Scenarios about the future of our inner cities

What impact will digitization have on our city centers? How do city centers influence our quality of life? What about the issue of sustainability in society and what role will the city center take on in the future? These and other topics were discussed in the scenarios and visualized in a map. The eight scenarios which were developed address four core areas: economic development and digitization, quality of life and citizen participation, sustainability and local politics, as well as retail and the marketplace function of the city center. 

 ®ScMI

Which scenarios emerge on the map?

• Scenario 1 (»Regional Marketplace«) describes the inner city as a magnet for local shoppers and tourists. The future of downtowns in South Westphalia is promising.
• Scenario 2 (»Experience instead of shopping«) also includes a vital inner city, but one that has changed. Citizen orientation changes the role of the city.
• Scenario 3 (»Service shapes reinvention«) sees a significant change in downtowns: inner cities as we know them are losing their importance. Social distance and service orientation force the city to reinvent itself.
• Scenario 4 (»Turning away from the city«) Digitization is paralyzing the inner cities. The inner cities in South Westphalia are smart but only attractive online.
• Scenario 5 (»Desolation of the inner citiy«) describes the loss of any function of the inner city. In this scenario, the inner cities lose their shine and take on a subordinate role in the community.
• Scenario 6 (»Chains shape Shopping City«) In this scenario, the inner cities in South Westphalia are shaped by chains in the retail offering. A "world of chains" dominates the downtown landscape.
• Scenario 7 (»Back to the old city«) focuses on the core function of the inner city as a marketplace. This scenario forms a hardly changed structure of the inner citiers and the original market place function is maintained.
• Scenario 8 (»City Center as Anchor«) envisions a world in which the inner city functions as the focal point of social life. In this scenario, downtowns form the center of the city and become the meeting place for citizens, businesses and families.

Detailed descriptions of the future scenarios and an excerpt from the scenario assessment can be found in the free download our current study (only available in German).

You can find more information about our project partner here.