Icon: enlarge
Galeria Kaufhof branch in Mönckebergstrasse in Hamburg
Photo: Georg Wendt / dpa
What if almost all the shops in the city center close?
What if the centers of the cities are no longer exactly: centers where society meets, while shopping, at work, in a café, after work?
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) spoke to representatives from retail, municipalities and associations about saving inner cities from desertification in the corona crisis.
"Preserving" established city centers is elementary for Germany as a business location and its cultural and regional identity, said Altmaier after his virtual round table with around 20 experts from the industries.
Suggested solutions should now follow as quickly as possible.
According to the Minister's wishes, the video conference is to serve as the prelude to a series of workshops in the coming months, at which, among other things, concrete proposals for digitization and the use of vacant shops as well as entire district concepts are to be developed.
In the middle of next year, a largely "normal business" is likely to be possible again, and from 2022 on, more startups, Altmaier expected.
Icon: enlarge
Virtual round table: Altmaier at the press conference with Douglas boss Tina Müller (on the screen or), Gloria Göllmann from the Solingen-Ohligs real estate community (ul), Stefan Genth from the HDE trade association (ur)
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
Shopping centers on the green field
"The problems in retail did not just start with Corona," said the minister.
He referred to strong competition from online retail and "more and more shopping centers on the greenfield".
The pandemic has exacerbated the problems.
Dealers, service providers and restaurants in the city centers are particularly affected: Massive restrictions in spring and current curfew in Corona hotspots caused heavy losses and threatened the existence of numerous shops.
The dealers would have to "prepare for the future", but in the crisis often no longer had the necessary equity, said the chief executive of the HDE trade association, Stefan Genth, after the consultations with Altmaier.
The association warns of the bankruptcy of up to 50,000 businesses by the end of the pandemic and, among other things, demanded 100 million euros to fund investments in digitization.
"Fair risk sharing between tenants and landlords"
In addition, the "branch mix" and the appearance of the rows of shops in the city centers should be made more attractive, said Genth.
At the same time he admitted that the dealers themselves also had to "do their homework".
Altmaier also said that there have been failures in the past.
"But there is little point in trying to blame."
The Greens, on the other hand, see the economic minister to be guilty.
"It is completely incomprehensible why Altmaier only now realizes that he has to take care of the city centers," explained Katharina Dröge, spokeswoman for economic policy, and Daniela Wagner, spokeswoman for urban development of the Green parliamentary group.
They called for a "fair risk sharing between commercial tenants and landlords in terms of rental costs in this crisis" as well as a 500 million euro emergency fund for inner cities.
In addition, 290 million euros should be made available for digitization projects through urban development funding.
The local political spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Bernhard Daldrup, called for simplifications in the federal government's urban development funding and in this context spoke out in favor of "multifunctional buildings instead of traditional shopping malls".
Daldrup explained that vacancies cannot be met with extended bridging assistance and new leases alone.
Icon: The mirror
mamk / AFP
