Combining non-profit status with private investors: The effect is faster planning and realisation due to consideration of social interests and the environment from the outset - and at the same time a high-quality, long-term construction method

If planning, construction and operation are carried out on a non-profit basis with tangible benefits for large sections of the population and nature, then a major infrastructure project will meet with much less resistance than, for example, Stuttgart 24 or the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel.

If financing is nevertheless provided by private investors, this has the advantage that tendering rules can be laid down in the non-profit statutes of the bridge companies for planning, construction and operation without having to apply extremely complex EU tendering procedures. This not only increases the quality of the service in all service phases, but also the speed with which it is carried out.

Non-profit status therefore leads to faster implementation (and thus significantly lower costs) not despite, but precisely because of the consideration of the civil right of co-determination, which is anchored in the statutes by the non-profit purposes.

The transfer of ownership to the investing owners after 30, 50 or even 100 years ensures a congruence of interests as far as the quality and longevity of the structure is concerned: purely public construction projects often lack competence, and purely profit-driven construction projects are geared towards quick profit in their construction method and are accordingly designed for a service life of 40 or 50 years - such as many of our motorway bridges or large commercial real estate complexes.

The example of Frankfurt's bridges shows that it is possible to align and reconcile two actually differently orientated target lines - that of the less affluent population or silent nature and that of the well-funded investors. 

In addition to the structural-organisational aspect of the Frankfurt Bridge Concept, infrastructural approaches of the concept are also transferable to other large construction projects - as are numerous concept components of the neighbourhood design on the bridges. A few examples of this are given below. 

 

Applicable to all infrastructure projects (II): Not compensation for the destruction of nature, but proactive structural integration of environmental and species-promoting installations should be part of every major construction project by default

Comprehensive measures to promote species conservation can also be integrated directly into any infrastructure construction, so that it serves as a protective refuge for endangered species - even for species that are not directly affected by the construction project, but are also not promoted.

With various nesting boxes or installation blocks on and in the building structure, countless roosts for bird species or bats and similar animals can always be created "by default", so to speak. animals in the respective region. Green areas along and around such a structure should provide a species-appropriate food and nesting base with appropriate installations for nesting, watering etc.

The structural promotion of biodiversity should therefore be an important part of planning from the outset - for all animal and plant species for which it is fundamentally possible.

In this way, every major infrastructure project should simultaneously become a targeted major nature conservation project.
 

Applicable to all infrastructure projects (III): Examination of the use of geothermal energy in tunnels and other large infrastructure structures - including linking with local district heating/cooling potentials

Even though geothermal installations are already an integral part of many roadways and streets in countries such as Sweden and Iceland, and are also often planned as a supplementary heating source for new neighbourhoods in Central Europe, the Altes Neuland Frankfurt Foundation's approach of automatically planning geothermal energy into every building foundation has so far only been used in isolated cases. Yet every structure, whether bridge or tunnel, equipped with probes for near-surface geothermal energy could not only support itself but also neighbouring buildings in terms of energy.

It should always be checked whether there are other sources of low-temperature waste heat in the vicinity, such as data centres, wastewater systems or industrial parks, so that this energy can be collected in a network to be created underground and distributed to buildings along the network as required. So far, there is a lack of such pipework systems in urban areas, which act like an underground ring main and store both geothermal energy and waste heat (and possibly also the heat collected by PVT hybrid collectors from neighbouring building surfaces) in the ground.  Any large infrastructure project could potentially become the nucleus for such a pipework system. 
 

Applicable to all urban planning (I): Humane neighbourhood planning

The Stiftung Altes Neuland Frankfurt always proposes a sensible combination of buildings as a basic principle of planning for the bridge neighbourhoods: Functions of buildings should not be considered in isolation in any urban planning, but should be carried out along human relationships or needs.

For example, crèches and retirement homes should be built next to each other if possible: Even if each of the two buildings should have its own large outdoor area, this also provides the opportunity to create a shared outdoor area where senior citizens can sit and watch the little under-threes playing in the sandpit or even entertain the very young ones in their pushchairs. The little ones in particular are happy for any loving attention, and senior citizens often love the contact with small children in an environment otherwise characterised by old people. With the growing number of single households, the ageing of many societies and similar phenomena, urban planners should take such concepts of human connection much more into account. time phenomena.

Another example is homeless shelters: If they are designed in an innovative and architecturally appealing way, they are more readily accepted, even in better neighbourhoods, and more investors are found to invest in such buildings in order to take them over after a useful life of a few decades and convert them into attractive properties. Conventional shelters for the homeless tend to be of inferior quality from the outset and lead to marginalisation rather than inclusion. 
 

Applicable to all urban planning (II): The concept of low-plastic subsurface irrigation for roof and canopy greening to avoid microplastic streams during heavy rainfall events

More and more façades and roofs around the world are being greened in order to take the sustainability of a building into account. Underfloor irrigation systems are particularly popular, as less water evaporates than with spray irrigation. However, it is forgotten that most systems have a high plastic content. As soon as the plastic weathers after years or decades, microplastics are potentially released and washed into the wastewater via gutters or over the roof edges into nature during rain events. If millions or even billions of roofs worldwide were to be greened with plastic-intensive systems, streams of microplastics could be released into nature. Accordingly, the Altes Neuland Frankfurt foundation has developed a concept for Frankfurt's bridges that should be applied to all green roofs worldwide:  The principle works in a similar way to intensive green roofs - only largely plastic-free and longer-lasting:

Inert carbon concrete columns support the underfloor irrigation level and the capillary effect supplies the root zone of the plants with water. If the plants need more water on hot days, they also draw more water from the capillary system. At the bottom of the retention layer, a sophisticated control system ensures that there is always enough water available. Beds with a very high water requirement are equipped with more (hollow rock wool-filled) carbon concrete columns than beds with a lower water requirement - a system that enables low-plastic green roofs even in extremely dry areas. 
 

Applicable to all urban planning (III): Polysun simulation of energy self-sufficient neighbourhoods with PVT and geothermal energy

In modern neighbourhood planning, the generation, storage and consumption of all electrical and thermal energy components must be installed and controlled in their interaction. In order to optimise the use of surplus renewable energy and at the same time avoid supply bottlenecks using state-of-the-art controlling methods, simulations such as those created by the Altes Neuland Frankfurt foundation for the Frankfurt bridge districts must be created.

The calculation of energy generation and energy consumption over time is the basis for designing a sophisticated storage landscape that will be the counterpart to the volatile renewable energies in the smart city of the future.

Each neighbourhood planned in this way can form the core of a "smart city transformation" of the rest of the city: The energy system of such a neighbourhood can serve as a platform to develop a modern grid control system including infrastructure, which can then be transferred to the entire city.
 

Applicable to all urban planning (IV): Modelling of traffic on proprietary autonomous routes, controlled by self-learning systems

In a large-scale traffic simulation (with AnyLogic), the Altes Neuland Frankfurt foundation demonstrated how energy-saving, pleasant, fast and safe an autonomous transport system can be. The simulation not only took into account all gradients, bends and stops, but also peak times at certain stations in Frankfurt (e.g. schools in the morning before 8.00 a.m.) or transport hubs such as the main railway station. All stops on the entire modelled route network were simulated. Only one direction of travel was simulated, which is travelled with 50% of all existing vehicles. The aim of the simulation was to determine the performance of the system under maximum load.

The simulation results show that with autonomously driving vehicles that are centrally controlled, braking and acceleration are reduced to a minimum and all vehicles with an average speed of less than 20 km/h still reach their destination in city traffic at the same time or faster than the vehicles today (which, incidentally, would also enable a significant reduction in microplastic emissions).

Any metropolis could implement such a system by identifying proprietary routes (e.g. in new development areas) where vehicles are "hooked" into the centrally controlled roadways as they drive in, allowing drivers to sit back and let the vehicle drive itself within the system. As soon as you drive out, the driver takes control of the vehicle again. 
 

Applicable to all urban planning (V): Modelling of unique objects, in particular the re-modelling of vintage cars with the help of 3D scans, becomes affordable

Cities that introduce autonomous driving on a larger scale can not only provide fast and convenient transport services for their citizens with a car-sharing model for autonomous vehicles, but also offer particularly comfortable vehicles or vehicles that enrich the streetscape: Because there are virtually no accidents in centrally controlled transport systems, vehicle bodies can be designed to be extremely sophisticated - because they last 100 years or more. Futuristic space cars can contribute to a fascinating streetscape, as can hand-turned vintage cars or vehicles with flower boxes.

Every classic car has its very own shape. In order to create a modern version of a classic car as close as possible to the original, the Altes Neuland Frankfurt foundation scanned a classic car body, because only within the framework of the correct cubature can the elements that are needed for the interior of modern vehicles, be they H2 - or electric vehicles (fuel cell, hydrogen tanks, battery, etc.), be arranged precisely. The vehicle was then remodelled on the computer using the remaining correct points and adapted to the requirements of modern use and technology. In this way, an extremely high-quality fleet can be created for citizens that is still very affordable in the long term. 
 

Applicable to all urban planning (V): Implementation of take-away cleaning stations in shopping centres or shopping malls, where plastic-free packaging from surrounding restaurants can be handed in for reusable use

Most city centres suffer from pollution caused by discarded take-away packaging. The Altes Neuland Frankfurt foundation has developed a solution to this problem: Take-away food made from glass tableware or wafer-thin enamelled stainless steel! Eating out of these is more pleasant than eating out of packaging: The containers are food-safe, neutral in flavour, can be cleaned hygienically and can be recycled (years later). However, glass has one disadvantage: it breaks relatively easily. If you make the glass thicker, it becomes more break-resistant, but also heavier. But there is a solution to this: hardened, shatterproof thin glass. Over the last two decades, research into glass technology for smartphones has led to rapid improvements in break resistance: The experience gained from these fields of research can be utilised for the further development of take-away tableware made from shatterproof glass.

These take-away containers can be returned to the respective caterers in attractively designed collection machines, which are de facto dishwasher rondels with mini compartments - the deposit on them when purchasing is credited back via a catering app. The containers are cleaned using steam and UV radiation, i.e. with comparatively little water or washing-up liquid. Packaging made of lightweight, shatterproof glass (or alternatively thin enamelled stainless steel) also fulfils another important criterion: even if they end up somewhere in the environment, break or are disposed of incorrectly, they leave no microplastics behind.