Stadt-Up - Jena applies for the federal program for sustainable inner cities
The city of Jena is applying for the federal program for sustainable inner cities. The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), commissioned by the federal government, announced its positive decision on the submitted project outline at the end of November 2021. The city's application will now be submitted to the BBSR by the end of February. The Urban Development and Environment Committee and the City Council will be informed in advance. If approved, the total expenditure of 1.4 million euros would be spread over the years 2022 to 2025 (project period).With a funding rate of 75 percent, the municipal contribution would amount to a maximum of approx. 350,000.00 euros.
Using transformation processes as an impetus for urban development
Structural change in the retail sector, changing habits in the hospitality industry and services, new challenges for tourism - these buzzwords also affect the city of Jena. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic are acting as a catalyst and have intensified the need for action in recent months. In addition, there are fundamental changes to the cityscape and the associated new routes within a growing city center.
All of these transformation processes entail risks - but are also associated with opportunities for new impetus for urban development. This is where the federal program "Sustainable inner cities and centers" comes in and promotes innovative concepts and action strategies for cities in dealing with these transformation processes. The focus is also on the question of how inner city districts can be used multifunctionally with a variety of stakeholders.
The aim of the program is to avoid structural problems (keyword "desolation") in inner cities by (further) developing them as cooperative places. This enables cities to guarantee a quality of stay that makes the center attractive and lively in the long term.
Neighborhoods as spaces for experimentation and experience
With the report "City center action program" presented to the city council in May 2021, municipal fields of action and measures were identified to respond to the impending loss of attractiveness of Jena's city center in the wake of the Corona pandemic and to support affected areas with the beginning opening. In addition to short-term measures, the need for medium to long-term measures was also identified in order to actively support the structural change.In order for this to succeed, both internal resources and long-term funding must be considered.
Under the leadership of Department 3 and Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Jena mbH, a project application entitled "Stadt-Up-Jena - experimental and experience space for (multi)functional and (non-)commercial new first floor concepts and competitions to promote innovative business models" was drawn up. The application was submitted in September as part of the expression of interest procedure. The overall aim of the project is to proactively accompany the ongoing structural change in Jena's city centre, accompanied and triggered by general trends and developments (increase in online trade, digitalization, new business models, operating formats and technologies) and intensified by developments in the course of the corona pandemic, and to steer it towards three sub-goals.
- An urban laboratory ("Ground Floor Lab") in the form of a pop-up store on the first floor is to be set up: new concepts from retail and gastronomy will be tried out and newer uses such as crafts, urban production, services and non-commercial applications will be temporarily tested.
- A competition for founders and existing companies from the retail, gastronomy, services and urban production/crafts sectors will be initiated and carried out. New usage concepts, digitalization, sustainability, regional products and local value creation will be given special consideration.
- An inner-city shopping location with development deficits is to be transformed into a broad mix of functions and uses and thus a vital quarter, focused on the outskirts of the city center.
As a result, a space for experimentation and experience is to be created in a district on the edge of the city center.
Close cooperation with stakeholders from the urban community
The submitted project application was developed with the Initiative Innenstadt Jena e.V. and the interim use agency (blank). The interim use agency was involved in the process from the outset, as non-commercial uses are also to be explicitly considered in the implementation of the project alongside commercial uses. Other local and regional stakeholders are to be involved in the further process. A steering group - e.g. with Initiative Innenstadt Jena e. V., BLANK Zwischennutzungsagentur, real estate industry, digital economy and other local and regional players such as IHK Ostthüringen zu Gera and Handwerkskammer Ostthüringen, ThEx Enterprise - will be established to coordinate all measures relevant to the city center.
Quote from Lord Mayor Thomas Nitzsche:
A lively city center is like a friendly welcome, at the same time you can feel the heartbeat of the city there. We want to strengthen the appeal of the city center and promote new ideas that make visiting and spending time in Jena even more attractive. With the "StadtUp" program, urban development and business development are taking the right steps to ensure that the federal funding is used profitably for everyone.
Quote from Mayor Christian Gerlitz:
The project is intended to create an offer to strengthen the city center as an experience and innovation space and at the same time to proactively accompany the structural change that has already begun, so that our city center will continue to play an important role in the future.
Quote from Economic Development, Wilfried Röpke:
We want to show that great ideas and innovative projects are being developed and implemented in Jena's city center. We are offering them a showcase - with the planned pop-up store in the truest sense of the word. For example, new ideas for retail and gastronomy can be tried out there or small-scale crafts, art or other non-commercial uses can be implemented.
Quote from Markus Henkenmeier, Economic Development Agency:
Jena needs a lively city center. As part of the Stadt-Up project, we are planning a start-up competition that will bring together founders and existing companies from retail, gastronomy, services and urban production or crafts and help to successfully implement new concepts for the city center. A broad inner-city network supports the participants, for example, in drawing up a business plan, raising capital or realistically assessing their own market opportunities.