Speaker: Dr. Michael Wegener, Institute of Spatial Planning, University of Dortmund, Germany

Seen from across the Atlantic, Germany seems a transportation planner's paradise: high-density, mixed-use urban development, efficient public transit, pedestrianized city centers and high-speed intercity trains. However, after the unification of the country, transportation has become the subject of intense debate. In the western part of the country, after decades of growth in roads and car ownership, the limits of a car-dependent society in terms of energy use, pollution, traffic accidents and urban sprawl are becoming visible, while in the eastern part there is a need for basically upgrading the transportation infrastructure after forty years of neglect. At the same time, Germany is becoming a central part in the emerging trans-European networks. In particular the new high-speed rail lines lead to dramatic reductions in travel time between major European centers, but also to a new polarization in accessibility between core and peripheral regions. The Single European Market and the opening of Eastern Europe create new economic opportunities but also result in significant increases in the volume and distance of freight movement mainly on the road.

Under these circumstances the goals of transportation planning have become more controversial than ever. The libertarian position sees further improvement of transportation infrastructure as a prerequisite for Germany's success in the ever-fiercer competition between countries and regions. The egalitarian position postulates that not growth but a reduction of regional disparities should be the primary objective of transportation planning. The environmental position, finally, claims that the necessity to save energy and reduce green house gas emissions requires drastic action to not only limit but even reduce mobility.

The seminar will illuminate the policy responses to this goal conflict by showing major transportation projects such as the Transrapid and the transportation plans for the new capital district in Berlin as well as an example of everyday transportation planning for a typical small town.

Michael Wegener is a Professor at the Institute of Spatial Planning of the University of Dortmund. His teaching includes urban and regional planning and planning theory. His main research interest is the two-way interaction between transportation and the spatial organization of cities and regions. He was one of the pioneers of urban land-use transportation modeling in Europe. In 1988 and 1989 he was a Professor of Infrastructure Planning at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He has been a consultant to the European Commission on issues of transportation and spatial development, in particular the development of European city systems, and is presently involved in a number of large transportation studies for the Commission.