Future of inner cities: Experts demand courageous concepts against vacancy!

Future of inner cities: Experts demand courageous concepts against vacancy!

The challenges for cities like Solingen in the course of changing the city centers are diverse. Dr. Daria Stottrop, an expert in spatial planning and for 15 years at the Bergisches IHK, has expressed clear concerns about the accessibility of the city centers by car. She emphasizes that an immediate switch from cars to other modes of transport is unrealistic. Despite her own preference for the bike and footpaths, she sees the car as necessary in certain life plans, which illustrates the discrepancy between idealistic visions and reality reports the Solinger Tageblatt .

A central topic in the discussion about the future of inner cities is the opening of pedestrian zones for bicycles. Stottrop sees this development as positive, but emphasizes the need for consideration. The city of Solingen plans to introduce such a bicycle zone, a concept that has already been implemented in cities such as Remscheid and Wuppertal. The current environment is characterized by empty shops and the decline in traditional shops. The lower number of visitors is also a problem that has not only existed since the pandemic, but is due to developments from the past decades reports the difu .

suggestions for inner city winding

Stottrop advocates innovative concepts for the conversion of vacant business premises in order to increase the quality of stay in the city centers. She warns that bureaucratic stress for retail is a growing problem. In particular, the strict documentation obligations see many dealers as a significant hurdle. Often these are communicated by the administrations in Bergisch's Bergische late and little transparently.

To improve the situation, Stottrop demands early information for investors and a stronger integration of the economy. In doing so, she emphasizes that the responsibility for the bloom of the city centers is not only among the dealers, but also with the real estate owners. It suggests that existing instruments are used to sanction owners who do not take care of their properties complements the cities Day .

The challenges are not only locally, but also part of a greater discourse about the need to make city centers more diverse and multifunctional. This includes not only living spaces, but also art, cultural and leisure facilities as well as co-working spaces and meeting rooms. Funding programs of the federal government and the federal states should help to cushion the existing problems and toast creative approaches.

The way to the future

The changes require a dialogue between all actors to solve the problems of the city centers sustainably. A research project of the DIFU in cooperation with the Fraunhofer ISI is intended to support cities in conducting this dialogue and anticipating the challenges of the future. The method of the strategic foresight is intended to identify relevant signals for possible changes and to evaluate their relevance.

The results from these workshop procedures are presented in the near future and should help to show ways to improve inner cities. Despite the pressing challenges, Stottrop sees opportunities for the Bergisches inner cities when there is close cooperation and open communication between the different cities and actors.