Jürgen Odszuck

First Deputy Mayor of the city of Heidelberg

The construction sector is responsible for more than 40% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and generates almost 50% of the world's waste. At the same time, building materials are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive.

However, the built environment is a huge source of materials! The buildings of our cities hide huge amounts of valuable materials such as concrete, steel, wood, copper or plastics. Instead of using them for future projects, they are mostly considered waste and dumped in landfills.

Within the pilot project "Circular City Heidelberg" these resources will be used and systematically reused for the construction of the 16th district of Heidelberg. The already implemented digital material cadastre is the basis for the reuse or recycling of all kinds of materials.

Short biography of Jürgen Odszuck

Jürgen Odszuck has been First Mayor of the City of Heidelberg since October 2016 and is responsible for all areas of urban development and construction. He studied architecture in Munich and Ferrara and Urban Management in Bangkok (M.Sc).

After various positions abroad, he worked as a government architect in Erlangen and Kronberg i. T. in a responsible position.

He has been a member of the Building Committee of the German Association of Cities since 2018, a member of the German Academy for Urban and Regional Planning (DASL) since 2021 and a member of the scientific advisory board of the German Institute of Urban Design and the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) as well as the steering committee - "Mapping the Anthropogenic Stock V - Strategy Development for a National Urban Mining Process".

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Foto: Steffen Diemer