Osnabrück receives award as most sustainable city

Osnabrück is the winner of the competition for the German Sustainability Award 2020 for large cities. The award has been presented by the Stiftung Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis e.V. since 2012. The funding amount is 30,000 euros for sustainable urban development projects.

The Peace City of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony pursues an impact-based, strategic control approach in its sustainable development and uses the specially developed "KOSMOS" catalogue of indicators for this purpose, which enables both the administration and the citizens to review the implementation of strategic goals in detail. The municipality's participatory approach is also evident in the urban development master plan for the inner city, in which the citizens of Osnabrück were able to contribute their ideas for sustainable urban development. The master plan focuses, among other things, on redensification of the settlement structure, less space for motorised private transport and more green spaces with a high quality of stay. Extensive measures such as ecological standards in urban land-use planning, Germany's first solar roof register and sustainable "Economic Development 4.0" ensure more climate and resource protection.

Germany's most sustainable major cities 2020

Source: PM from 08.08.2019

Keywords: News Blog Lower Saxony

Published 3 April 2019

Bicycle boom in Germany continues unabated in 2018

Retail sales up 22.3 %

The boom in the bicycle trade, which has been ongoing for years, continued in 2018. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on the occasion of World Health Day on 7 April, the retail trade in bicycles, parts and accessories recorded an increase in sales of 11.9 % in real terms in 2018 compared to the previous year.

880,000 electric bikes imported into Germany

The trend towards electric bicycles with a rated continuous power of up to 250 watts is reflected in foreign trade: 880,000 electric bicycles with a total value of 789.6 million euros were imported to Germany in 2018. This corresponded to an increase in volume of 32.3 % compared to 2017. With a share of 23 % of the total imports of electric bicycles to Germany, Hungary was the most important importing country. Other important supplier countries were Vietnam with a share of 17.2 % and the Netherlands with 10.2 %.

Prices for conventional bikes are rising faster than prices for electric bikes

Consumers had to spend more money on pedelecs and e-bikes in 2018 than three years previously: between 2015 and 2018, prices in this market segment rose by 1.8 %. However, prices rose less sharply than consumer prices overall in this period (+3.8 %). In comparison, prices for bicycles without an electric motor rose by an above-average 4.5 % between 2015 and 2018.

Opportunity for bargains outside of the cycling season

Whether with or without an electric motor: consumer prices for bicycles fluctuate slightly depending on the time of year. Bicycles are cheaper around the turn of the year than in summer. If you are looking for good value for money, you can buy cheaper on average outside the cycling season.

Source: Press release of the Federal Statistical Office from 3 April 2019

Keywords:
Stakeholders, Bike-/Velo-City, DE-News, Climate protection, Mobility, Sustainable management, Ecology