Originally, Hildesheim’s cathedral district was incorporated into the city structure. The large cathedral yard was located in the city as a generous square. Much smaller in size, the small cathedral yard had a rather semi-public and monastic character. On reconstructing the city in the 1950s, the crossing of the district via the big cathedral yard became considerably less important. Considering the present situation of the cathedral yard, two major interventions matter: For one, the alteration of the city's morphology around the Pfaffenstieg; on the other hand, the abolition of the structural-spatial separation of the two sides of the cathedral yard. Such a structural-spatial separation between the big and the small cathedral yard existed until the early 1840s.

A number of design goals derive from described urban design constraints. To reintegrate the cathedral yard into the city structure, the accesses to the cathedral district are to be strengthened.