Resilient city centers

• Minutes of the 10th meeting of the steering group on 28.05.2025

City submits first project outlines for Resilient Inner Cities funding program

In connection with the Resilient Inner Cities funding program, the city of Wolfsburg will soon submit two project outlines to the steering group that will decide on the implementation of the projects. The projects in question are the City Hall Square Climate Laboratory and the Green Oasis Downtown - Kleistpark. In order for the projects to be implemented in the next step, this procedure is just as necessary as the provision of co-financing of 60 percent from the city budget. The Wolfsburg City Council will decide on the financing and political support for both project ideas at its meeting on June 28.

"With the submission of the project outlines, we are now taking a decisive step forward in making the projects in the city center visible and tangible for the population in the near future. This is the next step towards making our city center more attractive," affirmed Mayor Dennis Weilmann. "The planned redesigns are intended to make the city center a bit greener, more ecological and give it more quality of stay," added First City Councilor and City Planning Officer Kai-Uwe Hirschheide.

With regard to the town hall square, the city is striving for a redesign in a first project. Currently, the square is highly sealed and its quality of stay is limited. The goal of the project "Klimalabor Rathausplatz" is a climate-adapted redesign, functional reorganization and contemporary design as well as representative further development of the square. The guiding principle is to increase the quality of stay by creating a place for meeting and communication as well as for temporary events.

As a further project, the green space Kleistpark is to be redesigned. The Kleistpark is now getting on in years and has lost some of its attractiveness. The aim is to develop the park into a green oasis with a high quality of stay and a variety of open spaces. In the future, the park will once again assume an inner-city recreational function. In addition, the green space is to be made attractive by improving accessibility, the sense of security and ecological upgrading. As part of the "Perspective of the City Center" development program, an expert appraisal process has already been carried out for the redesign of Kleistpark. This result is now to be followed up by more in-depth design planning.

It is not yet clear which other concrete projects will be implemented as part of the Resilient Inner Cities program. The administration, municipal subsidiaries, associations and foundations as well as Lower Saxony neighborhood communities can apply for the funding reserved for Wolfsburg with project proposals and implement their own projects. Further information on the Resilient Inner Cities funding program can be found at wolfsburg.de/RI.

Background:

The city of Wolfsburg was successfully accepted into the Resilient Inner Cities funding program in summer 2022 with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for long-term inner city development. The funding is available until 2027 and enables successive implementation of medium- to long-term projects to upgrade Wolfsburg's city center.

A funding budget of a maximum of 10.5 million euros is available for this purpose, consisting of a 4.2 million euro subsidy from the state (40 percent) and an own contribution of 6.3 million euros (60 percent) from the project sponsors.

Based on its own strategy, various projects can now be implemented in Wolfsburg's inner city with the participation of a steering group set up for the program and with decision-making authority. The steering group is made up of representatives from the administration, politics and urban society.

City makes it into the "Resilient Inner Cities" program - praise from Minister Honé

The state of Lower Saxony is supporting the long-term development of Wolfsburg's city center with a budget of 4.2 million euros. Lower Saxony's Minister for Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development, Birgit Honé, handed over a corresponding funding notice to Lord Mayor Dennis Weilmann. This makes Wolfsburg one of 15 cities in Lower Saxony whose application for the program was successful.

Wolfsburg intends to use the money from the European Union's ERDF fund to further upgrade the city center. Among other things, the city is planning a climate laboratory on the town hall square, a "Green Oasis Downtown" as a multifunctional space, and a climate-friendly and sustainable transportation network for the city center. Based on the Wolfsburg strategy, the city will now develop and implement projects together with the business community, social partners and civil society.

Minister Honé made the case for sustainable transformation: "The reinvention of inner cities does not happen overnight. In the case of the immediate program 'Perspective on the City Center', in which Wolfsburg can count on a commitment for twelve projects, help is coming quickly. But the rediscovery of the city center as a place for everyone to live, work and enjoy needs not only a quick response but also staying power. The Wolfsburg concept identifies important issues here with more green in the city and sustainable mobility," praised Honé.

Wolfsburg's Lord Mayor Dennis Weilmann believes his city is already well on the way: "The development of our city center is an important concern for me personally, and we are currently already engaged in a comprehensive development process to make it more attractive and livable. I am very pleased that we are now receiving further funding from the state of Lower Saxony to further develop our city in the long term."

The application in the funding program was made by means of a developed strategy. Three workshops on the topics of economy, ecology and social issues were held with various stakeholders as specialist input into the strategy development. The strategic development goals are

1. Stabilize Wolfsburg's inner city as a social center.
2. Design Wolfsburg's city center as a showcase for digitization, climate protection and climate adaptation.
3. Develop Wolfsburg's city center as a diverse, multifunctional place.

Resilient city centers program

The "Resilient Inner Cities" funding program supports 15 cities in Lower Saxony in the long-term upgrading of their centers, including Wolfsburg and Braunschweig. The city of Wolfsburg will receive a budget of 4.2 million euros from ERDF funding until the end of the EU funding period in 2027. This is to be used by the city to develop projects to make the city center more attractive with the participation of the economic and social partners and civil society. The state is providing a total of 61.5 million euros for the program.

• Alternatively, you can watch the video directly on Youtube via this link

• Projects and measures implemented as part of the funding project must comply with an overarching, sustainable strategy. This strategy was also the basis for the application for inclusion in the funding program.
• Based on various participation formats, a strategy would be developed for Wolfsburg on the topics of economy, ecology and social issues, and the following development goals would be formulated for the center of Wolfsburg:
• Stabilize Wolfsburg's city center as a social center.
• Design Wolfsburg's city center as a showcase for digitization, climate protection and climate adaptation.
• Develop Wolfsburg's city center as a diverse, multifunctional place.

Both investment and non-investment measures that contribute to the implementation of the strategy can be funded. More detailed information can be found on the pages of the NBank and the Ministry of Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development (MB).

You can access the strategy in the download area.

• Website of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development
• NBank website

A steering group consists of voting representatives of the city administration, politicians, Wolfsburg representatives from the fields of ecology, economy and social affairs as well as other advisory members. The committee acts as a point of contact for project sponsors, performs the initial review of submitted project outlines and carries out the official eligibility check using an evaluation table and quality criteria.

Kai Kronschnabel was elected chairman of the steering group. Mr. Kronschnabel is Chairman of the Planning and Building Committee of the City of Wolfburg and Jens Hortmeyer (Chairman of the Strategy Committee) was elected as Deputy Chairman to replace Kai Kronschnabel. After one year, the chairman and deputy chairman swapped positions.

The rules of procedure are available in the download area.

The decision whether a project is "worthy" to be funded or not depends on the following criteria:

• Effectiveness of the project in relation to the challenges identified in the territorial strategy.
• Innovation content of the project for the inner city development
• Involvement of different stakeholders and civil society in project development and implementation
• Publicity of the project and transferability to other municipalities
• Contribution to the implementation / conformity of the project to the inner city development concept
• Use of opportunities offered by digitalization
• Contribution of the project to the European cross-cutting objectives (sustainable development, equality, equal opportunities, non-discrimination and accessibility, "good work")

In addition to the City of Wolfsburg, the following actors are eligible as recipients of funds reserved with the state:

• Legal entities that are not profit-oriented.
• Companies with majority municipal ownership (municipal subsidiaries)
• Neighborhood communities in accordance with the Lower Saxony Neighborhood Act

• Development of a project outline
• Submission of the project outline for initial review by the steering group by the due date
• Public discussion of the project outline in the steering group meeting (revision of the project outline if necessary)
• Submission of application to NBank for eligibility check
• Transmission of the application documents from the NBank to the steering group if all formal requirements are met
• Issuance of the grant notice by the NBank
• Implementation