The city council group “Freie Wähler” and the voter group “FÜR Karlsruhe” have submitted a supplementary motion to Karlsruhe City Council for a social placemaking concept.
The aim of the proposal is to reduce the burden on public spaces, which has increased in the past due to one-sided use by groups with increased alcohol and other drug consumption, so that the space is available to all sections of the population. Social support services such as substitution clinics and food banks will be distributed across different areas of the city. This is intended to weaken the pull effect: Over-concentration of help services in Südstadt has so far attracted withdrawal patients and homeless people from other parts of the city and the surrounding area.
Friedemann Kalmbach (FÜR Karlsruhe), chairman of the city council group, supported the social square concept in the city council: “The aim of our motion is to enable the various districts to develop social projects and thus alleviate the hardship in Südstadt. That would be a holistic and strategically smart approach. A ban on alcohol on Werderplatz and a single additional social project will not be the final solution.”
At the meeting on 19.03., the municipal council voted in favor of an alcohol ban on Werderplatz – but not in favor of the city council group’s motion. Lord Mayor Frank Mentrup (SPD) offered the city council group of Freie Wähler and FÜR Karlsruhe a joint expert discussion on the implementation of a square concept.
