Reflection on working in the ULG and our 1st focus-workshop
Edited on
30 January 2020by Dr. Frank Feuerbach
After having met as ULG-members for four times since September 2018 we decided to organize the 5th meeting in a different way. Since our previous discussions often showed that we were not able to work on certain issues in depth we decided to invite experts and some local stakeholders to hold focus-workshops. One of the most pressing topics that emerged through working on our improvement plan is the question how our agency can continue to be a good practice while boundary conditions are changing. Therefore the first focus-workshop, held on September 26th, focused on the development of the real estate market in Chemnitz.
In total we were 10 ULG-members and 14 selected participants. Among them were external experts and consultants, real estate owners and discussions partners from the administration. Unfortunately only one representative of a political party and council member participated.
In the first section of the focus-workshop we asked 5 experts to highlight developments and give a prediction about future challenges. After that, we discussed the perspectives that were highly influenced by our expert’s different fields of origin. By doing so, we pushed towards a common understanding of the most important fields of action. Interestingly our expert’s estimates as well as the following discussion process highlighted aspects that weren’t clear to the whole audience at the beginning. For example there is a gap between increasing real estate sales prices and average rent; there is a gap between investments in new real estate developments and rehabbing old buildings on the one hand and stagnating or even decreasing estimations of Chemnitz’ population on the other hand.
During the reflection session it was emphasized that political stakeholders need to be addressed better. In addition existing legal options should be used more in the process of stipulating zoning- / land-use-plans. Further despite a slow growth of our population and households we should bear in mind the negative demographic prospects and its effects on the real estate market. Last but not least the city should support self-users and those inhabitants that could be described as pioneers and urban avant-garde because of their positive effect on the urban fabric.
Ultimately the focus workshop created a better understanding of the main topic among all participants. The results are based on an in depth analysis of experts with different background as well as extensive group discussions. In short: we got important issues to work on and to consider while continuing re-thinking the future role of our housing agency.
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