Six months on, planning is still on schedule despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The inventory of the city's sports facilities and sports halls was already completed in January 2020 by the municipal sports management team tasked with implementing the planning. At the same time, the inventory of Offenbach's sports clubs with their own sports facilities was recorded separately.
In mid-January, all Offenbach sports clubs were invited to take part in the development planning by means of an online survey. A total of 78 clubs and departments provided feedback and commented on questions relating to Offenbach's sports facilities, their need for sports space and their wishes for the future design of sports areas in the city.
"Our goal is to maintain and further promote municipal and club-owned sports facilities for all citizens of the city. They are a very important component of social cohesion in a large city," explains Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke. "It was important to me that all clubs really get the chance to give their opinion," Schwenke continues.
The Institute for Cooperative Planning and Sports Development (IKPS) will shortly be conducting individual interviews with clubs with over 400 members and/or club-owned facilities in coordination with the city's sports management department. These clubs account for more than 80 percent of all organized athletes in the Offenbach city area.
To support this, the Office for Urban Planning, Transport and Construction Management is currently preparing an anonymous online survey of over 6,000 Offenbach residents together with the city's sports management department. People are randomly contacted and invited to answer an anonymous online questionnaire about their user behavior in sports, at municipal sports facilities and in public spaces. As data protection has absolute priority in the evaluation of the data, the process is also supported by the city's data protection officer in an advisory capacity.
"The surveys of sports clubs and the citizens of Offenbach are the most exciting part of sports facility development planning. Here, the city council receives first-hand information directly from the users as to which points are most important to them. In this way, we don't plan without taking needs into account and can later act efficiently with the knowledge gained when implementing the measures," says Schwenke confidently, but at the same time makes it clear that no miracles should be expected. "The corona crisis will certainly have an impact on investment projects. As long as the renovation of schools continues, not all sports facilities will be completed in a flash. It will require a gradual, serious approach," says Schwenke, making it clear that patience will be required even after the plan is in place.
Background
In 2018, the City Council resolved that the municipal authorities should draw up a sports facility development plan for the city of Offenbach am Main and submit it to the City Council for approval.
Following a tendering process, the City Council decided to award the contract for the preparation of a sports facility development concept to the Institut für Kooperative Planung und Sportentwicklung GbR (IKPS) in Stuttgart at its meeting on October 30, 2019 at the request of Lord Mayor and Head of Sports Schwenke. As a result of the process, the City of Offenbach expects concrete recommendations for action for modern infrastructural framework conditions based on a scientifically sound needs analysis. These recommendations will be discussed with a cooperative planning group over the coming months. The city's sports management department is in charge of drawing up the sports facility development plan and is supported by the Office for Urban Planning, Transport and Construction Management.