The manufacturing industry in the state capital is one of the economically strongest in all of North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). All the more so when the network of core industry, service providers and tech start-ups is taken into consideration. A master plan is supposed to lead this network into a future full of prospects.

Desk of the Ruhr Region- this is how Düsseldorf was and still is often called. The metaphor stems from a time when many manufacturing companies from the Ruhr region opened their administrative headquarters here. Today, as many as 86 percent of all employees work in the service sector, no other major city can boast such a rate. But not many people would necessarily suspect this: Düsseldorf is also one of the strongest industrial locations in NRW!

Numerous, mostly internationally operating companies ensure great productivity. Among the larger and well-known companies are Teekanne, Löwensenf, Komatsu Minig (see p. 22), Hakle, BASF, Vallourec and Daimler with its Sprinter plant (see p.60) – to name but a few. They and many other companies are what makes our daily life possible in the first place, because “industry is not everything, but without industry everything is nothing”. They are supported by a large number of industry-related providers that take over outsourced processes as well as start-ups that innovate production processes (see p.18). What they all really appreciate most about Düsseldorf is its central location and good infrastructure in the middle of Europe, well-qualified employees and a highly efficient business network.

At the same time, the city is growing steadily and the demand for living space is enormous. Since the available space is increasingly limited, demands for its use such as for work, living, leisure and transport purposes are in strong competition with each other. So how do you manage to plan and develop a city as liveable as Düsseldorf as well-balanced and sustainable as possible? And how do you manage to get the vitally important industry on board?

For example, with an industry master plan. In 2011, the city, IHK, industrial companies and associations already joined forces for this purpose. “The Industry Master Plan is an initiative with the aim of sustainably securing Düsseldorf as an important industrial location and making it fit for the future. This includes offering resident companies planning security and perspectives for the future. Our city planning is an important element in this process, without it we as business development department could not implement specific measures”, says Theresa Winkels, head of the Düsseldorf Business Development Department.

In working groups, the key players identified issues and developed basic principles. Awareness of the importance of industry was raised and politicians were involved. Together, they have thus initiated important infrastructure projects. One example is the railway underpass on Bamberger Strasse: the necessary transport route for the large crane parts from Konecranes or the machines from Komatsu to the Rhine has so far been along the railway tracks - as soon as the line is used for the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX), this is no longer possible. Therefore, a joint decision has been made to lower Bamberger Strasse, where construction is currently underway. This measure has secured the locations of several industrial companies in the south of Düsseldorf.

Securing Düsseldorf as an important industrial location and making it fit for the future.

The participants in the Industry Master Plan are supporting concrete projects – with the emphasis on two main issues: area management and industrial acceptance. “In Düsseldorf, we have to be able to live well as well as work. To achieve this, we have to explain the importance of industrial production to politicians and the population and promote the necessary economic areas in urban centres,” says Theresa Winkels.

Düsseldorf's industry received extra support in terms of planning security at the end of 2018: the city council decided on an “area strategy” to additionally strengthen the locations of industrial and craft businesses. Of course, legal framework conditions such as immission or planning laws must be taken into account and project plans must be brought into line with them.

The focus of this strategy is the so-called core zone map with different categories for industrial and commercial areas. Each category contains a brief description as well as targets for the area development: “In the core zones, we basically do two things, depending on the initial situation: We protect these areas or we activate them,” explains Theresa Winkels. Activating can mean, in turn: Derelict land is used for new purposes or existing areas are made more efficient, for example by also building multi-storey facilities in the commercial sector, as is being considered for Theodorstraße. A public workshop was held here in September 2019 with the aim of defining guidelines for future development. “I hope that campus-like structures will one day exist at such locations, where production, trade and research work hand in hand and thus create higher added value. These are the individual building blocks of industry that we want to digitalize and innovate,” says Theresa Winkels.

“Hybrid structures could contribute to a higher acceptance of industry.”

Hybrid structures, in which office space, manufacturing industry and, for example, also gastronomy and local recreation are intelligently and creatively combined in one place, could also contribute to a higher acceptance of industry among Düsseldorf's citizens. Because this acceptance of industry still needs be increased further, says Marion Hörsken, Managing Director of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry, based on her intensive analysis of the issue: “There is still a lot of work to be done. That is why we want to ensure even more transparency in the future and show that Düsseldorf's industrial companies make an important contribution to making Düsseldorf so prosperous. Especially in turbulent times like these, industry can be a motor for the upswing. Also against the background of the current issues surrounding climate protection, it is important to show that industrial companies take the issues of climate and resource protection very seriously.” The public can experience that industry is exciting, for example at the “Long Night of Industry”. Actually the event would have celebrated its 10th edition in Düsseldorf and the Rhine-Ruhr region this year, but due to the corona crisis, the event will be postponed to October 2021. The Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce has been a partner of Germany’s largest Long Night of Industry from the very beginning.

“It is great to see how enthusiastic people are about industry once they experience it and gain insights into production. They see where the products are manufactured that they use in their everyday lives. And this ‘understanding’ contributes greatly to the acceptance of industry,” says Hörsken.