What do people in Germany think of their city centers? What do you particularly like, what less? The Commercial Research Institute IFH has examined questions like this. 68,451 people in 107 inner-city locations in 107 inner-city locations were interviewed for the study “Vital Cities” carried out every two years: 105 of them in Germany, one in Belgium and one in Switzerland.
What did it come out?
The inner cities are not only among older visitors: popular on the inside. The average age has dropped from 47.5 to 46.1 years since 2020. The proportion of under-26-year-olds has recently been lower than in previous surveys, but there are significantly more passers-by: inside between 26 and 50.
“It often means that young people no longer move into the city centers. That’s not true. The decline of young people in the city is currently stopped. The inner cities are a place for everyone. They are still a social center where people of all ages meet, ”says IFH managing director and study author Boris Hedde. The age structure of the visitors: Inside, roughly that of German society.
How do the cities cut off?
Overall, people are largely satisfied. The average grade of the participating cities is 2.5 and thus at the same level of the previous surveys. Chemnitz, Erfurt, Leipzig, Arnsberg-Neheim, Bocholt, Lüneburg, Brühl, Freiberg (Saxony) and Landsberg am Lech. The researchers do not publish a ranking. The results should help the cities to draw the right conclusions.
What pulls people into the city centers?
Restaurants, cafes and bars are becoming more important. According to the survey, 40 percent of the passer -in control: the inner cities inside because of the gastronomic offers. The proportion rose significantly, in 2022 it was still 35 percent, in 2020 26 percent. “The demand for gastronomy in city centers has increased, which applies especially to younger people. This is also due to the fact that the desire for meetings and personal exchange is more pronounced, ”says Hedde.
At 61 percent, however, shopping is still the most common motive for visit. When asked about the reasons for going to the city center, the participants were able to provide several information inside. Service offers, authorities as well as leisure and cultural offers were less often mentioned.
However, the dominance of shopping as the most important starting point decreases. “Today’s concepts are no longer the right ones to address the target groups of tomorrow,” says Hedde. The younger ones are less concerned with products and care than experiencing and lingering. Retail therefore needs more interactive and creative offers.
What are the positive examples?
In Düsseldorf Schadowstrasse, the data portal Hystreet has counted an increase in visitor numbers by 43 percent since 2019. This was preceded by a large urban conversion. The green building complex Kö-Bogen 2 was completed, the traffic calmed down, the shopping street expanded.
At Cologne’s Ehrenstrasse, the frequencies have increased by 34 percent in the past five years. The road was closed to cars in 2022 and has only been used by pedestrians and cyclists since then. Parking spaces became benches and seating. For trading expert Hedde, the street is a prime example of “that a better quality of stay is moving to the city”.
What does it like: good inside, what less?
Gastronomy (grade 2.2) and services (2.1) such as hairdresser, bank or cleaning as well as retailers: inside from the areas of personal care, cosmetics and drugstore (2.0) as well as books and food (both 2 are evaluated. , 3). Visitors are less satisfied: Living, setting up and decorating the industries (2.9) as well as electrical, computers, photo and telephone (2.8). Sports, games and leisure opportunities also only get away mediocre (2.9).
The visitors: Inside, needs to make the inner cities more attractive. Two topics stab out. Many require measures against vacant shops and fallow land. “Where shops and properties are empty, desolate and hind -up in front of them, nobody pulls it. People want a high quality of stay, ”says Hedde.
Many people want the infrastructure to be improved, such as the toilet offer. If you cannot be sure that you find clean toilets, you are reluctant to go into the city, says Hedde. Numerous visitors also demand that pedestrian zones and squares are expanded and upgraded and the inner cities are designed greener.
How do the retailers look at the situation in the inside?
There is a changeable year behind inpatient retail. The sales were just under one percent higher than 2023.
The general manager of the Germany (HDE) trade association (HDE), Stefan Genth, says: “The German city centers are struck and need permanent help for recovery.” The HDE demands more investments to liven up the city centers. If this does not succeed, identification will decrease in many people.
How do the frequencies develop in the city centers?
According to Hystreet, 1.5 percent more passers were in 2024: on the inside in the city centers than in the previous year. Large cities such as Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne and Munich increased a little more. In the seven largest German cities, the frequencies last year were one percent lower than in 2019.
The passers -by: Inner frequencies are counted by Hystreet in around 110 German cities at more than 320 locations with laser scanners around the clock. In January 2025, the Kaufingerstrasse in Munich was 1.92 million visitors: the inside.