Essen, situated between the two rivers Ruhr and Emscher, lies in the heart of the Ruhr region. The city is home to long-established industrial and energy companies, cooperation associations, and regional agencies of the Ruhr metropolitan area. It is not only a key economic center, but also a city in transition. The requirements for urban planning processes have changed enormously over the years. Especially in metropolitan areas, less and less space is available while greater demands are being placed on the remaining space.

Divided into subject-related chapters, this publication attempts to document the City of Essen’s overall master plan and guiding principles. In light of industrial restructuring, they serve as the basis for the strategies and formats, spaces and projects which Essen is implementing according to contemporary ideas of urban development.

The specific topography of the city plays a central role in this process. The areas of the former coal and steel industry in need of conversion are concentrated in the north and west. This results in an asymmetry that runs along the points of the compass as the established residential neighborhoods are located south of the A40 highway, which acts as a boundary dividing the city socially. In the minds of the people, it separates these neighborhoods from the areas in transition in the northwest.

The authors, who are all involved in urban development, shed light on the different aspects of transformation and explore the question of how to design a sustainable, livable, future-oriented city of tomorrow that can meet the global demands of the 21st century.