ERFURT – Making Thuringia's city centers more resilient and attractive in order to preserve them as social, cultural, and economic hubs – this is the goal of the Thuringian action alliance "City Centers with a Future." At its third alliance meeting on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, in Suhl, the alliance will present a position paper that includes an action plan for the coming months. A key focus will be an appeal to the parties represented in the Thuringian State Parliament to continue providing the financial foundation for the alliance's work.
The Thuringian action alliance "City Centers with a Future" was founded in 2021 on the initiative of the Erfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK Erfurt) and now comprises more than 50 institutions, including ministries, municipalities, associations, city managers, and practitioners. LEG Thüringen operates the office and organizes the regular alliance meetings. On November 26, a large number of members will convene to discuss the position paper and action plan. In addition to demands regarding financial resources, the position paper contains further proposals for future cooperation: These include the development and implementation of new exchange and project formats, such as launching a city center competition. Furthermore, the alliance aims to continuously increase its membership. A key objective is also to raise the alliance's profile statewide and to expand its reach to rural regions and their smaller towns. In cooperation with the ministries, the funding structures relevant to the revitalization of city centers will be continuously optimized. Evaluating existing funding programs and assessing current needs and challenges in urban development are central elements of the alliance's work. Since the beginning, the focus has been on adapting existing funding instruments – a priority that will continue to significantly shape the content in the future.
A central program element of the event is a panel discussion with representatives of the Thuringian state parliament factions, during which the politicians' positions on the position paper will be examined. Further topics addressed during the alliance meeting are based on the work of the three working groups, which are dedicated to key issues of contemporary inner-city development. These include the topic of "Living and Housing in the City" and thus increasing the attractiveness of city centers, as well as the topics of "Addressing Vacancy Issues" and "Climate." The latter working group initiated the "Wandering Tree Avenue" project, which involves creating mobile and temporary urban green spaces with trees in various streets of a city center, allowing the green spaces to "move" from one street to another. The project will continue, and the cities of Sömmerda, Leinefelde-Worbis, and Rudolstadt will receive funding approvals. Rudolstadt's mayor, Jörg Reichl, will accept the notification for his city at the alliance meeting.
All media professionals are cordially invited to participate in the 3rd alliance meeting of the Thuringian action alliance “Inner cities with a future”.
Time: Tuesday, November 26, 2024, 2-5 pm
Location: Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Southern Thuringia, Bahnhofstraße 4-8, 89527 Suhl
Further information about the action alliance:
https://www.leg-thueringen.de/thueringer-aktionsbuendnis-innenstaedte-mit-zukunft/
