THE GERMAN WAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1749, 14 May 1913, Page 8

THE GERMAN WAY.

HOW CITIES ARE MANAGED. PROVIDING FOR TOWN PLANNING. Count .T. 11. von Bernstorff gives somo very interesting details as to how German cities make schemes for town planning. Writing in tho "Twentieth Century Magazine," lie jays:— "The first thing that will strike a foreigner in German cities is the number and variety of tho functions with which for tliui benefit of citizens tho public authority charges itself. "Most town councils not only supply water, gas, and electric lighting and power and make a good profit in relief .of local expenditure, but also nnaneo all tho hospitals, treatment of phthisis, and all tho schools, including colleges for advanced technical instruction. In most places the municipalities own and work the tramways, with very low faros and very high profits; they maintain fire stations with the most, advanced apparatus; they liavo abattoirs regulated by veterinary science for the slaughter of animals for human food; in such cities as Cologne, Frankfort, and Mannheim they manage enormous docks for the accommodation of freshwater navigation; they maintain for the rccrcatioii of the citizens museums, picture galleries, parks, playgrounds, baths, bands of music, anil even theatres.

Making New Streets. "In a modern German town new streets are not the crcation of private enterprise. It is not the owner of tho land who makes tho plans for a new street according to his own interest; but tho town■ council plans the streets in accordance with the interest and needs of tho whole population. "The town council also proscribes the material to bo used in the construction of roadways and The council decides in what streets front gardens are to 'be permitted, and how largo they must be, what streets are to bo planted with trees, and where nublic squares, playgrounds, etc.. are to" bo situated. Tho municipal authorities also dccido what classes _ of buildings aro to be erected in the various localities. Some districts are devoted to factories, others are declared to bo mixed cjuarttTS whore both dwelling houses and workshops may bo erected, while the remainder is set aside as a residential district. Town Planning. "The following is tho method of town planning followed by tho municipality. First of all. a plan is made, showing the general scheme of tho proposed newstreets. Tho public is invited to inspect tho plan, and objections are received and considered by the body which has to sanction the plan?. Only aftev the plan has been approved aro buildings permitted to bo erccted. "Of courts, the municipality could not exercise this power of town planning unless it had also the power of expropriation. This power is given by law. But as a matter of fact, it is very rarely used. In the great majority of cases tho laud owners prefer to hand over to tho municipality by agreement tlio land necessary for the formation of new streets. They know quite well that the value of ' their property will bo raised by _the erection of new " streets, and also that tho power of compulsion is in tho background.

' A City Which Owns Land. "In many cases, however, tho municipality already owns the necessary land. Within the last ten year? tho city of Frankfort has expended more than ;ElO,080,000 in tho. purchase of land. There are no hindrances in tho way of land purchases by tho municipality, and tho city has always found Rood use for as much landed property as it possesses. It is needed for parks and playing grounds, for docks ana warehouses, for electrical worlds and tramway depots, for hospitals and schools.

"The city of Frankfort, with tho institutions under its control, possesses within its boundaries 12,800 acres of land, moro than half of the entire area. Outside, tlio municipality owns 3SOO acres, making a total of 1G,G50 acres. Of this, 8500 acres aro covered with wood, w*lucll will probably be used for building purposes. Tho largest part of the timber is produced by tho municipal forest. ■ Hoy/ to Deal with Small Plots. "You liavo seen how our streets aro laid out, and how the necessary land is. acquired. But a difficulty arises from tho fact that most of tho land outside German cities is not in tho hands of i»reat owners, but of small proprietors,' and any of these plots of ground, when acquired, would bo unfit for building purposes, being too small or too narrow. It is, therefore, necessary to bring those small plots into a shape moro suitable ior' building purposes, and this is done by redistribution. All the plots of ground belonging to different owners, situated ill a given area, are united into one plot. Out of this plot is taken the land needed for streets and squares, and then the remainder is carved into suitable sites, and each land owner receives a site corresponding in size to the area which he has handed over, less tho area taken ior streets. Buying for Streets. "In eases of redistribution the city acquires without payment tho land required for streels. But m cases where the city has to give the land required for streets out'-, of its own property, or to acquire land by purchaso or expropriation, the law provides that the land owners are obliged lo repay the expense which the citv lias had in forming streets as =oon as they begin to a-ect buildings in those streets. They have to pay for each site according to the length of its frontage. Besides this, they have to pa.v (he cost of keeping the streets in repair during a certain number of years. _ In cases where public works are especially profitable to the land owners of a certain district, tho city has power to raiso a special rata from these land owners. ■ "In this way the municipality secures its of the profits which accrue to tlie land owners by town extensions,. Vacant sites are rated not on tho income i'liey give, but on the capital _ value; Moreover, the unearned increment is fixed on a sliding, scales, and people have to pav a certain percentage of t.he profit they havn made by selling a building or a vacant site. Good Houses, "Now, witli reference to the provision of good and healthy dwellings for the working classes. The building regulations of Frankfort at a very early period forbade the erection of unhealthy houses, and during the period of industrial t'.xpausion no cellar dwellings or back-to-baek houses—and, it may lie added, no slums—could come into existence. The towu is divided into three districts or zones. In the inner zono buildings with basements and four upper stories mar bo eroded ; in tho middle zono houses with basements an<l three stories aro permissible; but in the outer zone houses may not have more than two upper stories, and in small streets only one. "It is all the more necessary to provide plenty of open space because in manv parts of Germany, and certainly in Frankford, people cannot afford (o have houses of their own. The working classes, ;I .h! even the middle classes, lire compelled to live in flats, because the price of land, and in consequence tho rent of liou«e>, is very high.' "The cities, are therefore devoting ever-increa-ing attention to the housing of workmen employed by them and of the less prosperous inhabitant!: of their districts in general." Count 'Bernstorff is German Ambassador to the-United States.