Green Center Community Park A participatory agricultural park as a new center

Bürgerpark Weinstadt is the new large green center of the polycentric city of Weinstadt. The hybrid park combines existing agricultural land with contemporary open spaces for leisure activities and a wide range of sports, play and recreation areas. This combination of agriculture and park creates a distinctive, multi-layered experience for the community. Bürgerpark Weinstadt was designed together with future users; it is a pilot project for a democratic, inclusive and forward-looking design practice.



The concept of A24 Landscape envisaged a unity between past and future. A context- and user-sensitive approach underpins the design, integrating the existing agricultural land with the needs and desires of the local community. A platform for exchange with the community was created, intensive workshops with the city, the planners and citizens, who had the opportunity to help shape the structural results. This created a strong sense of belonging. The participatory design process encouraged the community to take ownership of their park, which in turn led to the park becoming partly self-maintaining, reducing maintenance costs for the city. A coherent palette of furniture makes the park a unified place with a strong local identity. The agricultural fields, the scattered fruit trees, the vegetable patches and the restored stream are reminiscent of rural landscapes.



The Bürgerpark Weinstadt is a contemporary example of an innovative and atmospheric park that uniquely combines rural and urban qualities to create a place that contributes to greater well-being and quality of life. It provides a solid framework that can be adapted to future uses and promotes social cohesion for all age groups by enhancing the user experience and maximizing the usability of the open spaces.



By combining agriculture, private gardens, residential areas, recreational areas and public green spaces, Bürgerpark Weinstadt is an innovative example of multi-layered multifunctional land use and provides a new urban park of local significance. The design was developed and defined in active collaboration with the local community, which means to integrate agricultural land into a recreational and activity park that serves the general public. The park combines two timelines: the existing agricultural fields will continue to be used; a new, modern timeline is introduced as a place that meets the needs and wishes of the local population. Located in the polycentric town of Weinstadt in southwestern Germany, the 10-hectare park is a green center dedicated to the neighboring communities.



The principles for the spatial design of the park are based on the historical and continuing agricultural use of the site as well as the needs of the local community, combining agriculture, recreation and gardening. This has created a hyper-local atmosphere and improved usability for residents and visitors. Bürgerpark Weinstadt is thus an innovative precedent for participatory, democratic and inclusive design in an urban setting.

Award concepts for nature and the cityGerman Landscape Architecture Award 2025

Jury verdict:
The Bürgerpark Grüne Mitte has succeeded in creating a space for togetherness and participation in the polycentric town of Weinstadt. Instead of importing park concepts from the metropolitan area, the landscape architects have designed a new type of park, tailored to local needs and existing, quite challenging land ownership conditions.

The green centre brings nature into the city as urban agriculture. This type integrates the existing agricultural and private space with public areas created for recreation, play and exercise and for intergenerational gatherings. In favour of multifunctional open spaces, a strict programme of use was largely dispensed with - and instead citizens were given the opportunity to constantly renegotiate appropriation. From hands-on workshops on furniture construction to youth hearings - the planning process is rooted in participation formats.

Together with the programmatic openness of the park, the associations of citizens promoted in this way ensure its significance in an uncertain future - and stand for a concept that does not end in the construction phase, but also considers the maintenance of the space and attempts to conserve the city's resources and activate citizens.

When cornfield meets geometric climbing frame, skate area meets vegetable patch, a unique aesthetic is created. The framework creates identity in a city made up of five municipalities.

Bürgerpark Neue Mitte responds to the city's socio-spatial challenges with a concept that preserves the productivity of agricultural and private land while making it socially inclusive and thus attractive and usable for citizens. The concept finds its own local answer in the search for ‘nature in the city’ - free from romanticisation. With its focus on participation and adaptability, the strength of Bürgerpark Grüne Mitte also lies in the longevity of its underlying vision.