A milestone for the “Future Wuppertal”: Urban development concept ready for council review

Future Wuppertal, the urban development concept envisioned by De Zwarte Hond over the last one and a half years, has been publicly launched and goes into council review. During a press conference on 1 April, 2019, with Mayor Andreas Mucke and Matthias Rottmann from De Zwarte Hond, the outline of the concept was presented to the public. The strategies of the urban development concept serve as a future vision and guideline for politics and administration of the city of Wuppertal over the next 15 years.

Matthias Rottmann, partner at De Zwarte Hond, explained the key messages of the urban development concept as well as the work process. After thoroughly analysing the guiding principles and prioritising existing plans, the team developed a total of 16 guidelines for the city's strategic direction. These were assigned to the three action areas: Liveable Wuppertal, Learning and innovative Wuppertal and Diverse Wuppertal. The concept also describes several focus points as prioritised subareas of the city, which can act as an impulse for the overall urban development.

The intensive work process, which involved all departments of the municipality, was transparent and accessible. Through four ‘workshops of the future’ and the ‘fortune-app’, developed by the Wuppertal institute, numerous socially-engaged stakeholders and many citizens were able to contribute their ideas and visions, and actively discuss different themes.

With the current urban development concept, the city now has an overall strategy that reveals interdisciplinary perspectives for the Wuppertal of tomorrow. After reviewing the development with committees and district councils, the Council will take the concept into consideration. A final public presentation is planned after the summer holidays.

Up-to-date information can be found on the website www.zukunft-wuppertal.de.