Downtown development concept
Project description
Reason for planning
Frankfurt’s downtown is an important focal point not only for its citizens but for the entire Rhine/Main region. As the city’s calling card, it epitomizes the city as a whole. Frankfurt’s profile as a medium-sized modern international city with strong historical roots is reflected in particular in the city’s downtown. All planning and building projects of recent years have stimulated great interest among Frankfurt citizens. The intention is to make the city’s downtown even more attractive as a vibrant hub for trade, services, residential life, culture and leisure-time activities. A special downtown development concept, which embraces the key tenets of the existing planning proposals and provides suggestions for future projects, has been formulated to steer things in the right direction.
Development district
The zone spans the city’s old town center and downtown within the Wallanlage greenbelt.
Planning objectives
The main objectives of the downtown development concept are as follows: revitalizing the urban fabric and public space; linking the central sites in downtown with the Main embankment and the greenbelt in order to improve the pedestrian and cycle path network; promoting urban mixed-usage; and strengthening the residential sector. The plan is to put in place a coherent interlocking network of roads, squares, lanes and passageways to enhance the city center’s appeal and invite people to stay. The effect that some roads presently act as a barrier can be overcome by improving traffic routes and redesigning the streetscape. Given that a vibrant downtown is beneficial to shopping centers and other facilities, the intention is to upgrade the typical mixed-use fabric of working, living, shopping, leisure time, hospitality and culture. The existing volume of downtown residential spaces will be extended and upgraded to ensure the heart of the city remains firmly alive after business hours, too.
Planning progress
The City decided on an open planning process in the hope to involve a substantial number of citizens in the project and receive a broad range of suggestions. Accordingly, numerous public information and workshop events have been held since early 2010, with the public actively engaging in the planning process. More than 200 citizens signed up to participate in downtown development planning over a six-month period. Following the conclusion of the public interaction sessions the City Council continued to fine-tune the planning and developed a climate study. In July 2015 the Municipal Council passed the resolution for the downtown development concept, which completed the planning process. Future steps involve the implementation of individual measures.