Germany: URBAN I in Bremen

Home , Bremen, Duisburg, Erfurt, Halle (Saale), Magdeburg

The URBAN I programme in Bremen concerned facilities provided, it is possible today to link any of- the development of a deprived area in the fice and conference meeting rooms, which is a spe- Gröpelingen district through a linked cultural and cific requirement of new media companies. The profit economic strategy. The area faced high unem- generated is used to finance “Lichthaus.Plus neue ployment, lack of economic potential and social Kunst” with four artists’ projects every year. “Lich- problems due to the decline of the port and ship- thaus.Plus” invites them to present works related to building industry and the bankruptcy of the AG- the cultural, urban, political and economic environ- Weser shipyard in 1983. Within the framework of ment of the area. URBAN I, more than 40 individual projects were implemented. Projects were based on a bi-polar development model: the northern pole being developed as an economic centre, offering space for service providers and retail and the southern pole being turned into a cultural centre and resi- dential area next to the river Weser, connected to each other by a redesigned green and lively traf- fic area. Euro 8 million from the European Union attracted 8.3 million in further investment, creat- ing total resources of Euro 16.3 million.

Business and Culture in the “Lichthaus” Administrative authority

The “Lichthaus” is the flagship project of the URBAN Senator für Wirtschaft und Häfen der Freien Hans- I programme in Bremen-Gröpelingen. A former in- estadt Bremen dustrial building next to the port area has been con- Herr Sven Wiebe verted into an important centre for the arts, culture Zweite Schlachtpforte 3 and new media. Companies located here created D-28195 Bremen more than 60 jobs and the conference spaces are Ph. +49-421-361 8620 used for events. The Bremen company purchasing Fax: +49-421-361 8810 the property and local actors developed a concept [email protected] allowing the house to operate as a venue for the arts, http://www.bremen.de/wuh for business start-up and for events. Thanks to the http://www.lichthaus.de equipment, infrastructure and communication

June 2002 EUROPEAN COMMISSION 12 cities had benefited from the URBAN I Community DIRECTORATE-GENERAL REGIONAL POLICY Deutschland : URBAN I and II programmes Initiative - Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Chemnitz, DGREGIO-GIS Duisburg, Erfurt, Halle-Saale, Kiel, Magdeburg, Rostock, Saarbrücken, Zwickau - with a total contribution from the European Union of € 115 million (€ 96.3 million ERDF and € 18.7 million ESF). Under URBAN II, Berlin, Bremerhaven, Dessau, Dortmund, Gera, Kassel, Kiel, Leipzig, Luckenwalde, Mannheim/Ludwigshafen, Neu- brandenburg und Saarbrücken will spend a total of Euro KIEL ROSTOCK 273.3 million of which the EU contribution will be Euro 148.7 million.

NEUBRANDENBURG BREMERHAVEN

BREMEN

BERLIN BRANDENBURG

MAGDEBURG (CRACAU) European Commission LUCKENWALDE DESSAU DUISBURG (MARXLOH) HALLE DORTMUND More information about the URBAN KASSEL LEIPZIG initiative can be found at:

GERA CHEMNITZ ERFURT-OST http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_po ZWICKAU licy/urban2/index_en.htm

If you would like further information about regional policy, for example MANNHEIM - LUDWIGSHAFEN about the structural funds’ interven- SAARBRÜCKEN tions in other regions or about the reform of this policy, please visit this European Commission web-site:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_po licy/index_en.htm

Or send an E-mail or fax, or write to: R RegioGIS

European Commission Both URBAN I and URBAN II programmes Regional Policy Directorate-General URBAN I programmes Inforegio Service URBAN II programmes Avenue de Tervuren/Tervurenlaan 41 NUTS2 boundaries B-1040 Brussels

Sources: E-mail: [email protected] © EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries (1997) 0km20 100 Fax: +32-2-296 6003

Keyword: The URBAN Community Initiative ► Between 2001 and 2006, the European Union will invest Euro 728 million of European Regional Develop- ► The majority of European citizens live in urban areas. ment Fund (ERDF) money in these areas. Adding local Cities are centres of economic growth, but can at the same and national cofinancing, including the private sector, this time face concentrations of social, environmental and eco- makes a total investment of Euro 1.6 billion. Funding con- nomic problems. The URBAN Community Initiative is an centrates on physical and environmental regeneration, instrument within EU Cohesion Policy, dedicated to the social inclusion, training, entrepreneurship and employ- regeneration of urban areas and neighbourhoods in crisis. ment. ► The second round of URBAN ("URBAN II") consists ► A particular feature of the URBAN initiative is the of 70 programmes across the EU, covering some 2.2 mil- high degree of involvement of the local level. In most lion inhabitants. These areas often face quite severe dep- cases the local authority is responsible for day to day im- rivation. For example, on average unemployment and plementation, advised by local community groups and in crime rates in URBAN II areas are both around twice the partnership with the national authorities and the European EU average. In addition, the proportion of immigrants is Commission. Another interesting feature is that there will more than twice the average for EU urban areas. Finally, be a network of the URBAN II programmes to exchange the proportion of green spaces - an indicator of environ- information and experience on sustainable urban devel- ment and amenity - is only half the EU urban average. opment across the European Union.

June 2002