Good luck

After 16 months of cons­truc­tion, the new sports garden at Ernst-Kuzorra-Platz in Gelsen­kir­chen-Schalke was opened in July 2025. With a project volume of 4.5 million euros and an area of 13,000 m², this faci­lity is a signi­fi­cant mile­stone for the truly unpri­vi­leged Gelsen­kir­chen district of Schalke-Nord.

A fenced-in waste­land with unstruc­tured green areas and parking spaces was trans­formed into a modern neigh­bor­hood park with a variety of sports and leisure faci­li­ties. As part of the cons­truc­tion work, old steps, fences, paths and trees were removed. This was followed by exten­sive earthworks, the instal­la­tion of new top layers of gravel and recy­cled mate­rial and the laying of various surfaces – from water-bound surfaces to arti­fi­cial turf and paved areas with grass joints.

The sports garden on Ernst-Kuzorra-Platz now offers a wide range of freely acces­sible and free exer­cise and recrea­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties:

• Tram­po­line faci­lity and motor skills course
• Soccer, basket­ball and teqball pitch (combi­na­tion of table tennis and soccer)
• Bould­e­ring wall and child­ren’s play­ground
• Multi­func­tional areas with drin­king water foun­tain for events

The concrete blocks in four shades of gray over an area of 800 m², which were laid accor­ding to a computer-gene­rated “planned random” pattern, are striking.

The city of Gelsen­kir­chen deve­loped the project with local stake­hol­ders. Of the total costs of 4.5 million euros, 3.6 million euros are being financed by federal and state urban deve­lo­p­ment funding, while the city itself is contri­bu­ting 900,000 euros.

History

The neigh­boring Glückauf-Kampf­bahn is charac­te­ristic of the site’s special atmo­sphere. Built on a colliery site in the 1920s and opened in 1928, the stadium was the home ground of FC Schalke 04 until 1973, where the club won its German cham­pi­on­ship titles.

After the club moved to the then new Park­sta­dion in 1973, the faci­lity fell into disre­pair. It was reno­vated for the 2006 World Cup for public viewing and other events, and today the venerable cata­combs and the arti­fi­cial pitch are mainly used by the friendly district league team DJK Teutonia Schalke-Nord.

In conjunc­tion with the Glückauf-Kampf­bahn, the sports garden on Ernst-Kuzorra-Platz now func­tions as a very special venue for district festi­vals and supra-regional events. Its loca­tion on the “Schalker Meile” with its high density of club history makes it an important cultural buil­ding block.

The project and loca­tion combine sport, encoun­ters, exer­cise and tradi­tion and streng­then the Schalke-Nord district in the long term.

Renewal

The project follows an inte­grated urban deve­lo­p­ment approach: sports and leisure faci­li­ties are used speci­fi­cally as a cata­lyst for social inte­gra­tion. Free access breaks down social barriers and creates meeting spaces and offers for people from a wide range of back­grounds. The connec­tion to the Glcü­kauf-Kampf­bahn streng­thens the iden­tity of the district.

Schalke-Nord is strugg­ling with struc­tural chal­lenges such as unem­ploy­ment, social problems and urban deve­lo­p­ment defi­cits. The sports garden on Ernst-Kuzorra-Platz is ther­e­fore much more than a leisure faci­lity, it is a central compo­nent of the urban renewal process.

Sport can do that too.

The Ostpark Bochum

A remar­kable urban trans­for­ma­tion is taking place in the Alten­bo­chum and Laer districts of Bochum: Ostpark Bochum is a pionee­ring resi­den­tial quarter with around 1,300 new resi­den­tial units being built on 43 hectares. What is special about this is that the two areas – the Feld­mark district in Alten­bo­chum and the Havken­scheider Höhe district in Laer – are being connected by a sophisti­cated system of urban gree­nery, water features and sustainable drai­nage concepts.

The back­bone of this connec­tion is formed by water­courses and water areas with adja­cent recrea­tional areas. These green corri­dors not only create attrac­tive leisure faci­li­ties for resi­dents, but also fulfill important ecolo­gical and climatic func­tions. Both districts benefit from the gene­rous propor­tion of open spaces: Of the total area of 43 hectares, only 14 hectares are purely net buil­ding area, while an impres­sive 29 hectares are earmarked for open spaces and green infra­struc­ture.

A central part of this is a converted grass pitch in Laer.

The sponge city prin­ciple

A central compo­nent of the project is the sponge city prin­ciple. Like a sponge, “the city” absorbs rain­water, stores it and releases it again when required. Speci­fi­cally, this is achieved through a sophisti­cated system of green spaces for reten­tion, drai­nage systems and reten­tion basins.

The new land­scaped lake in Havken­scheider Park, on the former LFC Laer pitch, has imme­dia­tely become a popular desti­na­tion. The lake with an adjoi­ning park between the two resi­den­tial areas being built not only offers a high recrea­tional value, it is also a central element of the inno­va­tive rain­water manage­ment in Ostpark Bochum.

Instead of quickly drai­ning rain­water into the sewer system, it is coll­ected on site, slowly seeps away or evapo­rates. This has several advan­tages: The system helps to prevent floo­ding during heavy rain­fall, the stored water can supply the vege­ta­tion during dry spells and the evapo­ra­tion ensures a plea­sant micro­cli­mate.

The trans­for­ma­tion of the barn

A parti­cu­larly impres­sive part of this green trans­for­ma­tion has already been imple­mented in the Havken­scheider Höhe district in Laer. For decades, this area was home to a tradi­tional 7,000 m² clay pitch, which was mainly used for club soccer and was only available to a limited number of users. The neigh­boring club BFC Laer was given an arti­fi­cial turf pitch a few years ago, so that the area of the unpo­pular and outdated clay pitch was now “over”.

The plan­ners reco­gnized the poten­tial of the area for a multi­func­tional water land­scape. After remo­ving the old pond layer and re-profiling the subsoil, an orga­ni­cally shaped water area was created that blends harmo­niously into the surroun­ding land­scape and forms the scenic high­light of the district.

The water is fed by an inge­nious system that coll­ects and puri­fies rain­water from the entire district. Diffe­rent water depths create diffe­rent ecolo­gical niches for amphi­bians, water birds and aquatic plants.

Space for all

The trans­for­ma­tion of the Tennen­platz in Laer as part of Ostpark Bochum is exem­plary of the inno­va­tive linking of the two new resi­den­tial districts through green infra­struc­ture, incor­po­ra­ting exis­ting areas that are no longer in use.

The conver­sion brings many ecolo­gical bene­fits. A much broader section of the popu­la­tion bene­fits soci­ally: while the grass pitch was reserved for soccer, the water land­scape is now open to ever­yone. Fami­lies relax on the banks, children play and joggers appre­ciate the highly attrac­tive route.

The 29 hectares of open space make Ostpark Bochum a show­case project for sustainable urban plan­ning in Germany: sustainable, climate-resi­lient and soci­ally inclu­sive.