Mehr Grün in Kalk

• Kalk is one of the most densely built-up districts in Cologne.
• Kalk has the lowest proportion of green and recreational areas.

Despite this initial situation, further open spaces have been or are currently being developed in recent years (Deutzer Feld, Rolshover Str., former Malteser building, Dillenburger Straße, Steinmetzstraße). In the next few years about 2000 people are expected to move into the district. (KStA; 4.4.19). But already now the people in Kalk have far too little green and recreational space. Kalk offers each resident only 5 square meters of free space and thus the smallest portion related to the population (see workshop procedure “Hallen Kalk”. Task. City of Cologne 2017, p. 37). The few existing green spaces are also fragmented, unattractive and hardly shaded. At the same time, Kalk is one of the districts with the highest population density and birth rate (cf. Statistical Yearbook Cologne 2017, pp. 15 and 56). We ask:

• Where should the people who live in Kalk and will soon move here stay, go for walks and meet each other?
• Where can the children in Kalk experience a little bit of nature safely and without being bothered?
• Where can older people stay in the shade without having to accept longer distances?
• What must be done to change the district in view of climate change in a future-oriented and livable way?

Who are we?

We are citizens who live in Kalk, Humboldt-Gremberg and Höhenberg and are committed to the preservation, creation and upgrading of green, recreational and open spaces in the Kalk district. We founded the citizens’ initiative “More green in Kalk” in spring 2019. We are committed to climate protection and in this spirit are developing ideas and visions for greener Kalk worth living in, in which the needs of people and the environment have top priority. An important guiding principle for us is to view environmental concerns in the context of social framework conditions and to create greater awareness of the principle of environmental justice.

What do we do?

We develop ideas and visions for the creation and enhancement of green and recreational areas in Kalk and the surrounding area. We initiate actions, citizen input and petitions. We create networks to make the district more liveable and greener. We seek dialogue with politicians, administration and civil society, participate in urban development planning processes and do public relations work on the subject of “green” in the Kalk district and its environs.