Baurecht und Baukultur

Abstract

The guiding principles of good urban design and construction are changing profoundly, moving away from the functionalist, segregated and car-friendly ideals of the post-modern city towards the mixed-use, dense and small-scale concepts known as ‘European city’ or ‘new urbanism’. Closely related to this are calls for a focus on what has been termed ‘high quality Baukultur’. The term ‘Baukultur’ was deliberately chosen to describe and demand a holistic, quality-oriented change in building and construction. In German law, ‘Baukultur’ is already a legal term in the Baugesetzbuch (Federal Building Code) and has been institutionalised through the establishment of a ‘Bundesstiftung Baukultur’ (Federal Foundation for Baukultur). Despite this, the term has remained pale in the legal discourse in Germany. It has had only limited effects. Nevertheless, I believe that it is worthwhile, especially now that the deficits of the functionalist building principles of the past 100 years are becoming increasingly clear, to conduct new legal research on the basis of this concept. As a legal concept in the narrower sense, it may be of limited use; I will show, however, that it is all the more suitable as a key legal concept – a ‘Schlüsselbegriff’, as German law scholars would say – to unlock a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to building and planning law that is capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century.