Partizipation im innerstädtischen Transformationsprozess: Das Beispiel der „Zukunftswerkstatt Innenstadt“ in Peine

In the immediate action programme “Perspektive Innenstadt”, which ran from 2021 to 2023, communities in Lower Saxony were offered financial support to cope with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in inner cities. At the same time, the federal programme “Zukunftsfähige Innenstädte und Zentren” is also supporting the implementation of innovative concepts and action strategies to strengthen the resilience of inner cities until 2025. Within the framework of a participatory process, the stakeholders of Peine, a middle-order centre in Lower Saxony, have agreed on actions for both programmes. This study analyses the participatory process with regard to the stakeholders involved in order to identify factors for success and barriers of urban participatory processes. For this purpose, non-participatory observation and expert interviews were carried out. The investigation shows that Peine’s inner city and retail sector, as well as the structure of its stakeholders, are in a process of transformation, which above all, through the establishment of integrated city marketing, has the potential for successful inner city re-positioning. However, it is becoming clear, too, that political and administrative stakeholders have to be even more open to new and more intensive forms of participation and foster close and long-lasting cooperation between all urban stakeholders.