Town development

The history of the settlement of Reichenbach goes back to the 12th century and is characterised by the historic old town centre with its small net-like structures.
During the heyday of the textile industry from 1890 to 1915, the Gründerzeit quarters, which were still largely closed, developed in the eastern town area. Art Nouveau buildings as well as villa structures show the former wealth of our town.  

In the course of the social change at the beginning of the 90s, entire industrial areas collapsed. The number of industrial workplaces reduced drastically. The up to then strong mixture of living and working in Reichenbach lost its balance.
The partial decay of the town centre and of many town districts, however, was faced with an intense building activity for new traffic routes, industrial and commercial areas as well as estates of owner-occupied houses in the peripheral areas.  

Urban renewal and restoration measures have been implemented since 1991.

A solid basis for the future development of the town of Reichenbach was created with the development of an Integrated Urban Development Concept (INSEK).  

The declining population requires changes of all fields of public life. Accordingly, the INSEK includes statements about the development of the technical infrastructure, the labour market, the economy and the environment as well as about the perspective development of education and care institutions, the culture and the public finances.

As much town preservation as possible – as much restructuring as necessary. This is the motto for the perspective urban development of the town of Reichenbach.  

Accordingly, the town centre is further revitalised, structurally repaired and contemporarily modernised. Vacant housing space is deconstructed as needed. While some industrial wastelands were maintained by conversion, industrial plants, which have become unusable, have been continuously demolished in an organised way for many years.  

The town of Reichenbach uses the possibilities of the Special Urban Planning Legislation in order to create the legal bases for the urban restructuring. In addition to the land utilisation plan and different development plans,

• formally designated redevelopment areas for the development of the centres of the town of Reichenbach and of the district Mylau, 
• a preservation statute area for the preservation of the urban structural characteristic of the Gründerzeit area and 
• urban restructuring areas for the area of Reichenbach´s town centre as well as a part of the development area

were designated.  

For these processes, Reichenbach gets support from different funding programmes of the federal state, the federal government and the European Union. 

The town of Reichenbach has been participating in the European Energy Award since 2013 and thereby takes over an active role on the way to more energy efficiency.
At the beginning of the procedure, the sustainability of the energy and climate change policy of the municipality was analysed. On this basis, measures for the climate protection and energy efficiency were initiated and implemented in a systematic, cooperative and sustainable way with the participation of the most diverse partners.
At the end of the process, there is the awarding of the European quality certificate, the European Energy Award.  

The town of Reichenbach also plays its important role in environmental protection with further measures, such as the traffic noise action planning or the development of a flood risk management plan and its progressive implementation.