broad center-left majority, approved yesterday a new urban revitalization package worth 700 millions of Marks called "GrünWerk", a name that combines the priorities of the four parties that currently govern the state: the Environment, a issue dear specifically to Green Party and the Social Democratic Party (DSDP), and Labor issues, a very important priority of the Dundorfian Social Union (DSU) and Dundorfian Red Front (DRF). The state of Chontalen has a long history of being one of Dundorf's most industrialized areas, in particular the city of Fuchstal, and as a result of this history the investments in green policies or the adoption of community-centered urban policies, as opposed to the industry-centric policies, are minimal. The approved project would feature in its first stage three of Chontalen's biggest cities: Fuchstal, Rittersheim and Rabesburg.

For years, various State Governments, always more or less led by the Left, have set their priority to industry and worker's rights protection in an highly industrial and unionized State. The decline in the industrial workforce and the rise of the services sector, something that has already happened in other States like Dunlake and Oderveld, has prompted the question: what should we do with abandoned industrial areas or poorly designed neighborhoods in our cities?  The newly elected local government of Minister-President Anneliese Schäfer, a member of the Green Party, has found the solution in "GrünWerk": with this project, the local administration intends to convert abandoned industrial areas and other decaying buildings into green homes, in the form of solar-powered apartment buildings, into new commercial areas with a mostly walkable design. Other industrial areas are planned to be transformed into parks with the preservation of some industrial buildings for historical and cultural purposes, and to this end the city of Rabesburg is planning to open a museum, the Museum of Industrial History, in one of the neighborhoods that will be renovated. 

Another area included in GrünWerk regards roads and railtracks once used by industrial plants, that now are abandoned and constitute an element of urban decay. These elements will be converted in the so-called "Green Corridors": bike and pedestrian paths that will go through the city and connect various neighborhoods. In particular it will be the city of Rittersheim to benefit mostly from this policy area of GrünWerk because of the city's vast and abandoned network of infrastructure that served the old industry. "Today's industry in Rittersheim is mostly located outside the city limit and is well served by a Federal Highway, so all the former industrial infrastructure located in the city limits is useless and has the potential to be converted in Green Corridors that will unite the city", said the Mayor of Rittersheim, Franz Paulen. Another provision in the policy package, are the incentives to fund cultural and social spaces within the renovated districts: museums, like the planned Museum of Industrial History in Rabesburg, sport areas, theatres and local markets.

Finally, GrünWerk includes also a set of protections for the current people living in the to-be-renovated neighborhoods: Minister-President Schäfer said in her press conference that she is "well-aware of the risk of gentrification and exclusion that local people face as property values and rent increase too much after the renovations", therefore Chontalen will be the first State to adopt a rent cap for the new housing in the renovated districts, and will also prioritize the current residents of those districts when it comes to assign public housing or other benefits to keep housing affordable. "We will have better cities, and we won't put the poor people that already live there in jeopardy", said Ms. Schäfer.

According to polls, the project is well-received by the population: 69% of Chontalonians approve, 24% disapprove and 6% are unsure, during the parliamentary proceedings, the center-right opposition in the Landtag decried excessive government intervention and an outright "socialist takeover": This sham project is specifically designed to weaken our private sector, punish landlords, and establish the government's control over the dynamics of the housing market. In other words, Minister-President Schäfer is letting the communists in her government to dictate her agenda and facilitate the socialist takeover of this State! We oppose this and we are sure that Chontalonians will see the truth about GrünWerk!", said the local Conservative Federal Party (KBP) Leader, Mr. Otto Lehman. After the final vote in the Landtag, the Business' Association of Chontalen State released a press statement saying: "The newly approved project has certainly interesting ideas to combat urban decay, which is a priority of ours too. But rent controls and other provisions seem like an unnecessary limitation of the free market inserted in there to please the communists and radical leftists (DRF, Ed.). We hope Minister-President Schäfer shows more backbone in the future, and stand up for the economic freedom rights of the Chontalonian people".

Here's the logo presented by Ms.  Schäfer that will be featured in the construction sites related to GrünWerk: