Ways to achieve a successful village square design

Currently, numerous communities in the Lake Constance region are engaged in the redesign and redevelopment of their village centers and settlement areas. A village square serves as a social meeting place, traffic hub, center for services and is important as a figurehead of a community. The innovative project "Ways to a successful village square design" was formed in the context of the transfer of a research work of the OST Ostschweizer Fachhochschule. The one-day workshop on the topic was designed by the management team with Christian Reutlinger, Katrin Albrecht (both OST) and Fabian A. Rebitzer, head of the research group Empirical Social Sciences at the FHV, together with numerous experts from various fields. The goals of the networking project were the transfer of knowledge and communication of the three groups of actors, which in this composition enabled a socio-spatial, a socially relevant and an architectural view of village squares. This interdisciplinary orientation promoted moments of shared learning. 

In the longer term, partnership-based networking and discourse practices contribute to socially and urbanistically sustainable, attractive designs for squares and living spaces in communities. This strengthens the quality of life in the entire Lake Constance region. In the planning and design of village squares and central public spaces, individual solutions are needed for each locally specific context, as well as situational integration of people in the decision-making processes. Recommendations for action for the successful design of the process are offered in the final report, which can be read here. This joint project of the OST Ostschweizer Fachhochschule and the Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences was funded by the Internationale Bodensee-Hochschule IBH.