Combining work with pleasure while observing the German approach to infrastructure planning

Having a multi-national team, CSI occasionally loses a team member overseas when it is time to catch up with friends and families (fortunately temporarily).  In August it was Daniel’s turn to trade winter for summer and go on the long journey to Germany.  Daniel was accompanied by his ‘flightless bird’ (meaning a true Kiwi), namely Angela. “What did people actually do on such trips before the time of entertainment systems?” [Quote Daniel].

The welcome in Munich was warm all-round which applied for the weather as well. Soon, Daniel and Angela got spoiled with lots of attention, events and the dearly missed culinary specialties that aren’t available in NZ. The culinary journey started with indulging in dipping oven-fresh pretzels (the real ones and not the snack version mostly known here in NZ) into containers of Fleischsalat (no salad at all) and Obazda, a Bavarian cheese mashup.

From left to right above we have Fleischsalat, Obazda and a tasty looking Spanferkel (vegetarians look away).

The overwhelming stimulation of the taste buds could not override Daniel’s passion for his work. And while getting around by bicycle in Munich there was plenty of time to observe buildings and infrastructure. Particularly fascinating was to see the progress on the development of an entirely new suburb in Freiham on the outskirts of Munich, which will house 30k people.

Before making NZ his home Daniel used to enjoying frequent bike rides in this area which were nothing but fields. The development started in 2009 with the construction of a train station, Autobahn connection, and roads. As a next step, retail spaces, office buildings, medical facilities, etc. were built. With this, the entire infrastructure for travel and employment was in place.

The order of planning made it easy for the establishment of the commercial sector and the facilitation of employees getting to the newly created jobs. In the next phase, parks, schools, kindergartens, etc. were built, before the last phase of the development with housing getting underway. Gobsmacked by the German efficiency Angela wondered “Why can’t we plan new developments like this? It makes so much sense, we should learn from it!” [Quote Angela].

Have you observed any infrastructure examples from other countries? – we’d love to hear any of your stories, both the good and the bad!  And of course, if you’d like to have a chat with us about NDT (non-destructive testing) services feel free to drop us a line:

Phone

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