For an attractive city center

City of Jena puts together comprehensive package of measures to support the local economy

Retail, gastronomy, hotels, event and cultural facilities have been particularly hard hit by the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. The city of Jena wants to revive Jena's city center with a comprehensive attractiveness program and support local retailers and industries in need.

In the weekly press conference, Lord Mayor Thomas Nitzsche talks about the "City Center Package of Measures", which will be reported on in the City Council on 19.05.2021:

After more than a year of the pandemic, we are all longing for a fresh start for the city center. I am very pleased that the intensive cooperation of recent weeks with the city center initiative, various industry representatives and the city of Jena has now resulted in a package of measures that will be a very good basis for a "summer of catching up" and, moreover, a sustainable recovery of local trade and gastronomy.

Mayor and Head of Urban Development Christian Gerlitz adds:

'The measures adopted are the first steps towards shaping a 'postcorona' city center. Corona is the trend accelerator in retail development. Over the next few years, we will use this to shape Jena's city center into an authentic and vibrant district for everyone with retail, services, commerce, education and culture.

The city center action program is a joint project of the City of Jena, JenaKultur, the Jena Business Development Corporation, the City Center Initiative and industry representatives.

Hannes Wolf, City Manager at the Initiative Innenstadt, says:

Parallel to the hopefully final kilometers of the health crisis management marathon, we are now starting the city center crisis management marathon with the upcoming openings. Together with the city administration, we have put together a helpful set of services and campaigns that will provide a strong tailwind for the start phase. But it will take an unrelenting effort on the part of all city stakeholders to finish this race with as many people and businesses affected by the crisis as possible.

The following support measures for an attractive city center are included in the package of measures:

Reduction in special usage fees

Fees for outdoor catering will be reduced for the rest of 2021

Sale in outdoor areas

As with restaurants, retailers will also be allowed to sell their goods in outdoor areas for a limited period until the end of 2021

Shortening of closing times in the city center

The start of the closing time for the nights from Sunday to Monday, Monday to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday, Wednesday to Thursday and Thursday to Friday will be moved back to midnight.

Continuation of an advertising campaign

The City of Jena is once again contributing financially to a communication campaign to accompany the restart for citizens.

Further support for the city center initiative

The city of Jena ensures the continued subsidization of the city center initiative, which has developed into a central partner for the city of Jena, JenaKultur and business development over the past three years.

"Heimat shoppen" market

Traders are given the opportunity to offer their goods at a special market on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

Suspension of parking fees and free public transport

During the "Heimat shoppen" markets, the aim is to suspend the parking fee in the city center and also make local public transport free of charge.

Voucher card for Jena and the region

A local voucher and payment system is currently being tested and designed in cooperation with the Economic Development Agency and Sparkasse. The voucher cards should be available in the 4th quarter to support the Christmas business.

Technical solution for contact tracking

As part of a collaboration with Culture4life GmbH, the city of Jena has acquired a free license for the Luca app as a pilot project for commercial users. This cooperation does not include any exclusive obligation, i.e. every Jena retailer, restaurateur etc. is free to use alternative digital tools. This means that the city will always remain compatible with any decisions that may be made in this regard at state level.

The cultural concept that has already been adopted, the continuation of the Jena City Study, the acquisition of funding and cooperation with the local digital economy will form another important framework for supporting local retailers, restaurateurs and event organizers.

All stakeholders make it clear that cooperation within the network is and will remain the most important basis for further developing the package of measures over the coming months in line with requirements and finding the right measures for the local economy in Jena in a targeted manner.