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Vol. LXXXVIII
DECEMBER 30, 1911
No. 2285
REAL ESTATE POLICIES OF GERMAN CITIES.
Municipalities Invest and Speculate in Land the Same as Private Indi¬
viduals, and Build and Rent Houses—The Unearned Increment Tax.
T
OA\'N planning in Germany is char¬
acterized by a comprehensive unity
fully in keeping with the scientific char¬
acter of the nation. Nothing is hap¬
hazard, nothing is left to chance, noth¬
ing is omitted from the calculations.
Analysis of all the elements controlling
the city and its proper planning precedes
constructive work. It is this frank in¬
vestigation of every inhuence affecting
municipal life that distinguishes the
town-planning movement in Germany
from that of America. In this country
the oity planning movement is thus far
ineffectual to produce permanent and
fundamental change because of our un¬
willingness to face the controlling in¬
fluence of transportation, the unchecked
license of the landowner, the unrestrain¬
ed freedom of property in all its forms.
Thus far, city-planning in America has
limited its vision to those sides of the
question whieh do not conflict with the
claims or abuses of private property.
This fundamental difference between
the German city and our own is most
plainly seen in the laws and municipal
ordinances of the two countries relating
to land. In Germany the city is sover¬
eign. It controls the landowner and the
builder in the interest of the community.
The rights of the community are superior
to the rights of any individual, and the
health, convenience, comfort and well-
being of all the people are superior to
and must control the rights of lhe land¬
owner or the speculator. In America, on
the other hand, the city is almost help¬
less. It has very limited powers and
these are specially granted—usually after
it is too late for them to be of value.
Rights of eminent domain are strictly
construed against the city and must he
exercised with great care. Excess con¬
demnalion, in order that the city may ac¬
quire some of the profits accruing from its
own improvement is denied, as is the ac¬
ciuisition of land for any other than
enumerated things. The right of special
assessments for benefits conferred is care¬
fully prescribed by statute, varies great¬
ly in different communities and leaves but
little discretion to the cities. The indi-
viduai can lay out streets of such width
as he wills. He can sewer them and pave
them, build them up with cheap tene¬
ments or skyscraping apartments and the
city cannot successfully protest. In the
face of all our knowledge of the vice,
crime and disease which the tenement
produces, old conditions in our larger
cities are certainly reproducing them¬
selves and the cities are helpless to pre¬
vent it.
The German eity controls the land
within its limits in a variety of ways.
It fully recognizes the importance of its
foundations. The principal methods of
regulation are the following;
Sfrcel Bnilding and Plannins-
In the decades which immediately fol¬
lowed the Franco-Prussian war, the Ger¬
man city followed the rectangular grid¬
iron type of streets so universal in.
America because this street plan was
satisfactory to the land speculators. This
period of city building in Germany pre¬
sents the same monotonous suburban sec¬
tions as are to be found in this country.
A revolt arose against this type of streets
in the closing of the nineteenth century
when street planning assumed the im¬
portance it deserves. To-day every city
has a street plan as has Washington,
D. C, mapped in the City Hall far in
advance of the city's present growth.
All street construction work is done hy
the city directly with its own engineer,
landscape artists and contractors. A
large area Is undertaken at once, thus de¬
creasing the cost and enabling it to be
done in a symmetrical way. To these
•This paper constituted the principal portion
of an address read hy Mr. Howe at tiie Na¬
tional Conference on City Planning at Phila¬
delphia.
By FREDERICK C. HOWE.-
plans the private owner must acquiesce.
He is not permitted to lay out his own
streets, to pave or sewer them or con¬
trol their width or character. Broad
radial avenues or boulevards in conform¬
ity wilh the original cily plan run
through every new section. These streets
vary from 100 to i:00 feet in width. They
are parked and beautified and serve as
a recreation and promenade way. Side
streets are of ample width and are de¬
signed to harmonize with the city plan.
The cost of such development is first
paid for by the city, but is assessed back
upon the property benefited according to
established rules. A considerable time is
permitted within which the assessments
can be paid by the owner, the cost being
carried by the eity at a low rate of in¬
terest. Thus the suburban developments
of German cities are harmonious, beauti¬
ful and suited to the needs of the city.
Slum areas are forever precluded, while
great economy in cost is secured through
the permanency of the construction. At
the same time the landovi'ner is pro¬
tected from his irresponsible neighbor,
who often disfigures an entire territory
by cheap construction and speculative in¬
difference to the rights of the adjoining
community. The landowner is required
to dedicate a certain percentage of his
holdings for streets and open spaces and
the city is authorized to take from 30
to 40 per cent, without compensation. The
assumption is that the development work
enhances the value of the adjoining
property sufficiently to pay lor the street
development as well as the area dedi¬
cated to public uses.
Tlic Zone System.
Gei'man cities are divided into build¬
ing zones in each of which the height
of buildings and the amount of land
which may be covered by improvements
are strictly prescribed. These building
zones are like the flre zones of our cities,
but are prescribed to prevent congestion
and the reappearance of the tenement
slum. They are hygienic regulations in¬
suring beauty as well as proper sanita¬
tion. A larger area can be covered by
structures in the business section than
in the outlying zones, the percentage be¬
ing determined by the uses to which the
land would naturally be put. In Frank¬
fort, in the inner city, buildings may
cover from one-half to five-sixths of a
lot and have a maximum height of 65
feet 6 inches. Usually they are limited
in height to the width of the street upon
which they front.
In the inner zone the residence section
buildings must have a minimum space
between them of 19^^ feet, a maximum
height of 59 feet and a maximum num¬
ber of stories of three above the ground
story. In the outer zone of the residence
section buildings must have a minimum
space between them of 2G feet, a maxi¬
mum height of 68 feet, a maximum num¬
ber of stories of two above the ground
story, and may not exceed the width of
the street. On certain streets only one
- or two story houses are permitted.
In Cologne the yard area which may be
occupied ranges from 25 to.60 per cent,
depending upon the location of the lots,
the maximum of 60 per cent, being al¬
lowed in the business districts. These
building regulations preclude the reap¬
pearance of tenement conditions and in¬
sure beautiful and harmonious develop¬
ment with a uniform sky line in each
zone of the city,
ludiistrinl Sections.
Within certain limits municipalities
control the nature of suburban develop¬
ment. Factories which in any way of¬
fend the neighborhood^in which they are
located mav be required to move to the
suburbs, on the general theory that a
man must so use his property that it does
not interfere with a like use on the part
of his neighbor. Municipal by-laws also
control the factory and industrial areas.
This is done by the building regulations
referred to above as well as by the natural
proximity to railways, docks and harbors.
The territory immediately adjoining the
railways is dedicated to industrial uses,
and factories are required in many cities
to locate on that side of the city away
from the prevailing winds. This reduces
the smoke nuisance to a minimum. These
regulations are not made arbitrarily, but
are fixed by obvious conditions. In ter¬
ritory surrounding an industrial area
house building regulations are adjusted
to working men's homes, as are the street
plans,
Lnad 0«-nership,
The German city has always been a
landlord on a large scale. From earliest
times German villages have owned for¬
ests and other land in common and have
used it for the gathering of fuel, for for¬
estry and agriculture. With this heritage
of tradition, the transition was easy into
the ownership of municipal land, and
German cities are buying, holding and
selling land the same as private indi¬
viduals. Berlin, for instance, owns land
to the extent of 210 S-10 per cent, of its
total area, including the land held outside
of its boundaries. Frankfort, a city of
335,000 population, owns -IS 9-10 per cent,
of the land within its limits; Mannheim
owns 35 4-10 per cent, of its own land,
and Hanover 37 7-10 per cent, of the land
within its limits. The total amount of
land within and without a number of Ger¬
man cities is given in a foot note here¬
with attached:
Total
area
of city.
Acres.
Berlin ........ 15.689.54
Munich ....... 21.290.24
Leipzig ...... 14.095.25
Strassburg ... 19,346,45
Hanover ..... -9.677.25
Schoncberg , . . 2,338.60
Spandau ...... 10,470.37
Zurich ....... 10,894.64
Vienna ....... 67,477.57
Total amount
of land owned
by city,
Acres.
39.151.28
13.597,02
8,406.84
11,866.98
5,674.90
1,633.33
4,480.79
5,621.53
32,062.48
Much of the land so owned is in
streets, open spaces and parks, but very
large areas are also owned and rented or
held for speculative purposes.
Cities anticipate their future needs in a
far-sighted, intelligent way. Before a
new territory is opened up for residence,
the city authorities acquire land for play¬
grounds, gardens and sites for school
houses and other public buildings. The
purchase of these lands far in advance of
the city's growth, saves the city from
prohibitive prices and the necessity ot
cramping the sites of public buildings. It
also makes possible the most generous
provision for recreation and open spaces,
and in the new suburbs of German cities,
playgrounds and gardens of the greatest
variety are found within easy walking
distance of almost every home. This
policy of land acquisition is but part of
the far-sighted outlook on ordinary city
growth and is defended on the grounds
of ultimate economy as well as on those
of proper city building. Only by this
policv it is possible to provide adequately
for the orderlv and harmonious develop¬
ment of the city.
E.Tieess Coadeninniion.
Increasing land values arc made to pay
the cost of many municipal undertakings.
Within the last ten years the Rhine cities
like Duisburg. Dusseldorf, Cologne and
Frankfort have carried through immense
harbor projects by means of which the
water traffic of these cities has been
greatly increased, and the industrial de¬
velopment of the Rhine region rapidly
stimulated. These municipal harbors are
equipped with the most perfect mechani¬
cal devices for the loading and unload¬
ing of boats, the transshipment of freight
of steam railroad.';, and the warehousing
of various kinds of products at the mini¬
mum of expense. The whole undertaking
Is planned as a unit rather than an Iso-