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Regionalpark Rhein Main Frankfurt am Main is known as Germany’s financial capital, with its high-rise buildings, banks and airport hub. The region also offers beautiful landscapes, history and recreational opportunities. These qualities are preserved, developed and linked by the Regionalpark Rhein Main. The park was founded with the idea of protecting the open space between the urban areas in the Rhein Main agglomeration and improving the synergy between nature, agriculture and recreation. The idea of a regional park for the Rhein Main area originated in the early 1990’s. At that time, regional planning was primarily intended to limit urban expansions that would come at the expense of the landscape. This was accomplished by designing so-called green areas and strips to protect open spaces between settlements. Since then, many municipalities have joined the park organization. The budget of the park has had public and private contributions, including the Frankfurt airport operator company. Metropolitan setting and organization Based on the idea of green strips, the concept for a regional park was develop by the regional organisation Umlandverband Frankfurt. Since 2005, the organisation Regionalpark Ballungsraum Rhein Main has taken over coordination of the park. The Frankfurt Rhein Main Regional association has about 2,3 million inhabitants spread over 75 municipalities and an area of almost 25.000 km2. The Regionalpark is supported by 15 partners, including 7 Landkreisen (districts) with 123 municipalities, the Regionalverband Frankfurt Rhein Main and the State of Hesse. The area covered by these different partners counts more than 3 million inhabitants. Preserving and valorising the landscape as important quality of
Regionalpark Rhein Main, 1991 Type of organization: public Focus: metropolitan landscape Scale: 25,000km2, 2,3 million inhabitants, 75 municipalities Contact: Kjell Schmidt www.regionalpark-rheinmain.de Financing model: subsidies, annual contributions and private investors (including environmental compensation)
‘rundroute’ www.regionalpark-rheinmain.de
the region is central to the design and development of the Regional Park. Researchers recently concluded that Regionalpark Rhein Main is not appropriately institutionalized to serve as an effective regional greenbelt, resulting in localized initiatives and the delegation of greenbelt planning to municipalities (Mcdonald e.a., 2020). Network The regional park is conceptualized as a combination of networks: natural, cultural and recreational. Through attractive routes, forgotten parts of the regional landscape are made accessible and perceptible. The route network guides visitors through ancient rural landscapes, idyllic places, industrial heritage and important historic gardens and sites. The routes are designed with respect for the local environment and nature and in order to stimulate experiences of both young and old. More than 200 projects have been realized so far and the park’s route network extends over 1.250 km. Read more: Sara Macdonald, Jochen Monstadt & Abigail Friendly (2020): From the Frankfurt greenbelt to the Regionalpark RheinMain: an institutional perspective on regional greenbelt governance, European Planning Studies
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