»City and Commerce«

The following text previews the panel of the cultural circle of the German business association within the BDI (Federation of German Industries). The proceedings of the panel will be published here following the European Congress 2009 (October 8th – October 11th).

The European city constitutes a special cultural heritage. Can it remain in a changing future what it has been historically – a place of encounter, exchange and productivity? For a long time, cities have shared the same idea, but today they find themselves competing with each other in a tough global contest. At the same time, cities and regions are taking on a new role thanks to globalization. The new international division of labor causes loss of industrial jobs, while cities become centers of globally-provided services. A result of globalization is the increasing cultural and ethnic mix in cities that result from migration. A renaissance of the tradition of European cities is close at hand.

Commerce
The European city was always a commercial city: Over the course of almost a millennium, cities and commerce were almost synonymous. Only in the second half of the 20th century does this success story end, and commerce and city go their separate ways. The saying, ‘the city needs commerce, but commerce does not the city’, encapsulates this parting of the ways. Where are we now? Does commerce need the city again?
What is the future of shopping in the cities? What will happen to the nearly-concluded phase of reconcentration of commerce and culture in the inner cities due to large shopping centers? We are witnessing an increasing decentralization of retail: Today, we do our shopping in railway stations, hotels, and other nodes of mobility and services. Growing e-commerce via the internet is also contributing to this decentralization. Secondly, we can observe an increasing transformation of shopping centers, which are losing their compactness and changing back into street arcades and individual boutiques. And thirdly, there is the increasing tendency to combine commercial centers with residential, office, and recreational usage. In such urban mixtures, the transformed shopping centers become urban places of encounter and culture again.

Introduction:
Dr. Stephan Frucht, CEO of the cultural section of the german business association Bund der deutschen Industrie (BDI)
Possible participants:
Andreas Fuchs, ECE Projektmanagement Hamburg
Wolfgang Wirz, Filialgeschäftsführer, Karstadt Dresden (to request)
Prof. Johannes Ringel, RKW-Rhode Kellermann Wawrowsky architects Düsseldorf, Berlin, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Warschau
Prof. Wolfgang Christ, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Bureau Mediastadt Darmstadt
Dr. Wilhelm Klauser, InD-Initialdesign Berlin, Paris
Dr. Matthias Händle, President Außenhandelsversicherung des Deutschen Einzelhandels (AVE)(to request)

Moderation: N.N.