The Ruhr basin, in little more than two centuries, has undergone enormous upheavals that have repeatedly altered its character. Once nothing more than a marshy hollow scattered with small urban settlements, from the mid-nineteenth century it became one of Europe's most important industrial hubs, specialising in mining and steel production. The economic boom brought about a massive population increase, and the number of inhabitants surpassed five million. By the late 1950s, around 120 million tonnes of coal were being extracted from the mines every year; then, between 1960 and 1980, the mining and steel sectors suffered an inexorable decline, leaving behind a situation of environmental and social degradation. The intense mining activity of the era had a severe impact on the river Emscher, which flows through the Ruhr region and was poisoned for decades by mine wastewater. The degradation seemed irreversible, yet the area was subjected to an ambitious environmental regeneration project that, once again, drastically transformed its appearance.

A regeneration project unlike any other in the world

Between 1991 and 1999, the Emscher regional park was created — an enormous green area of over 320 square kilometres, spread across the 800 square kilometres of the Emscher river territory, connecting seventeen municipalities and crossed by footpaths and cycle paths. The transformation was made possible through intensive remediation work and by allowing the renaturalisation of hundreds of hectares of land. In doing so, the German region became the protagonist of the most significant regeneration project ever undertaken in an industrialised area anywhere in the world. The project, as well as improving environmental quality, helped to revive the local economy, creating around 5,000 new jobs and countering the depopulation of the area — demonstrating how a healthy ecosystem positively influences every aspect of citizens' lives and that environmental regeneration brings not "only" ecological benefits.

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The rebirth of the river

The restoration of the river Emscher has taken a very long time — work is still ongoing to this day — and an enormous financial effort: more than six billion euros have been spent to date. To clean up its polluted waters, which had been used for years as a channel for wastewater, an impressive and modern wastewater management system was built. The riverbed and its tributaries were renaturalised through the removal of artificial concrete channels and the creation of floodplains, thereby allowing the river to develop naturally and establishing the necessary environmental and ecological conditions.

An example of sustainable development

The case of the Ruhr demonstrates how river regeneration projects foster sustainable development and community growth, offering multiple environmental, economic and social benefits. This ambitious initiative was made possible by the Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park (Iba), a limited liability company established specifically for the purpose, whose members include representatives from politics, business, trade unions and environmental associations, and whose coordinating committee is chaired by the minister for urban planning and transport and composed of regional and principal municipal representatives, professional bodies, and figures such as architects, engineers, landscape designers, artists and naturalists. The distinctive feature of Iba Emscher Park is its lack of legal authority: the company can neither impose sanctions nor allocate funding, and was set up with the aim of "being a platform for meeting, exchanging and relaunching ideas and experiences, in order to promote dialogue between social groups and stakeholders in the industrial sector."

A new paradigm

A deeply polluted area, with an economy left bereft of the revenues generated by its old industries and with a high unemployment rate, was radically transformed, becoming an example of regeneration and resilience. But how was this possible? First, thought was given to making the area attractive to investors once again, by capitalising on the available natural and cultural assets and focusing on the quality of infrastructure and buildings. A regeneration process was then launched, divided into several areas of intervention and centred above all on a paradigm shift: the Ruhr was no longer to be regarded as an industrial area but as a landscape, instilling in residents a sense of belonging and the desire to take part in such an ambitious regeneration process. The entire process was founded on two pillars that are, by now, evidently inseparable — namely work and ecology — with the precise objective of creating employment opportunities and contributing to the regeneration of the territory.