We work towards foresighted, sustainable development in the region with the aim of warranting its diversity, high quality of life and economic strength in the long term. Today, responsible planning is more important than ever before, given current developments in terms of globalisation and climate change together with a stagnating population and an increasingly ageing society. Our key instrument is the regional plan as the overall spatial planning concept for the Stuttgart Region.

Particularly in such a densely populated region, it is important to find the right balance between different land uses. A look at settlement development over the last 150 years shows that land is a finite resource so that responsible, restrained spatial development is necessary.

What the regional plan says

People in the Stuttgart Region live their lives with a regional approach. Most of them accept the need to commute between their homes and their jobs. Children go to school in the neighbouring town and football fans travel into Stuttgart to watch matches, while those in search of recreation head out into the country. Administrative boundaries are practically irrelevant to everyday life. To establish an appropriate balance between all the demands made of the land, the respective tasks have to be coordinated right across the region. In concrete terms, this refers to settlement development, protecting the open spaces or preserving and expanding the infrastructure. It also includes coordinating sites for large-scale retail centres and parks. This is where the regional level comes in, between the general development guidelines issued by the federal state and the concrete planning activities of the towns and local authorities.

The regional plan is an overall plan set up on the regional level to cover a period of about 15 years. The regional plan is only binding for all public planning bodies such as the individual specialised authorities or local councils. It has no direct impact on private individuals and investors, although it can act as a general guideline. The regional plan stipulates the objectives and principles for the requirements in terms of spatial development for the Stuttgart Region, in written texts and graphic elements.

The regional plan for the Stuttgart Region consists of three legally binding parts (print-out only) adopted as a statute by the Regional Assembly:

• The text section of the regional plan
• The land use map on a scale of 1:50,000 (see below)
• The structural map of the region with spatial categories, central places and development axes on a scale of 1:200,000

The explanatory statement and the other maps of the regional plan are of informative character. The environmental report is a special section of the explanatory statement. Basically it contains information about the current environmental status of the region, particularly for the protected resources: people, flora/fauna/biodiversity, soil, water, climate, landscape and cultural and material assets. It also indicates probable, substantial implications for the environmental status that can be expected on account of the binding stipulations made in the regional plan (objectives). The environmental report also includes an overall ecological impact assessment, proposals to avoid and reduce the implications and for monitoring the environmental status.