Manual for District Centre Managers - the ATCM

3.3.1 City of Stuttgart
Area
When the district centre management initiative
first started in November 2007, only a few city
districts were focused on. They served as pilot
projects. They had been selected after a call for
local action plans among the chairwomen and
chairmen of the district boards in association
with local community organisations (local retailer
and business associations, BDS association
of self-employed). Out of the submitted outlines,
the city districts of Zuffenhausen, Stammheim,
Untertürkheim, Obertürkheim, Wangen,
Hedelfingen, Weilimdorf, Plieningen and Birkach
were selected as pilot districts. At the end
of the two-year pilot phase, in November 2009,
the project was transferred to all 23 city districts
of Stuttgart, making use of the know-how acquired
throughout project implementation, the positive
experiences made and lessons learnt for
the future of district centre management.
Cause
In order to analyse and review the current state
of district centre management in Stuttgart, the
Stuttgart Department of Economic Development
commissioned a master’s thesis revolving
around the development of a district centre
action plan for Stuttgart’s city districts to
tackle negative developments and shortcomings
and to support local retailers and businesses.
As part of the master’s thesis, a survey
had been conducted among community
organisations and district boards to assess the
current state in each district and ongoing activities
which might fall within the district centre
management’s area of responsibility.
The most important results of the survey were
as follows:
The majority of districts have already set up
an organisation whose aim is to support retail,
local businesses and the numerous
self-employed.
Results of MANDIE – Approaches to District Centre Management
3.3 Results of Towns Cooperating in the MANDIE
Project
The success of the actions depends primarily
on voluntary commitment, an effective
organisation and planning, the diversity of
offers and good service, continuity and
thus strong identification and community
involvement.
However, frequently, the main focus of activities
is on staging local festivals and
events which do not automatically result in
higher retail sales. To improve that situation,
a combination of a variety of marketing
tools (marketing mix) is needed.
The introduction of district centre marketing
was greatly welcomed by all local
stakeholders in the city districts.
They emphasized the fact that they would
welcome it if the district centre management
could also serve as their voice to
bring their concerns to the attention of the
city administration.
Aims
The intention of implementing district centre
management was
to achieve high quality marketing activities
undertaken by existing organisations.
to pool and coordinate all activities.
to improve communication between all relevant
institutions.
to create dependable structures.
to create a structure of accountability and
assign duties and responsibilities.
to involve as many local stakeholders as
possible.
to develop effective marketing campaigns.
to form networks among the interest groups
in the local community.
to moderate the project development process.
to make information available with the aim
to facilitate the communication between
the local organisations.
to facilitate communication between the
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