Duel of the challengers: Frank (CSU) and Habenschaden (Greens) explain their visions for Munich

Where can cheap living space be created in Munich, how should a traffic turnaround be designed? The two OB candidates, Kristina Frank (CSU) and Katrin Habenschaden (Greens), gave answers to these questions during a panel discussion held by private bank Donner & Reuschel as part of the perspective day.

• Against the mayor of Munich (OB), Dieter Reiter (SPD), who has ruled since 2014, Kristina Frank (CSU) and Katrin Habenschaden (Greens) are running for a runoff.

• During a panel discussion, Frank and Habenschaden spoke about their visions for the city.
• Incumbent Dieter Reiter was also supposed to take part in the two panel discussions, but was apologized for scheduling reasons.

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nchen - One or the other of Munich may have received mail from the city at the weekend. The district administration department has sent the election notifications. On March 15, more than 1.1 million people in Munich were called to elect a new city councilor and a mayor - possibly also a new one. Kristina Frank (CSU) and Katrin Habenschaden (Greens) are counting on the chances of dropping incumbent Dieter Reiter (SPD) from the throne. They discussed what ideas the challengers had on Saturday at a panel discussion held by private bank Donner & Reuschel as part of the Perspective Day in front of around 300 listeners at the Hotel Andaz. Dieter Reiter had canceled due to scheduling reasons. The event was moderated by Merkur editor-in-chief Georg Anastasiadis and town hall reporter Klaus Vick.

The two duelists Kristina Frank (left) and Katrin Habenschaden also answered questions from the audience.

© Klaus Haag

The future of living and traffic in the city are the central questions to which the future city hall boss has to find answers. The two politicians agree that Munich will continue to build apartments and that there must be a turnaround in traffic. The opinions differ only on the design.

Local elections 2020 in Munich: Transport turnaround as a main topic

"A good turnaround in traffic does not pretend that the place can be maintained in this way," said Katrin Habenschaden. She wants to redistribute the space, strengthen public transport in order to get more people to change trains. "At the moment it is not an alternative." If the mayor had property damage, the Landshuter Allee car tunnel project would be a thing of the past. “Tunnels will not change traffic. You can see that at the Luise-Kiesselbach tunnel. The traffic is still jamming, threading has become more difficult and the pollutants are not going anywhere. ”One has to ask whether the money for the construction costs cannot be redeployed and, for example, invested in the expansion of local transport.

Merkur editor-in-chief Georg Anastasiadis moderated the event together with town hall reporter Klaus Vick.

© Klaus Haag

Of course, Kristina Frank has a different approach: “We want to think three-dimensionally. With the Landshuter Allee tunnel, we not only create the cars underground, but also areas above ground. ”Frank referred to the cosmetic effect of tunnel construction. "We unite a quarter. The Petuel tunnel shows how well this can work. ”

At the turnaround in traffic, the municipal adviser wants to rely on being together rather than against each other. And she called for an overall concept for the city. "We reject a piece of work. It makes no sense if you only think in sections without considering where the traffic is going. ”For her, the change in traffic also means that public transport is radically reduced and the subway runs around the clock. A metropolis like Munich is not worthy of the fact that the underground stops operating at night.

2020 local elections in Munich: Frank and Habenschaden say this about building development

The idea that the city should no longer be built is also unworthy. "This is not Munich," said Frank. You need a good coping with the bow wave, which is due to the red-green. "But we don't need a wall." But she wants to look closely, look at each quarter individually. This also applies to high-rise buildings. "That doesn't fit for me in the middle ring."

Around 300 listeners followed the panel discussion.

© Klaus Haag

Skyscrapers are not a solution for the construction of cheap apartments anyway, said Habenschaden. “They are very expensive to create. But we can tolerate it in suitable places. ”One example is the possible new development area in Munich's northeast. There are many ecologically high-quality areas there. "If you can only build part of the 600 hectares, then you have to go up, of course in line with the surrounding buildings." Because: The need for affordable housing is high. "We have over 9000 people on the reserve list because they cannot find an apartment in Munich."

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In this context, both candidates are also striving to work more closely with the neighboring counties. Frank: "The head of the city can be seen very, very little at the regional conferences." Habenschaden said: "We want to create a regional council. Traffic, water, air - these topics don't stop at the city limits. ”

Town Hall reporter Klaus Vick.

© Klaus Haag

When asked by the two moderators whether they would support the other candidate in the event of a runoff election against Dieter Reiter, they both smiled and said: "Let's have a look." Percent of the votes, a runoff election will take place on March 29. Merkur editor-in-chief Georg Anastasiadis had already joked at the beginning of the event that Munich was doing better with the two likeable and competent challengers than the poor Thuringians. "Look how many times we have to choose in the end."

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List of rubric lists: © K laus Haag