The German town of Kamp-Lintfort closed their coal mine in 2012. Since then, the industrial site has been transformed into a green park. Polluted soil was buried underneath two hills, which split the park in two. The new park also served as the most recent location for the North Rhine-Westphalia Landesgartenschau.
The Friedrich-Heinrich mine in Kamp-Lintfort was in use for more than one hundred years. A total of around 200 million tons of coal was extracted from the mine. In 2012 it closed its doors for good. What remained were two tall mineshafts, a few industrial buildings, a canalised stream, a large empty space and heaps of polluted soil.
The city council of Kamp-Lintfort saw an opportunity to give this empty space a new purpose. They decided to build a new neighbourhood, Friedrich-Heinrich, which will include housing as well as companies, adjacent to a new park. This so-called Zechenpark (coal mine park), designed by landscape architects of bbzl in Berlin, has already been constructed and served as the location of the most recent Landesgartenschau of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
This horticultural exhibition, which could go ahead last year despite Covid-19, also functioned as a catalyst for the construction of around 800 new houses. The temporary show gardens were created in the location of the future housing estate.(..)
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