Lessons in Rural Persuasion: Village Infill Development in Bavaria, Germany

Jennifer Gerend
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Jennifer Gerend: Department of Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition, Master of Regional Management Program, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Campus Triesdorf, 91746 Weidenbach, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: Sustainable rural development in Germany was examined by linking conceptual and applied aspects of the land and housing question, broadly considering the ownership, use, and regulation of land. In the state of Bavaria, a new interagency initiative aims to curb land consumption by persuading villagers to embrace rural infill development. The study explored the background debate leading up to the Space-saving Offensive (Flächensparoffensive), the resource providers involved, and the options for funding actual rural infill building and renovation projects. Here, space-saving managers and other resource providers actively promote the positive societal meaning of central infill sites in contrast to unsustainable land consumption. In addition to the communications campaign, planning, regulatory, and funding interventions round out the multi-level initiative, as described in this study. A modern barn reuse exemplifies the Bavarian bundle of resources, while demonstrating how modern village infill redevelopment also contests oversimplified notions of stagnant rural peripheries. The initiative’s focus on linking key resources and bolstering communications can be read as validation for a more social perspective on land consumption and village infill development.

Keywords: land consumption; infill development; rural development; rural land use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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