Chemnitz wins the competition "Ab in die Mitte! The City-Offensive Saxony"
The city of Chemnitz and IG Innenstadt have won this year's competition "Ab in die Mitte! The Saxony City Centre Offensive" competition. The 25,000 euro prize recognises project ideas for attractive and vibrant city centres in Saxony. The Chemnitz entry won 1st prize with a concept that uses the opportunities offered by cycling to attract more visitors to the city centre. The prize was presented today in Dresden by the State Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport and patron of the competition, Sven Morlok.
Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "Bewegt in die Stadt" shows the attractive power of Chemnitz city centre. Commitment, ideas and outstanding co-operation between all partners involved are rewarded with this prize. The project gives a boost to efforts to make Chemnitz more bicycle-friendly. The potential of cycling for a lively and modern city with an attractive and strong centre is exemplified here."
The aim of the joint project is to invite even more people to cycle into the city centre. The core of the project is an inner-city cycle car park, in which a total of 50 bicycles can be parked safely and protected from the weather. Under the roof, there will be city maps with cultural and tourist information as well as information on public transport, for example. The car park will also offer practical help for cyclists. For example, there could be charging facilities for e-bikes, lockers for bicycle accessories, a bicycle inner tube machine or compressed air for tyres. The necessary electricity could come from solar cells on the roof, according to the project idea.
The bike car park should also become a meeting point for cyclists. City centre cycle tours and guided tours can start here, as well as cycle tours into the surrounding area. The concept also includes maintenance and care programmes and possibly also bike races for the "Diamond Cup", which could be used to commemorate Chemnitz's 127-year tradition of bicycle production.
The space in front of the youth hostel on Getreidemarkt could be a possible location for the first cycle car park. Located in the centre of the city, it is well connected to the city's cycle network, promenades and the cycle path along the Chemnitz river.
The "Bewegt in die Mitte!" project is a so-called PPP (public-private partnership) project, i.e. it is characterised by cooperation between public and private partners. The joint competition entry was developed by the city administration, led by the building department, and IG Innenstadt, which also includes the Rathaus Passagen traders' association, the Roter Turm advertising association and the Rosenhof traders' association. Potential partners so far include eins energie, Diamant Fahrradwerke GmbH, Ströer DSM GmbH, ADFC Chemnitz and Chemnitz University of Technology.
Following success in the competition, the project partners will discuss the next steps for implementation. The first cycle car park could go into operation in 2014. Initially, a design competition is planned to further concretise the idea. On this basis, the project partners can deepen their own technical contributions and jointly design the further planning and realisation steps. The key aspect of this PPP project is that the potential of the various partners is pooled in order to jointly realise the cycle parking garage.
The competition "Ab in die Mitte! City-Offensive Saxony" competition has been running since 2004 and over 100 cities with more than 250 project ideas have taken part so far. The competition originated in North Rhine-Westphalia, where 10 selected cities organised such a competition for the first time in 1999. Today, in addition to Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, the competition is also organised in three other federal states: Lower Saxony, Hesse and Berlin.
Further information on the "Bewegt in die Mitte" project can be found in the attached files.
More information on the competition "Off to the centre! The City-Offensive in Saxony" can be found on the following homepage: http://www.abindiemitte-sachsen.de/.Dort you will also find a film about "Bewegt in die Mitte".