Shaping Offenbach: Successful kick-off for the master plan process
19.03.2015 – What will the Offenbach of the future look like, where does the city's potential lie and what makes Offenbach an attractive place to live and work? With the initiated master plan process, the City of Offenbach, together with Offenbach offensiv e.V., wants to develop visions for the Offenbach of tomorrow. Ideas are to be collected and presented by October and then translated into resolutions as quickly as possible
Around 300 interested parties from companies, institutions and many citizens accepted the invitation to the official launch event for the presentation of the Offenbach master plan on Friday, March 6, 2015 at the Alte Schlosserei on the EVO factory premises. The historic industrial hall was extensively converted into an event hall by EVO and could well stand for Offenbach's transformation from a leather and industrial town to a major city. Today, Offenbach is a city in the Rhine-Main metropolitan region, so the focus is now also on the city's future role in the region. What should the city look like in 15 years' time so that it is a good place to live and work? What course needs to be set so that companies choose Offenbach as a location and a high-income population moves in? Despite its good location in the middle of the Rhine-Main region, its creative potential and good space at relatively low real estate prices, the city's employment rate fell by 8 percent between 2000 and 2011 and its purchasing power by 16.3 percent.
The economy needs reliable conditions
"We need to master the balancing act between living and working," says Alfred Clouth, Offenbach entrepreneur and board member of the Offenbach Offensiv association, explaining the location initiative. "Binding guidelines are to be agreed that give investors planning security. To this end, several events are planned until the beginning of October, in which visions for the areas of "business" and "living" will be developed in various formats. The process will be accompanied by the Berlin agency Zebralog, which specializes in dialogue with citizens and organizes participation processes. In addition to the working groups, there will also be a plenary session and online surveys. For Lord Mayor Horst Schneider, the master plan offers a great opportunity for Offenbach and he therefore invites all citizens to get involved: "Take advantage of this opportunity and help shape the future of our city!".
Developing urban concepts
"We have an obligation to deal with the future": The Frankfurt architect and urban planner Prof. Albert Speer will accompany the master plan process with his office AS&P. His office, founded in 1964, has developed master plans for new cities in China, for EXPO 2000 in Hanover and the city center of Cologne, among others. In Frankfurt, Speer has realized the Parktower, the Europaviertel and the ensemble on Baseler Platz, among others. The Museumsufer and the Holbein-Steg also bear his signature. Speer knows from experience that it can take up to 20 years for an idea to be realized, so the planning horizon of 15 years that is now being considered is absolutely right. "We developed a regional port concept back in 1992 and it took a few years for life on the river to be discovered." The demands on a city are subject to constant change, so no one thought that city centers would become more important again. Instead, planners had long shifted living to the surrounding areas and viewed city centers only as shopping and working spaces. The challenge today is to develop urban concepts that reflect contemporary developments. Offenbach could benefit not only from its location, but also from the upgrading of the east of Frankfurt with the construction of the ECB and the Honsell Bridge: "Offenbach has by far not yet exploited its opportunities in this game," says Speer and promises that his office will "pull out all the stops for Offenbach".
Opportunities for Offenbach
The planners from AS&P have identified four opportunity images for Offenbach as an initial basis for discussion. The master plan process will show whether Offenbach ultimately positions itself as a lively, open city, a "swarm city" for young people, a technology city, a creative city or a small global city. At the end of April, there will be a first meeting of the detailed groups "Housing" and "Economy", in which representatives from politics/administration (5 people), economy (5 people), a representative of the local agenda and the 5 citizens who applied and were drawn at the kick-off event will come together.