How lively is Jena's city center?

How many people are out and about in Jena's city center and when - and how are visitor flows distributed throughout the day and which routes do they take?

In order to better answer these questions in future and provide a reliable basis for decisions on city centre development, the city of Jena is planning to anonymously record pedestrian flows.

Until now, visitor numbers in the city center have been recorded manually on a random basis. These counts provide important snapshots, but are limited in terms of time and space. The planned measurement is intended to supplement the previous surveys and create a more continuous, reliable data basis for city centre development - for example for planning offers and infrastructure, the organization of events or the further development of the quality of stay.

Benjamin Koppe, Mayor and Head of Finance, Security and Citizen Services, emphasizes: "Like many city centres, Jena's city centre is under increasing pressure. Changing consumer behavior, increasing online trade and declining footfall are posing major challenges for bricks-and-mortar retailers. In order to keep our city center lively and attractive, we need a reliable basis for further development. The anonymized pedestrian frequency measurement helps us to better understand usage and target measures. Data protection and transparency have the highest priority; personal data is not collected. That's why we provide information at an early stage and expressly invite citizens to participate in the dialog."

At the event, the city will present the project and explain how the planned sensor technology works in principle, what data is collected and what it can be used for.

The project is part of the "Urban development, environment and transport" field of action in the Jena Smart City project. It is being developed in collaboration with the city's urban development department and the Jena Economic Development Agency as well as in cooperation with the JenaKultur and Kommunalservice Jena municipal enterprises and the Initiative Innenstadt Jena e. V.

When? Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Where? JEDI - Jena Digital Innovation Hub (Engelplatz 8, 07743 Jena)

Participants are among others:

Benjamin Koppe, Mayor and Head of Department
Dorothea Prell, Overall Project Manager Smart City Project Jena
Dr. Holger Flatt and Kai Kellermeier, Fraunhofer IOSB-INA, Lemgo
Katja Eisenschmidt, City Manager Initiative Innenstadt Jena e.V.
Kay Freytag, Project Manager Smart City Project Mühlhausen

Details of the program under this link.