Development of retail space in Leipzig and it's city centre [+]

A steady increase in retail space per resident of 0.3 m2 in 1990 to 1.5 m2 in 2002 illustrates the dynamic development of the retail trade in Leipzig – a process in which the attractive city centre was a decisive factor.

However, new shopping centres with a total retail space of 310,000 m² had been developed in less integrated locations on the city’s peripheries in the early 1990s. The city's district centres as the focal points of service and supply near to residential areas are largely unable to compete with the economic pressure generated by the concentration of shops and the expansiveness of the new greenfield shopping malls, so that their function is under threat from many directions.

	Nova eventis - a shopping centre in the periphery [-> google maps]

Since 1990, Leipzig has witnessed an extensive development of new, large centres with special markets and shopping malls around the periphery of the city. The small peripheral communities made use of their newly acquired planning rights in order to serve the escalated increase in demand for attractive shopping facilities so that five major shopping centres with a retail space of approximately 250,000 m² have been developed within a very short period of time. At the same time, the development of city and district centres was impeded by unresolved claims of ownership, speculative pricing levels, rundown structural fabric and outmoded forms of business organisation.

In 1993 the city council passed a new district centre plan in order to structure the development of the centres and trade while laying down the basis for urban development in competition with the regions along the periphery of Leipzig. In spite of a few successfully developed new locations, the desired degree of development control was not achieved: most of the new retail trade locations were developed outside the central regions in areas easily accessible by car along major roads.

	Graded system of centres [+ in German]

The 1999 STEP Zentren favours an active approach to development planning: A graded system of centres will cater to the requirements of the nearby residents while providing a concentration of different shops and easy access by all means of transport.

A comparison of the current scope of supply of the centres with the expectations and demands of local residents and other local players enabled the creation of a catalogue of strategic aims for the development of city, district and urban shopping and service centres. Centre Passes, which summarise the development recommendations for each centre can be used for acquisition purposes during investment consultations.

	Shopping arcade in the renovated Messehof [+]

Since 1996, Leipzig's city centre has witnessed a very dynamic development. Large-scale projects like the Galeria Kaufhof and Städtisches Kaufhaus department stores and the Petersbogen and Promenaden Hauptbahnhof shopping arcades provide examples for the increase in shopping space, which will continue with the development of the Marktgalerie and Messehaus am Markt shopping arcades and the renovation of the department store Karstadt.

At the same time, an extensive improvement of ambience, accessibility and leisure-time quality was undertaken by means of supporting the establishment of catering businesses and the staging of events.