"StadtLab Jena" is coming: space for new city center ideas

An open experimental space for anyone who wants to test a new business idea or innovative use in Jena's city center will be created at Löbderstraße 6 in the future. In the former "Bergwelt Meier" store, the Jena Economic Development Corporation (JenaWirtschaft) is developing a project office, a communication zone and its own pop-up space for the "StadtLab Jena" project. From next year, interested parties - companies, small businesses, associations and private individuals - will be able to rent space there for a limited period to try out their own ideas and concepts for an innovative city center. The project will receive a total of 1.3 million euros in federal funding from the "Sustainable inner cities and centers" programme over the next three years.

"We want to offer a protected space in which both commercial and non-commercial uses can be tested and, in the best case, optimized," says Markus Henkenmeier, Head of Business Services at JenaWirtschaft. "To this end, we provide a place where, for example, new concepts in retail, services, urban production or crafts can be tried out without financial constraints."

According to Henkenmeier, the aim of the "StadtLab Jena" project is to use these diverse "test balloons" to find answers to the big question of how city centers can remain attractive in the future. Which concepts will attract visitors to the city center? How can entrepreneurs best adapt to changing conditions such as changing shopping behavior or online retail? How are service providers in the city facing up to the current crises?

A project that the Mayor and Head of Urban Development Christian Gerlitz is also delighted to have launched:

"The city center is a strong innovation space, and with 'StadtLab Jena' we are creating a place for a broad mix of functions and uses. The project provides the infrastructure to develop and implement these new ideas." According to Gerlitz, he is looking forward to the impetus from the project as to which sustainable concepts can be used to further strengthen Jena's city center: "After all, the city center is our city's calling card."

The Department of Urban Development and Environment submitted the application for funding to the Federal Ministry of Economics together with the Economic Development Agency.

Work is already underway at Löbderstrasse 6: Until the end of the year, the property has been sublet to the Initiative Innenstadt, whose member companies are implementing a pop-up store in the space.

"We will then incorporate important findings from this test run into our project and convert the retail space so that it is optimally suited to the needs of future users," says Markus Henkenmeier.

At the same time, JenaWirtschaft is working on a website and basic communication tools. From spring 2023, StadtLab Jena will then be available to all interested parties for their innovative ideas.