Ganser vividly explained the IBA philosophy of "change without growth" and strongly advocated for a circular economy in land use, building stock, energy consumption, and water management. What the IBA has done, as he pointedly understated, is that it has done nothing: "What you leave standing today," according to a "peasant rule" from the farmer's son in Upper Swabia, "you can always tear down tomorrow." Or maybe not. Which is usually better. Thus, the IBA has reversed the principle "city consumes nature," which dominated the Ruhr area for one hundred and fifty years: "nature consumes city" - and brings it back into the settlement areas.
By highlighting the Emscher Landscape Park, which is to be created by 2030 over a length of seventy kilometers between Duisburg and Hamm, as the "largest park construction site in Europe" and the Ruhr area as the "first region in the world" that will be transformed "from an old industrial landscape to a new cultural landscape," he declared the region a model that sets new standards.
Thus, his speech was also a call to pride, as the IBA has already helped to cultivate a new self-awareness of the region with its identity-forming projects. Capturing the abundance of motivations that it has made possible and implemented, and developing follow-up structures for them, is part of its legacy and a challenge for the future.
