‘Inner City Impulse’ – the newest German state government project

Rhineland-Palatinate will get funding to support its’ city centres after the Covid-19 pandemic

The German region of Rhineland-Palatinate launched a new model project “Innenstadt-Impulse”, which will promote life in city centres. The state government will fund innovative ideas and advanced urban development in 2021 and 2022.

2.5 million euros investments

The five regional centres of Mainz, Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Koblenz and Trier will receive 2.5 million euros to support the development and the reintegration of urban central areas. In 2021/2022 each region will acquire 250 000 euros and in 2023 the plan is to double the budget. According to the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate Malu Dreyer, the structural change of the cities has already begun before the lockdown, but the aftermath of the pandemic will expedite this process.

The project will focus on restructuring city centres according to the new needs such as cultural, work, and green spaces as well as digitalised areas. The benefit of the programme is the fact that cities can create individual action measurements depending on their demand. The only requirement for this funding is to use activities, which are already concluded or are planned to happen.

“Inner cities are at the heart of the urban life in ​​our society, they are the cultural and economic centre of every city. The corona pandemic hits these centres especially hard. Due to the support of the state, we can counteract structural change with further targeted measures and strengthen and revitalise the inner cities. Cities have reinvented themselves again and again and even after the pandemic, also thanks to the “Inner City Impulse” model project, we will make our city centres fit for the future,” shared the Mayor of Mainz, Michael Ebling for the official website of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The money could be used to support activities and bring back the life of cities with the assistance of the mayors and their teams. This will include pop-up stores, city centre marketing and the establishment of local online marketplaces.