VITALCity Award: Award for the liveliness of Kirchgasse
Wiesbaden's city center is one of the most vibrant in Germany. In this year's VITALCity Award from hystreet.com in collaboration with the retail research institute IFH Cologne, the Hessian state capital once again took first place nationwide in the size category of 250,000 to 600,000 inhabitants.
With 12,245,436 pedestrians counted at the Kirchgasse (center) measuring point in 2024, Wiesbaden achieved a vitality index of over 44, setting it apart from comparable cities. The indicator measures the ratio of visitor frequency to the number of inhabitants. It thus describes the vitality of the shopping streets and the success of municipal concepts for inner-city revitalization.
According to the experts for measuring visitor frequency in shopping streets, a special feature of Wiesbaden's Kirchgasse is that more than 22 percent of the daily frequency in the pedestrian zone remains even two hours after closing time - a value that only a few retail locations achieve. Wiesbaden is holding its own as a stable retail location in a particularly intense competitive environment with more neighboring locations than many other city centers.
Background Vitality index
The VITALCity Award uses the so-called vitality index as the unit of measurement for the question "Which city centers move people best locally and achieve the all-important increase in footfall? This is calculated by dividing the pedestrian frequency recorded annually by objective laser measurement in over 100 city centers by the number of inhabitants. The indicator shows how many times more people a shopping location attracts than its "own" population in a given period and makes it clear where people visit shopping streets particularly frequently - regardless of the number of inhabitants.
"The VitalCity Award is a great honor for us and, above all, a recognition of the developments that we have initiated in our city center in recent years and driven forward together with many stakeholders." Mayor Christiane Hinninger
In view of the challenges of recent years - from structural change in the retail sector to the effects of the pandemic and the increasing demands on climate resilience and mobility - it is important to actively work to maintain the city center as a vibrant and livable place. Wiesbaden is not only investing in the external appearance of the city center - with more beautiful squares, more greenery, better quality of stay - but is also initiating structural changes: with new concepts for the use of public spaces, the targeted promotion of retail, gastronomy and culture and with participation formats that involve citizens in decision-making processes. The aim is to shape the city center as a place of encounter, diversity and quality of life.
