What does the future of German city centers look like and what do city center visitors want from their city centers? These key questions form the basis of the nationwide study "Vital City Centers 2022", which the independent and renowned Cologne Institute for Retail Research (IFH KÖLN) conducted for the fifth time in 111 German city centers in autumn 2022 and in which the city of Bad Homburg participated for the second time after 2016. The results of the study are now available.
Bad Homburg's city center was rated extremely positively by its visitors and received school grades of 1 to 2 in almost all areas. This means that the results of the survey have improved significantly compared to the pre-pandemic data from 2016.
In autumn 2022, around 600 passers-by in the spa town gave an insight into their shopping behavior, their wishes and requirements as well as the general visitor structure and accessibility of the city center on various Thursdays and Saturdays. In order to make the resulting data comparable, Bad Homburg was compared with other cities with a population of between 50,000 and 100,000. The study was commissioned by the city management and business development department.
A total of 68,651 passers-by in 111 German city centers were surveyed for the study from September to mid-November 2022 on their image of the city, public space, retail offerings, accessibility and urban development. The data was collected using a standardized questionnaire.
Top marks for attractiveness and the range on offer
The "overall attractiveness" of Bad Homburg's city center was rated with an average grade of 2.1 - 77.3 percent of respondents alone rated this as very good or good. This represents an above-average value within the comparison group (average value of the comparison group: 2.4). Bad Homburg has thus improved significantly compared to its participation in "Vitale Innenstädte 2016", when an average score of 2.4 was achieved.
The "quality of stay" in the town center and its "ambience and flair" also received good marks. Aspects to be assessed included green spaces, liveliness, safety, tourist attractiveness and sights, family friendliness and buildings and facades.
The results in the area of "accessibility and mobility" are more differentiated. For example, respondents praised the aspects of "public transport" and "friendliness for pedestrians and cyclists" (school grades 1.9 to 2.3). However, the parking facilities (grade 3) and "general car friendliness" (grade 2.9) were only rated as average within the comparison group.
In addition, the retail offer and the individual product ranges such as clothing, books and food were surveyed, which scored above average in all categories (scores of 1.8 to 2.2).
Retail attracts people to the city center
The study also provides answers to the question of what motivates visitors to the city center to come to Bad Homburg. The answer was clear: Retail, gastronomy as well as leisure and cultural activities attract people to the city center. according to the survey, 64.3 percent of respondents cited shopping as the main reason for their visit to the city. Gastronomy was the reason for 53.4 percent of respondents to come to Bad Homburg, while the comparison of town sizes was significantly lower at 38.7 percent. The leisure and cultural offerings attracted 23.1 percent of people to the city center.
Mayor Hetjes' summary is positive: "The study has confirmed it: Bad Homburg is a city worth living in with an attractive and functional city center. People like coming to the city center and rate both the offerings and the cityscape positively. The task now is to further improve the general conditions."
