The idea of a campus mile that connects several locations for research and teaching in Frankfurt was born ten years ago. The urban networking of three universities and the German National Library along the Alleenring was intended to create an axis that would make Frankfurt more visible as a location for science. State and local politicians wrote concepts with scientists, and the importance of the project was even put on a par with the Museumsufer. The campus mile was later included as a “leading project” in the city development concept. Students provided initial ideas in several competitions financed by the city.
A few years later, the balance is sobering. What happened is something that is now typical of Frankfurt’s local politics: grandiose announcements are not followed by action. This year, the city council succinctly informed the city councilors that there was no money available for overall planning of the campus mile. Strengthening the science location is apparently no longer a priority.
Hessian Finance Ministry puts the brakes on
At least the city has done its homework on one point and made a plot of land opposite the German National Library available for the construction of a learning and research center. This project, run jointly by several institutions, is intended to make the campus mile visible – but it is not making any progress. In this case, the brake is on the Hessian Ministry of Finance.
This is also symptomatic. When it comes to Frankfurt as a science location, cooperation between the city and the state is bumpy. There is still no agreement on the new building for the University of Music and Performing Arts in Bockenheim. The land swap agreement, which is supposed to enable the new university library on Miquelallee, among other things, has been under negotiation for years. The new building plans of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Bockenheim have fallen through and a new location has not yet been found. At least the further expansion of the Westend university campus is progressing, but the state is not dependent on cooperation with the city.
In the end, the research institutions are left to their own devices. The music college has long been looking for an alternative site. And the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management has now rented vacant rooms from the Hessischer Rundfunk to cover its space requirements. The new location in Bertramshof is at least close to the street that is to become the campus mile – at some point, when the city rediscovers its interest in science.
