For the mayors of German cities, climate protection and mobility remain the most important topics despite the pandemic. The OB-Barometer 2021 of the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) shows a clear trend change in the topic of inner city development, which is gaining strongly in importance.
Berlin. This year's Mayor Barometer of the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) is dominated by the corona pandemic. It is therefore not surprising that, when asked about the most important topics for cities at the moment, the city leaders most frequently named coping with the crisis and its consequences, at 69 percent. The topics of "climate, energy, sustainability" recorded a renewed increase in importance with 45 percent. If one disregards the special situation of Corona, "climate" is currently even in first place. This policy area already showed a strong increase in importance in 2020, and in 2021 the city leaders rated it as even more important than in January/February 2020. But when asked about the most important topics for the future, 53 percent of the mayors named "climate, energy, sustainability" ahead of mobility (50 percent) and digitalization (37 percent).
The fact that climate protection and mobility are considered so important at the moment and with a view to the future underlines the great importance that city leaders attach to environmental issues. "The exciting question of whether Corona will push the issue of climate protection into the background or raise additional awareness seems to have been decided in German cities. The mayors want to develop their city into the future in a climate-friendly way and with adapted mobility," comments Difu Institute Director Prof. Dr. Carsten Kühl on the results of the current Mayor Barometer 2021.
The OB-Barometer 2021 reveals a clear trend change in the topic of "inner city development". Here, the city leaders see a strong increase in importance both now and in the future: The topic has gained attention in recent years due to the increasing online trade. The Corona pandemic has massively intensified this trend: more and more shops are closing, more offices remain empty since many people work from home offices, and the cultural scene has also had to move into the digital space - many city centres are losing their quality of stay. The inner cities are facing a huge upheaval, which poses great challenges for the municipalities. Helmut Dedy, Chief Executive of the German Association of Cities, says: "We need more diversity, beyond retail. That's why the cities are working on new concepts for city centres and district centres: we want more space for encounters, greenery, culture, sport, crafts and housing. For this to succeed, we need a federal city centre funding programme."
Digitization continues to be one of the top issues, but has not gained renewed importance at the municipal level. This is presumably due to the requirements and already made experiences and changes during the corona pandemic. The topics of smart city, housing and finance continue to be among the most important current fields of action. The financial situation of the municipalities is not given greater urgency, which could be due to the fact that the cities assess it roughly the same as in the two previous years due to fiscal compensation measures of the federal government and the states. "However, it is also clear from the results of the survey that the assessment of the financial situation is a snapshot and will not automatically be so for municipalities in the future. Mayors cite the loss of tax revenue as the second biggest challenge in the corona crisis. And fiscal policy is the policy area where municipalities are second most likely to demand better framework conditions from the federal and state governments," says project manager Dr. Beate Hollbach-Grömig.
The topic of corona measures and corona consequences will soon lose its explosiveness in local politics, according to the assessment of the city leaders: More than two thirds of the city leaders name the topic as an important field of action at the moment, but among the important topics for the future, "Corona" is only in second to last place.
According to the OB-Barometer 2021, the mayors' wishes have changed only slightly with regard to the fields of action in which they would like better framework conditions from the federal states, the federal government or the EU: The wish for support in the field of digitalization has gained in importance (71 percent). This is presumably mainly due to the bottlenecks that became apparent during the crisis - for example, in the transmission of data from health offices, the possibility for administrative employees to work from home, or in the digital infrastructure equipment of schools. The next places are taken by the fields of action finance, housing policy and transport, in which the weightings have shifted only slightly. Compared to previous years, there is continuity in the "broad lines" of municipal policy - and the desired improvements in the framework conditions for local work.
Detailed results, graphics, charts and photos of the OB-Barometer 2021 and the previous year's evaluations are available on the Difu website:
Source: DIFU-PM of 19.5.2021
Keywords:
Procurement, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Communities, Mobility, City
