Retail development

The City of Jena has updated its "Concept for the Development of the Retail Network in the City of Jena" from 1999 and the "Local Supply Concept Jena 2015" in a new format as "Development Concept Retail Jena 2025".

The "Development Concept Retail Jena 2025" was confirmed by the City Council of the City of Jena on 17.06.2015 under resolution number 15/0415-BV.

The concept is based on an extensive development process.

In addition to a city-wide analysis of the retail stock, the examination of the retail functions in the planning areas of the city, the survey of households from the city of Jena and the market area of the Jena retail trade on their expectations, but also on deficits existing from their point of view, the survey of retail businesses on their assessment and on their proposals for future retail development, recommendations for developments in the individual planning areas are shown.

Conclusion on retail development to date

• The central service areas are the supporting pillars of the retail network for ensuring a supply close to the consumer.
• The total sales area has been further developed by 14.8% since the year 2000.
• The sales area of the "inner city" has been continuously increased since 2000, but a short A-location Löbderstrasse is accompanied by other locations of a lower category that are spatially unconnected or insufficiently connected.

In addition to this predominantly positive conclusion, however, the loss in retail centrality since 2001 from 131.6% to 112.0% in 2014 must also be registered.

This is where the inner city concept with its four scenarios, which was specially developed in the concept, comes into play. Scenario 4 aims at a clear development of the inner city as a high-quality retail focal point in the inner city centre structure.

The aim of the development concept is to create good framework conditions for the strengthening and stabilisation of Jena's retail stock and to provide reliable planning information for companies interested in settling here.

The development was accompanied by a working group accompanying the project, which included representatives from the various departments of the administration as well as representatives of the parliamentary groups of the Jena City Council, the chambers and associations, the Jena retail companies and the state planning.