The intermunicipal commercial and industrial area Heidelberg-Leimen (Economy Park Heidelberg-Leimen) is receiving €120,000 in funding from the state. This is the highest amount of funding awarded this year by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Regional Development and Housing as part of the ‘Gaining Space through Internal Development’ programme. The Economy Park Heidelberg-Leimen is being developed on the border between the two towns. The Rohrbach-Süd and Leimen-Nord industrial and commercial areas are directly adjacent to each other there. Covering an area of around 100 hectares – equivalent to around 140 football pitches – it is the largest intermunicipal commercial area in Baden-Württemberg.
‘We are delighted that our concept has been so well received by the state. The funding will enable us to further develop the Heidelberg-Leimen Economy Park in all areas in a targeted manner,’ says John Ehret, Chairman of the ‘Intercommunal Commercial and Industrial Area Heidelberg-Leimen’ special-purpose association and Mayor of the City of Leimen.
‘Municipal land management closes an important gap between planning and implementation. Our approach is pragmatic, cooperative and focused on sustainability. With municipal land management, we pick up where traditional instruments of urban land-use planning and economic development reach their limits,’ explains Jürgen Odszuck, deputy chairman of the special-purpose association and First Mayor of the City of Heidelberg.
Extensive land potential
There is extensive land potential in the intermunicipal commercial and industrial area of Heidelberg-Leimen. Although around half of the approximately 100-hectare special-purpose association area is already used for construction, it still has some vacant lots, gaps between buildings and development potential in several respects.
The money will be used to hire a municipal land manager directly by the special-purpose association. The person in this role will drive forward the development of the Heidelberg-Leimen Economy Park and find new uses for vacant land. Land managers actively support and promote this process.
About the Economy Park
The Heidelberg-Leimen Economy Park aims to develop into an innovative, sustainable and resilient commercial and industrial area focusing on research, development and production in the fields of medical technology and sustainable, innovative building materials.
As part of urban development funding, also from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Regional Development and Housing, the project received €3.2 million in 2023.
Background: State programme ‘Gaining space through internal development’
The current state programme ‘Gaining space through internal development’ subsidises the hiring of two new municipal land managers, one in Heidelberg and the other in Heiligenberg on Lake Constance, and 21 other projects with around 978,000 euros. The funding programme is aimed at cities, municipalities, districts and special-purpose associations, among others. It has been fundamentally revised and further developed in recent years. Since the programme was introduced in 2009, the state of Baden-Württemberg has subsidised almost 500 projects with around €14.8 million. Since the promotion of municipal land management was included in the programme in 2016, 38 land managers have been supported.