The magistrate recommends renewed participation in the state program
The city of Langen wanted to give new impetus to increase the attractiveness and revitalize the upper Bahnstraße by participating in the state funding program “Future Inner City” and recently received much praise from citizens and traders with the “city experiment”. Now the magistrate wants to take the next step: the state of Hesse has also selected Langen in the second call and has promised a maximum funding of 300 thousand euros. If the city council agrees and releases the necessary municipal contribution of almost 53,000 euros, two other important issues for the city center may be addressed in the next year.
“Make room for the future of your inner city” – this is the motto of the second round of the state program “Future city center”. According to the magistrate’s ideas, this future should, on the one hand, develop ideas for a “green center” in Langen and, on the other, give greater consideration to “children at the center”. Both projects convinced decision makers in the state of Hesse: they approved the maximum funding amount of 300,000 euros (150,000 per project) for the city of Langen. A total of 97 municipalities applied and 41 were selected.
Additional after-school rooms
“KIZ – Children in the Center” takes up a Wall School concern. In view of the imminent entitlement to afternoon care starting in 2026, the primary school will need additional rooms for care and lunch. Due to the school’s downtown location on Wallstrasse, structural extensions on your property are prohibited.
In the immediate vicinity, the commercial space on the ground floor of the building at Lutherplatz 1-3 has been empty for years. The property has recently had a new owner, with whom the business development and the Department of Social Affairs and Education are in contact, and who has expressed a strong interest and openness to the idea of creating areas there for the childhood in schools. A first check by the Offenbach district was positive. As part of the state program, suitability must be investigated, the necessary change of intended use and the reconversion of the areas for the Wallschule must be carried out and, as far as funds allow, the internal premises must be converted into nursing rooms.
Green center project
The “Green Center” project aims to take a look at the entire area south of the central Bahnstraße up to Wolfsgartenstraße and to develop open and holistic approaches to general urban development models, goals and new ideas for the city center. The area is characterized by numerous autonomous public and semi-public facilities (churches, schools, kindergarten for children, ZenJA, City Garden, Long Eaton and Romorantin Complex, sports facilities, city hall, government center, new city hall). Framework planning considerations and ideas should show what could be possible if Green Center actors acted together and in relationship to each other. This ranges from a higher quality of stay and safety in public spaces to sports and games and from the use of areas for markets or events to ecological design with better ecological quality. As part of the funding program, there is therefore an urban development competition, which is dedicated to these questions and tasks, shows pragmatic ways for experimental projects and real results, and provides the city council with a basis for discussion and decision-making.
“These two projects in Langen, which the Hessian state considers worthy of support, are linked to the ongoing city experiment at the top of Bahnstrasse,” says Mayor Jan Werner. “This time, however, the design approaches are in the foreground and not visually visible, temporary changes.” According to the mayor, the advantage is enormous: “The state funding makes it possible to carry out the two projects under unique conditions, but also with considerable work and effort to cope with the pressure of time. The goal is to develop unconventional ideas for the center of Langen and start the democratic discourse on them with well-founded foundations “.
The Main Committee and Finance on Thursday 20 October. The decision will then be taken by the city council in the session of Thursday 3 November.
(Text: PM City of Langen)
