A Strong Alliance
Whether climate change, mobility or social change: cities are facing ever greater challenges. Seeing these as opportunities for new paths was the motivation of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) to join forces with the regional business community for an exchange of ideas about the “City of the Future”.
Für das IHK-Positionspapier „Stadt der Zukunft“ entwickelte das Team rund um Marion Hörsken gemeinsam mit Unternehmen Ideen, um die Stadt Düsseldorf auf ihrem Weg zu einer modernen, nachhaltigen Metropole zu unterstützen.
Many entrepreneurs have ideas how to ensure the city is fit for the future - now they have a voice: Following a long preparatory process, the position paper “City of the Future” was published in spring. Marion Hörsken, Managing Director of the Sector Support Department at the IHK Düsseldorf, talks enthusiastically about it. It was compiled by her and her team in cooperation with the regional business community; there was a speci-
fic focus on the topic of “urban resilience”.
Hörsken’s work mainly consists of closely exchanging information with sectors and companies about their interests and needs. “This is how ‘City of the Future’ came about. We realised that many people want to get involved. Our task as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce is to bring together the interests and views of businesses, thus giving the whole economic sector of this region a common voice.” A total of around 300 companies from Düsseldorf and Langenfeld, from retail to industry, were involved. It was important for all participants to launch into the future straightaway and not just talk about how to make the city of Düsseldorf resilient within the next 10 or 20 years.
Right at the beginning of the planning process, the IHK Düsseldorf brought Lord Mayor Stephan Keller on board. There is also a cooperation with Raumwerk D, the city-wide development concept that deals with today’s as well as future challenges of the city. “We see ourselves here primarily as a source of ideas for specific topics that can be taken up accordingly by Raumwerk D,” explains Marion Hörsken.
According to Hörsken, the economy is a very important player in the overall framework of the city. Therefore, consideration was given to what role companies can play in its responsible further development. “There was a clear commitment to this by the participating companies, because business-friendly urban development is a win-win situation for everybody: citizens, business and, of course, the city of Düsseldorf,” says Hörsken.
“the change of major cities with regard to climate change, for example, is unavoidable.”
In the meantime, the IHK position paper has been presented to the individual parliamentary groups of the city council, but also to citizens at various events. The feedback has been very positive throughout. Because one thing is certain: the change of major cities with regard to climate change, for example, is unavoidable. So where are the priorities to be set? Hörsken explains that four major themes were identified - supply, production, mobility and housing; above all, a lot of green spaces feature in the urban planning sketches presented in the paper. However, aren’t a flourishing economy and a green consciousness mutually exclusive? “This is not a contradiction for us. In fact, we want to take concrete responsibility: green facades and roofs, photovoltaics, energy sufficiency. How can a city be self-sufficient and what innovations can be developed for this purpose? There are already projects in the planning stage that can be realised very quickly,” says Marion Hörsken.
Mobility will also play an important role. One of the central ideas is the planning of a second main railway station in the area of Bilker Bahnhof, which is to be accompanied by a corresponding neighbourhood development. “Whether it’s Stephan Keller, representatives of the administrative committees or the head of the economic development department: everyone is enthusiastic about this idea - in the next steps, however, we have to see what is really feasible and also financially viable.”
Another visionary idea is city logistics: how about a down-under line that works like a kind of underground pneumatic tube and transports goods to relieve the city’s eternally congested traffic? “Alternatively, you could certainly find smart, above-ground solutions. The most important thing for us is that it works,” says Marion Hörsken. The role models here are cities like Copenhagen or Paris. “It is important to find a good option that allows all means of transport to coexist and, above all, to involve the citizens. In our paper we therefore ask the question: How do we create more mobility with less traffic?”
How do we create more mobility with less traffic?”
For the IHK Düsseldorf, it is essential that all interest groups work together, especially when it comes to climate change, because the consequences of missed measures must be borne by all. “Wherever possible, green spaces should be created, also in order to provide quality of life. Especially outside the city centres, e.g. in commercial areas, this is already being implemented: with rainwater retention basins, open spaces for rain storage or green spaces that absorb heat. The position paper has collected many other great ideas on this topic, such as photovoltaic installations on buildings, green roofs and facades or urban farming in the districts. “Such concepts make a city worth living in and are indispensable when thinking about adaptation to climate change,” says Marion Hörsken. A city management is to provide help in coordinating such projects, “which is to bundle the wishes of the participants and bring them to the city administration”, and has already been installed.
“Wherever possible, green spaces should be created, also in order to provide quality of life. “
Urban resilience, climate change adaptation, concrete thoughts on improved mobility - what prompted the companies to this partly radical rethinking? “We have 93,000 member companies in our IHK district with many people who naturally also represent a certain diversity, and a lot of them are thinking about transformation and the future. Of course, it is also about entrepreneurial success, but for most of them this includes a sense of responsibility for the next generations.” The same applies to politics, Marion Hörsken emphasises, saying that all parties were immediately very open to the ideas developed. Hopefully, this will also translate into a willingness to make decisions for a greener and more resilient Düsseldorf.
“It is important for us to interlink the expertise of the ‘Business Alliance’, represented within the IHK as well as in the companies, even better with the city. Everyone has a lot of great ideas, but there needs to be an intermediary and a structure so that these will also reach the city.” Because Marion Hörsken is certain of one thing: a strong economy will also strengthen the city of Düsseldorf. •
Words Katja Vaders
Pictures ISR GmbH #Zukunftslust