Good morning, dear reader,
are you one of those people who mourn the loss of Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt? Not me. Don’t get me wrong: For the employees who are now worried about their jobs, it is a disaster that they got themselves into through no fault of their own. But I don’t shed any tears for the concept of Germany’s largest department store chain.
As with most Germans, my personal shopping behavior has also changed. I get the everyday stuff on the Internet, for example. A new charging cable? Click, ordered. A cell phone contract? Click, done. socks? Click, tomorrow in my mailbox.
Now one could discuss the advantages and disadvantages of online trading, the flood of parcels, the waste pollution. But the fact is that I feel like many Germans. More than 70 percent of consumers in Germany shop online at least once a month, according to a survey by the digital association Bitkom. It is hard to imagine that this development will be reversed in the near future.
Of course, the current misery is also due to the fact that Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof missed out on entering online retail. But that’s only part of the picture. Because times are rough for many large chains: Media Markt and Saturn have been closing branches for years, H&M and the fashion giant Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf have applied for protective shielding procedures. To name just a few examples.
This is not all bad news for the respective companies and their employees. But also for the inner cities, at least at first glance. Because in the past few decades, the lynchpin was the notorious pedestrian zone – which looks the same everywhere: a Karstadt, a few clothing chains, in between telephone providers, snack bars that sell slices of pizza.
A desolate sight that you have certainly been observing for a long time. And the pandemic has accelerated this development again. And now? one might ask. Can this still be reversed or is the city center doomed?
The answer to the last two questions is: no and no. Ricarda Pätzold, who has been researching the development of inner cities at the German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu) for years, explains why.
Ms. Pätzold, can the city center still be saved?
In any case. It is precisely this enormous wave of attention surrounding the closure of the Galeria department store branches that shows how much the city center is important to many. It is far more than just a stumbling paradise for shoppers. Where do you go with visitors, where do you meet people? Where is the registry office where you get married? Where is the demonstration? Of course, we see some features disappearing, such as banking. However, the city center remains the center of the city, where paths cross, and is therefore also ideally important.
A number of chains are currently closing branches that were previously an integral part of the pedestrian zone. In which direction are these places changing?
This conversion of the inner cities to today’s form is a more recent development. In the past few decades, many specialist shops have gone, and large textile chains have come in. It was something new at the beginning, an attraction, but ended up with almost every city having the same shops. Such a concept will eventually be exploited and we have reached this point.
Conversely, does that mean that the shops have to become more specialized again?
That would at least be one way, because standardized goods in particular sell very well over the Internet. However, the cities have only limited options here, as they usually do not own the retail space. So I appeal to entrepreneurs to get creative. However, a functioning city center must be thought of as larger than just retail, otherwise it will be empty after the shops close.
The key is to get people into the city. Keeping schools downtown could help pay for the ice cream shop in the summer and the ice rink in the winter. Lively weekly markets are another means, rooms for advisory services such as street workers are another. Because the social dimension is also important, i.e. establishing the city center as a place where people from different residential areas come together. And we have to radically rethink what supposedly belongs in a city and what doesn’t. Why shouldn’t the most beautiful playground in town be in the city centre?
Thank you for the interview!
The inner city of tomorrow will therefore be different from the city of today. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, because it opens up space for creative possibilities. This is shown by the plans that some cities have already initiated for empty department stores, according to the German Association of Cities.
In Herne For example, an investor renovated an old Hertie department store, which is now fully let with offices, retail, gastronomy and services. Luebeck plans to make classrooms available for the inner-city grammar schools in a former Karstadt building. And Saarbrucken is currently converting a former department store into a retirement and nursing home, including an urban gardening project and a rooftop bar.
Of course, this is not a sure-fire success. Cities in regions that are constantly losing population will have a particularly difficult time. Because a concept can be as good as it wants to be: It depends on the people who help shape it, who open shops and run restaurants. And a public fund capable of pushing this transformation forward. It won’t work without it.
Finally, one more question for you: what makes an ideal visit to the city center for you? For me: Shops where I discover the unusual and one or two bargains, a pub with good music, a park where I can enjoy the evening sun.
You may have completely different ideas. Maybe it’s actually the quick errands for you. Maybe it’s the café overlooking the market where the cake tastes good. Or it is the skate park where you like to spend your afternoons. The needs vary widely – but which place apart from the city center has the potential to connect all of this? The internet is far from able to do that.
Fingers crossed for the Bundeswehr
There are always studies that confirm what everyone assumes anyway. This is how it was yesterday with the presentation of the military report. “The Bundeswehr has too little of everything,” said military commissioner Eva Högl. Some of the barracks are in a “pathetic condition”: leaking windows, water damage and questionable hygiene in the kitchens. Högl is also concerned about the next generation, because the Bundeswehr is getting older on average. There was still good news: In general, the Bundeswehr was ready for action.
