G e l s e n k i r c h e n

C-Change City Profile

City of Gelsenkirchen, by Armin Hardes

• At the heart of the Ruhr metropolis, one of Europe’s largest conurbations

• An independent city administration in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, member of the

Regionalverband Ruhr, the regional association of the 53 cities of the Ruhr metropolis

• Once the most important coal-mining town in Europe, known as the ‘city of a thousand f lames’

• Target of heavy bombing during World War II

• A wealthy city until the 1960s and the decline of the coal industry

• A population of 5,000 people in 1840 when coal-mining began which, following a long history of immigration,

reached 389,000 in 1960, decreased to 256,000 in 2012, and is now increasing, in particular due to immigration

from EU member states and refugee settlement

• Transformation in natural and built environment and industrial and cultural landscape as a result of a major

federal programme of structural change for the Ruhr region 1988-1999

• “Solar City”, one of Germany’s leading centres for solar technology from about 1995-2015

• Part of the Ruhr 2010 European Capital of Culture 2010, a key moment in the city and the region’s journey from

an economy based on coal to a culturally creative and economically varied region

• A relatively poor city, dealing with the legacy of a ban on universities in the region until the 1960s, and the

lack of a strong middle class and facing issues in the areas of education, employment and immigration

• City strategy is focused on education, high-tech industries, culture and creativity, digitalisation, European

networking, sustainable development and climate change

• Football plays a big part in the city, which is home to the famous Schalke 04 football club.

U N D E R S T A N D I N G T H E C I T Y

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A RE A

105 km2265,000

P OP UL AT ION

15.2%

UNEMPLOY MEN T

€28,890

GDP

per inhabitant vs. national average of €38,370 (2016)

LOCAT ION

Ruhr metropolis

total population of 5.3 mill ion, once the industr ial heart of

Europe

vs. national average of 7% (2018 data)

Stadt Gelsenkirchen N.N., Gussstahlwerk

CULTURE FACTS

C U L T U R E I N T H E C I T Y

Culture and creativity play a key role in both the city and its shift from a coal-based industrial past. This started with the IBA major federal programme of structural change 1988-1999. It was followed by a cultural offensive in the newly created cultural and heritage areas, led by Kultur Ruhr GmbH and comprising Ruhrtriennale (contemporary multi -arts festival), ChorWerk Ruhr (song), Tanzlandschaft Ruhr (dance), and Urbane Künste Ruhr (urban art) – in which Gelsenkirchen is closely involved. Then came Ruhr2010, when 53 cities came together as European Capital of Culture with Gelsenkirchen playing a key role in many of the associated projects. Since then, the city works closely with the european centre for the creative economy (ecce) created as a legacy of Ruhr 2010, as well as with the n.i.c.e. network for innovation in culture and creativity in Europe.

Gelsenkirchen’s cultural offering began to grow in the 1960s and today includes musical theatre, a youth theatre, a cultural centre, municipal music school, a wide range of jazz and music clubs, a history museum located in a renaissance castle, an art museum and the Schalke 04 football museum.

It is also home to a range of festivals such as KulturKanal, SommerSound, Rock Hard, the Klezmer biennale, the puppet/marionette biennale and annual story-telling-festival. The independent cultural scene is less developed, but this is changing. Regionally, the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex ( just across the city boundary) has been transformed into a prime site for art, culture and creativity. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site it attracts over two million visitors a year through events such as the Zechenfest (Coal Mine Festival), the Contemporary Art Ruhr fair and events of the Ruhrtriennale.

Gelsenkirchen also has a range of regeneration projects led by the city ’s regeneration company and also linked to ecce’s Creative Quarters programme. Key projects with a cultural and creative focus are:

• Home to i.a. a renowned music-theatre in a famous building with the “Blue walls” of Yves Klein, an arts museum, a major collection of cinematic art, a range of festivals such as KulturKanal, Rock Hard, the Klezmer biennale and the puppet/marionette biennale festival

• Industrial heritage plays a central role in the city ’s and the region’s cultural life, including sites such as the Nordsternpark and Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

• One of 53 cities which came together for Ruhr2010 European Capital of Culture

• Involved in the 4 programmes run by Kultur Ruhr GmbH - Ruhrtriennale (contemporary multi -arts festival), ChorWerk Ruhr (song), Tanzlandschaft Ruhr (dance) and Urbane Künste Ruhr (urban art)

• Home to a range of regeneration projects for cultural quarters and the Halfmannsdorf artist settlement, a space for art and culture, co-working and residencies, connected with other creative and cultural spaces in Europe and a lab for new creative and artistic work in the city

• A budget of €28 million a year for culture or €105 per inhabitant

c u l t u r e f a c t s

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• KreativQuartier Ückendorf, a former residential for coal mining and steel workers, transformed into a home for science, start-ups, culture, art and well -being, and;

• Kuenstlersiedling (artist settlement) Halfmannsdorf, f irst established in the 1920s as a living and working space for artists, artisans and architects and now a space for art and culture, co- working and residencies, connected with other creative and cultural spaces in Europe and a digital lab for new creative and artistic work.

As a relatively poor city in economic terms, Gelsenkirchen is nonetheless faced with a lack of ‘cultural purchasing power ’ and patronage for the arts and culture.

C L I M A T E C H A N G E & T H E C I T Y

Once the heart of coal-mining in Europe, Gelsenkirchen was one of Germany’s leading centres for solar technology for about 20 years from the mid-1990s. The creation of Science Park Gelsenkirchen in 1995, with one of the largest solar photovoltaic rooftops in Germany at the time, was one of the first key steps in this journey. Some of the jobs created under its Solar City programme are, however, now being lost as China establishes itself as a global leader on solar technology. While the city is already experiencing the impacts of climate change – notably flooding due to heavy rain and healthproblems due to heatwaves – older generations in particular have actually perceived an improvement in environmental conditions following the decline of the coal industry.

The city first introduced a climate change strategy in 2009 and is currently working to a target of a 25% emissions reduction by 2020 against a 2008 baseline, in line with the targets of the Climate Alliance network targets and North Rhine-Westphalia. Gelsenkirchen is currently implementing its2018-2020 climate change strategy. The most successful initiatives to date have been on renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable transport. The city is also developing a 2030-2050 strategy with the ambition of carbon neutrality by 2050. Citizen engagement is one of the biggest challengesfor the city, which is seeing a certain level of ‘climate fatigue’ amongst its citizens.

Gelsenkirchen is also part of the region’s journey to become a ‘climate metropolis’ under Klimametropole Ruhr 2022, following on from its development as a cultural metropolis. Klimametropole Ruhr 2022 was founded in 2012, after Ruhr2010, to bring the region together onceagain to work on one key theme. Klimametropole Ruhr 2022 is one regional partner of the North-Rhine-Westphalian initiative KlimaExpo.NRW. Led by the Regionalverband Ruhr, klimametropole Ruhr 2022 covers a number of strands including culture. Initiatives include Climate Week 2016 (264 events and 70,000 visitors) and the TWINS Conference Ruhr -Cities in Climate Change, held as part of Essen’s year as European Green Capital 2017 at the Zollverein.

• 1,997,430 tonnes CO2 emissions in 2014 / 7.72 tonnes CO

2 per

inhabitant

• Target of a 25% emissions reduction 2008-2020

• 13.1% emissions reduction achieved 2008-2014 – 284,360

tonnes CO2

• Signatory to Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy• One of the f irst German cities to sign up to the UN’s

Sustainable Development Goals

• Three-time winner of the European Energy Award for cities and

local authorities

Key initiatives include:

• KlimaGEnial, the city’s well -established climate change

awareness-raising campaign focusing on energy saving and

sustainable transport

• City council buildings’ electricity supply is 100% renewable

• Various projects on energy-ef f icient urban redevelopment e.g.

InnovationCity

• Rollout urban district Gelsenkirchen-Rotthausen, and low

carbon quality housing developments

• Various campaigns for owners, landlords and tenants on the

use of renewable energy for electricity and heating

• Environmental Education e.g. UmweltDiplom, a programme

which supports and recognises carbon literacy in schools and

for young people

• Networking in the Region: e.g. KlimaChallenge Ruhr, an

initiative of the Ruhr Regional Association (RVR) programme

which aims to activate and mobilise civil society in 2019 to

take climate action, with grant funding of up to €50,000

F A C T S

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E X A M P L E Sof arts and culture sector climate action and engagement in the city

• Gelsenkirchen’s municipal cultural buildings already have a range

of good practice on renewable energy and energy ef f iciency in

place.

• On a regional level, Urbane Künste Ruhr has worked closely with

‘Regeneration of the Emscher Valley – a 100 year project’ and

is also exploring options to develop a ‘Materials for the Arts’

initiative to support material reuse and recycling

• EltingMoebel a designer- led community upcycling recycling project

based in Essen

• Made in Wehringhausen a designer- led sustainable fashion

programme, funded through the federal ministry for culture and

science and part of ecce’s Creative Quarters programme

• International Cycling Film Festival, an annual festival which takes

place in Bochum, Poland and the Netherlands, which promotes

cycling as part of a more sustainable lifestyle

• Die Urbanisten, a Dortmund-based not-for-prof it working to

support a better and more sustainable way of living in the city,

whose projects including upcycling and making for all ages,

the LutherLab and You-do-Festival on urban production, urban

gardening and community food growing

• Creative Quarter Lohberg, a regeneration area on the site of a

former coal mine site, Lohberg is working to achieve its ambition

of becoming a carbon neutral quarter

• Juicy Beats music festival’s environmental programme – A Greener Beat

• Festival n.a.t.u.r., an interactive arts and culture festival in

Bochum which explores environmental and sustainability themes

in the context of city and regional development

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Top to bottom: City of Gelsenkirchen, by Uwe Jesiorkowski, Anna Mahlke, Hans Blossey