Cologne's shopping mile: heat protection or impending desolation?

Cologne's shopping mile: heat protection or impending desolation?

Cologne's Hohe Straße and Schildergasse shopping streets are at the center of a lively debate, fueled by recent comments from city leader Rolf Neudert. He criticizes the fact that white sheets are hung over Hohe Straße as heat protection, while the actual problems that plague this street are only inadequately addressed. According to Neudert, the situation from the media market onwards is unattractive, characterized by vacancies and dirty shops. More and more cheap shops and kiosks would flood the streets and scare off potential customers. However, Express reports that there is a lack of a common concept that brings the various actors and owners together.

While Neudert denounces the challenges, the current figures show a different reality. The Cologne Business Economic Development Agency emphasizes that Cologne is doing relatively well compared to other cities with a vacancy rate of 2.5 percent. The vacancy rates in the heavily frequented shopping streets are noticeably low: Schildergasse only records 2.9 percent and Hohe Straße 8.7 percent. In 2023, around 21 million pedestrians were attracted to Schildergasse and around 17 million to Hohe Straße, catapulting both streets into the top ten of the most popular shopping streets in Germany. T-Online reports.

High streets and Schildergasse: A look at the numbers

Although the situation seems alarming at first glance, the statistics from KölnBusiness show that the demand for shops is high and the vacant spaces are usually quickly rented out again. “It’s often a matter of perception and not reality,” says Dr. Manfred Janssen, Managing Director of KölnBusiness, notes. After all, out of around 22,000 shops in Cologne, only 542 were empty. However, the challenges of renovations or supply bottlenecks are not uncommon, and occasionally vacancies are viewed as necessary in order to properly serve market needs. This supports the view that there is a lack of a well thought-out concept.

In every survey of 2,400 passers-by in Cologne's Veedeln, there is positive feedback: 58 percent of those surveyed plan to visit two to five shops in one day, and 31 percent want to spend more than two hours in the Veedeln. It is striking that the Veedel are valued by citizens as places that offer a short distance to shop, feel good and meet.

Outlook for the future

The many challenges that Cologne is facing should be addressed with targeted projects and funding programs. With projects such as the “Stadtlabore Deutschland”, KölnBusiness is planning to digitally record vacant properties in order to make searches for new tenants more efficient. In addition, a funding program for the development of Veedel with up to 120,000 euros has been initiated until the end of 2023 in order to stimulate innovative concepts and promote a positive image. KölnBusiness analyzed the developments and notes that the city center is significantly more robust than many other cities in Germany.

In conclusion, it can be said that Cologne city center balances between challenges and opportunities. While opinions differ on the positive and negative aspects of shopping streets, one thing remains clear: Cologne still has a lot to offer and it will be exciting to see how the shopping streets develop further.