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In the Offenbacher Nordend, ideas for the mobility of the future are being implemented on a trial basis as part of the “Move your quarter” project. The children are enthusiastic about the idea.
Let children ride their bikes on the street without hesitation, and that on a brightly painted floor: this has been possible on Johannes-Morhart-Straße in Offenbach since Friday. Children from the district have repainted the asphalt together with an artist. In addition, two play sculptures have been set up as part of the “Move your Quarter” project and are now located exactly in the middle between the playground, youth center and kindergarten.
Offenbach is the second model city after Essen to test what tomorrow’s mobility could look like. “It’s about thinking about how the rooms can be designed together with the people on site,” explains Astrid Großmann from the urban planning office Urbanista in Hamburg. “One month of the future” started on September 3rd in the Nordend and is now experiencing its high points with several campaigns in the district.
Yesterday posters were designed on the subject of children’s rights, today an inline skating and scooter course begins at 1.30 p.m., soap bubbles are made on Wednesday, key rings are made from old bicycle tires on Thursday and diaries are created on Saturday. The road will be closed to car traffic until this Friday. At the weekend there is a street festival in Ludwigstrasse. A small green area near the Schillerschule has been converted into a pocket park.
“Move your quarter” is funded by the Federal Environment Ministry as part of the National Climate Protection Initiative. The first step is to talk to residents, experts from science, business and civil society as well as representatives from politics and administration. “Urbanista, who already wrote the downtown concept for Offenbach, approached us,” says Tobias Kurtz from the Office for Urban Planning, Traffic and Construction Management.
As part of the urban development program, there were already ideas for mobility and open space offers in the Nordend, but they were only very vaguely worded. After the workshops in Essen, Urbanista brought several project ideas to Offenbach. “The public order office and the road traffic authority were very cooperative,” says Kurtz.
In Ludwigstrasse at the Ledermuseum S-Bahn stop, some parking spaces have been temporarily removed from a small section. “That meant there was more space for pedestrians: inside and outside catering,” says Großmann. Various pop-up furniture had also been set up. “We showed what options there are if you take out a few parking spaces,” explains the 34-year-old. Ultimately, the aim is to show how the quality of life and amenity can be increased in urban quarters and which measures are possible to reduce emissions.
“It is a good approach to try out how we can do it, because we are still facing major transformations and do not yet know exactly how it should work,” says Großmann. These formats are important. It is just as important that you then honestly evaluate what works well and what does not work so well.
If the children in the Nordend have their way, Spielstrasse can stay there forever.
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