Dresden. Panic or impending crisis? Nobody in the city council wants to doubt that Dresden is about to die out in the city center on Thursday evening. On Wilsdruffer Strasse alone between Pirnaischer Platz and Altmarkt, at least six shops are currently empty, says Green City Councilor Thomas Löser, whose parliamentary group has requested a current hour on this subject. The shift of trade to the Internet was exacerbated by the corona pandemic, and deficits in the center were even more apparent, so Löser. Nobody wants to contradict him, but how the impending catastrophe could be averted, the city councils have very different views.
Löser demands, among other things, more quality of stay in the center and an active management of vacant retail spaces. CDU city councilor Steffen Kaden, on the other hand, lets the Greens know that he is partly to blame for the dying shops. “Every year parking spaces are lost in the city center,” he says. Of course, fewer people would find their way to the center as a result. Every year there is also a new debate about Sundays when they are open for business. A revitalization of Dresden city could not work like this.
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“Selling goods is no longer enough”
“Merely selling goods is no longer enough to revitalize centers,” says Left City Councilor Magnus Hecht. Empty corners should be made more attractive, for example by artists and creative people. The cultural islands, which created the atmosphere in the center after the first Corona wave, were mentioned several times on Thursday. Hecht also suggests exhibition tours and street music festivals.
The AfD also sees an undesirable development in Dresden’s inner city in recent years. The people of Dresden are more and more drawn to the shopping centers on the outskirts for shopping. City Councilor Uwe Vetterlein cites the Elbepark as an example. In his opinion, there are reasons for this, including the large number of parking spaces there. He thinks that shopping at unusual times, free public transport at times or free parking in the city center could help to counteract the dying of shops.
Now it’s the task force’s turn
Further articles
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The city itself has developed extremely well over the past few decades, assesses Löser and wants to paint a picture that is not too gloomy. “We underestimate the attractiveness of our own inner city.” What happened to all the suggestions? An advisory board and a task force in the city administration want to develop short-term and long-term measures in the next few weeks. Dealers and restaurateurs should make suggestions, but everyone in Dresden will also have the chance, promises the administration.
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