City managers are pitching in: This is how the city center is coming back to life!

City managers are pitching in: This is how the city center is coming back to life!

The inner cities in Germany are facing major challenges. Empty sidewalks and deserted squares are an image that characterizes many cities. A team of 25 city managers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has made it their mission to counteract this. They want to bring more people into the city centers and bring liveliness back. This initiative is particularly implemented in larger cities such as Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg as well as in smaller towns such as Pasewalk and Schwaan.

A good example of these efforts is the city manager of Pasewalk, who successfully organized a spring shopping event to showcase local offerings. “We are in close contact with the entrepreneurs and help with approval problems,” reports Corinna Thieme, the city manager in Plau am See. Through a state government funding program during and after the Corona pandemic, many city officials were hired, but unfortunately not all positions could be retained after the funding expired.

Common solutions for inner cities

A discussion that will take place on November 10th in the Demmin Beermann Arena will be about finding new ideas for the Haff-Müritz region. The Ministry of Economic Affairs emphasizes that Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is well positioned compared to other federal states, but creating lively centers in places with fewer inhabitants remains a challenge.

Similar challenges were also discussed in Dortmund, where Mayor Thomas Westphal convened the first digital city round. During the discussion it became clear that the change in retail and changed customer behavior - also influenced by the corona pandemic - is presenting the city center with new challenges. Online commerce is booming, which also affects the quality of life in urban areas.

To counteract this, the people of Dortmund are relying on a package of measures to strengthen the city center, which includes the creation of a city manager as well as mobile green spaces and better lighting. Against a somewhat more difficult background, the attractiveness of weekly markets and the expansion of areas for outdoor dining are also being considered - “we have to make the city center more beautiful,” emphasizes Westphal.

Learn from the crisis

In both cities it is clear: comprehensive strategic approaches are needed to secure economic livelihoods and at the same time create a positive atmosphere. In Dortmund, Westphal explained four “Ss” that are intended to serve as a program of action: securing, becoming more beautiful, changing structures and segmentation. These points are intended to help support particularly hard-hit city districts such as the Brück and Rosenviertel.

While complaints about the challenges are often loud, it is essential that city administrations, entrepreneurs and citizens pull together. The efforts of the city managers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the initiatives in Dortmund are two facets of a comprehensive effort to revitalize inner cities and make them attractive for future generations. It remains exciting to see what creative solutions can be implemented in cities in the next few months. The development is receiving particular attention as part of the NDR “Talk vor Ort”, where we will work together on a positive future for the inner cities.

For everyone involved, it is now a question of staying creative and mastering the challenges with a good hand - because only together can we succeed in keeping the city centers alive and shaping them.