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Introduction
Schopfheim is a town in southern Germany, on the southern edge of the Black Forest. The town is situated quite close to the Swiss and French borders, both being around 30 km away. The town has a population of some 20,000. Perhaps a further 20,000 people live in its surrounding rural catchment area. The central market square (the Marktplatz) is basically a car park. However the town authorities use it for many other purposes. The result is a shared public space which contributes to the life and well-being of the town.
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Location
Schopfheim is a town in southern Germany, on the southern edge of the Black Forest. It acquired the status of a town in 1250, but a settlement existed at the location as early as the 6th century. The towns website is http://www.schopfheim.de It includes as a download a pdf file with an attractive schematic of the town centre and the buildings around the Marktplatz - see the download Entdeckungstour im historischen Stadtkern on the page: (link)
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Distances from some nearby towns and cities: Basel, Switzerland : 30 km / 30 minutes St. Louis, France: 22 km / 30 minutes Freiburg, Germany: 83 km / 60 minutes
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Land uses
The Marktplatz (market square) is right in the centre of Schopfheim. The towns high street (the Hauptstrasse) runs past its southern edge. The Hauptstrasse is still open to through traffic although much now uses the inner bypass. This resigned route passes in front of the town bus and railway station complex, about 200 metres to the south of the Marktplatz. This part of the Hauptstrasse is in the town centre with a general speed limit of 20 km/hr. For much of the time the Marktplatz is used as a car park. Other parking spaces are available along the Hauptstrasse. The towns internal bus route runs along the Hauptstrasse. Bus stops are located close to the Marktplatz. The Marktplatz itself is about 25m deep and 75m long. The building to building framework it sits in is about 35m deep and 115m long (the length and depth vary).
3 cafes public house municipal offices newsagents bookshop kindergarten school 10+ retail stores residential doctors practices church travel agents
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Image 1
A dynamic area
On the face of it the Marktplatz is just the space in front of the town hall and is simply used as a car park. In practice both its size and its use are dynamic. Adjoining streets are temporarily incorporated into it for particular uses.
Image 1) The Marktplatz itself uses include as a car park, beach volley ball, concerts, live TV, theater
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Image 2) Marktplatz with the road to the west Wednesday markets, Saturday markets
Image 3) Marktplatz with the surrounding roads on all sides regional cycle rally, summer market, winter market
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Image 1: entertainment
A variety of uses
there is a pro-active programme of events which range from street markets to concerts and sports competions. The local authorities use the Marktplatz as a link of mutual benefit to the local shops and the local community. The variety of shops in the town centre keep the town alive and the range of street activities in the Marktplatz attracts visitors who help keep the shops alive
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The architecture
The buildings around the Marktplatz are mostly 2 to 3 storeys with pitched roofs and accomodation / used floor space in the roof level. Building heights perhaps 10 m. The Marktplatz and all the streets around it are paved in a mixture of patterns and materials (natural and artificial stone paving).
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GTA documents series Global Transport Atlas is a project with two aims. One is
to encourage people around the world to share examples of how they actually use transport in their daily lives. The other is to compare and improve the design of transport infrastructure. There are the following GTA document series: Series 1 - global transport notes A collection of papers on transport infrastructure and vehicles from various countries, prepared by various authors and contributors. Typical size 2 to 3 pages. Series 3 - discussion papers
Papers with arguments and ideas on different aspects of modern transport and transport infrastructure. Series 7 - Dimensions of vehicles Transport infrastructure has to be defined with an idea of the size and types of vehicle which will use it. This series looks into the dimensions of different types of vehicle at different periods of time. Papers include technical discussion notes and example dimensions. Typical size 20 pages and more.
Contact
We welcome comments on this paper, and also on new developments in other countries in this field. Email: global.transport.atlas@gmail.com Web: http://globaltransportatlas.weebly.com/index.html
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