Wolfsburg economic agenda

10-point plan to strengthen the economy

• Wolfsburg's economic agenda: Download the 10-point plan

• TOP 1: We will be pioneers in business friendliness

  Although Wolfsburg has achieved the best rating in representative company surveys in the chamber district of the Lüneburg Wolfsburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, it has also revealed potential and the need for action. Many things are already working well in Wolfsburg, but an even better understanding of business interrelationships and more pragmatic action are needed to secure local economic structures, especially in times of upheaval such as these. Administrative action is also becoming increasingly important as a location factor for business decisions and can therefore create better framework conditions for an attractive business location.

  All levels of the city administration must be aware that business friendliness and an even stronger service orientation have a lasting effect on companies, potential investors and thus on our location.

  It is important to the local economy, but also to investors, that their concerns are taken seriously and that they establish a solution-oriented relationship with the administration. It is crucial for success to further optimize and digitalize the interfaces within the administration in order to noticeably accelerate business-related processes. As the city administration, we are setting an important course for this in the course of modernizing our administration and focusing on the digitalization of processes.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step: We are adapting our organizational structures in the city administration in the areas of digitalization and space management, among others, in order to optimize our services.

  An administration is more than just the serious execution of sovereign tasks. It should be an active partner, a driving force for development. Service is also not an end in itself. A modern administration must not only save costs, but also work in a customer-oriented manner in order to create the framework conditions for a competitive, attractive business location. A flexible and modern administration is therefore an important location factor for the economy.

  Our priority goal must therefore be to align administrative activities with the changing framework conditions in the best possible way and to see organizational realignment as a joint opportunity. The digitalization of administration must be accelerated with the aim of achieving a high level of benefit for citizens and consistently optimizing internal administrative processes. To achieve this objective, we reorganized the Smart City and IT Services functions within the Economic Affairs Department as of 1 January 2025.

  Land and buildings are key resources for the development and establishment of companies. This principle applies to commercial sites as well as to inner city and center development. Numerous city center sites are owned by the city or its subsidiaries or are granted as leaseholds. This ownership situation offers enormous opportunities to strengthen the development of the city center. Numerous leasehold contracts are due to expire in the coming years, which increases the risk of an investment backlog and requires swift action. Against this backdrop, the "Property and Building Management" division was assigned to the Department of Digital and Economic Affairs as of 01.01.2025. The Department of Economic Affairs is already responsible for business development, meaning that the new assignment of properties will result in a closer integration of building and space management with economic objectives, e.g. in commercial space planning or the implementation of the leasehold strategy anchored in the city center development concept. The continued successful implementation of administrative modernization is of fundamental importance for the economy.

  It is also important that more local companies take part in our public tenders. It is undisputed that the administration's legal options are limited. Nevertheless, our aim in awarding contracts must be to noticeably increase the proportion of contracts awarded to regional companies in order to keep value creation in the region and secure jobs. The legal possibilities to strengthen the regional economy must be exhausted.

• TOP 2: We maintain and develop urban quality

  In the latest company survey conducted by Wolfsburg Wirtschaft und Marketing GmbH (WMG) in September 2024, the companies surveyed particularly valued the quality of life in the city. At the same time, however, it also became clear that city center development is particularly important for location satisfaction and was rated worst as a location factor.

  As the city of Wolfsburg, we must pool all our strengths here.

  The strategic basis for the actions of the city and WMG is provided by the city center development concept and roadmap, which was unanimously approved by the council.

  The roadmap defines key projects and appropriate initial steps for the next two years. It currently highlights eight projects that will be actively tackled and implemented over the next two years.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step in support: We are further developing and refining our leasehold strategy in order to be even more capable of taking action, particularly in the city center. We are also supporting the establishment of a private neighborhood association to strengthen Kaufhof and actively promote its further development. In addition, the offerings in Allerpark, particularly in the gastronomic area, will be upgraded.

  It will be crucial that retail, gastronomy, leisure and the real estate industry, interest groups and politics play an active role and pull together. In order to attract skilled workers, start-ups and young people who will spark additional economic dynamism in Wolfsburg, inner city development must be accelerated quickly. This includes the profiling of attractive inner city areas as well as the provision of modern living space. In line with Wolfsburg's strengths, the two themes of green and digital city will also be at the forefront of further development and profiling. Green and smart city elements (charging stations, vertical greening, solar panels on the roofs of administrative buildings, electricity storage, sensors in road traffic, smart grid, etc.) will form a focal point of our start-up initiative together with an open data initiative.

  As a former shopping street and most recently a lively pub district, Kaufhof has a special significance both for the city center and for Wolfsburg residents. Its attractiveness and function as a popular nightlife district have recently declined significantly. Together with the owners, the city administration and WMG will address specific opportunities for the positive development and upgrading of the Kaufhof and initiate a neighborhood community together with the owners, which will noticeably increase the attractiveness in terms of urban development and use. We will also support private investment in the Allerpark experience area (e.g. Colombian Pavilion) in the best possible way and thus strengthen this important local recreation and leisure area for the city with additional offers.

• TOP 3: We increase resilience in the automotive ecosystem

  Volkswagen is of paramount importance for the economic strength and prosperity of Wolfsburg. The city of Wolfsburg, as the home of Volkswagen AG, stands by Volkswagen and its employees as a reliable partner in this difficult phase and is ready to join forces once again to overcome the current crisis.

  Together, it is important and necessary to take responsibility for the location.

  At its meeting in September 2024, the Wolfsburg City Council passed a resolution reaffirming its support for Volkswagen AG's headquarters and its employees. Wolfsburg and its region are home to a high-performance and innovative automotive supplier network. However, the transformation in the automotive industry is also putting these companies in particular under massive pressure. Direct dialog with the companies is therefore just as important as the best possible support from the city of Wolfsburg, be it through targeted peer-2-peer matching with suitable start-ups, other suppliers with complementary technologies as exchange partners or universities, in order to further strengthen the innovative power. The City of Wolfsburg's business development department supports companies in making the right contacts, in all projects for which they require administrative support and beyond.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step to support them: We will, among other things, further strengthen the image as an automotive location with the continuation and professional organization of the IZB trade fair. In addition, we will finalize the plans for the North Head development in the near future.

  Our common goal is also to create the best possible framework conditions for a successful transformation and, together with Volkswagen and other partners, to continue the planning for the "Nordkopf Mitte" district development. The main objective is to create a mixed-use urban quarter that meets modern urban planning, mobility, work and sustainability requirements. The overall project also includes the creation of public spaces with an attractive quality of stay, which can serve as a showcase for new forms of mobility, innovative mobility offers and transformation processes. In this way, we are strengthening both the image as a future-oriented automotive location and the attractiveness of the location, so that specialists and managers can be recruited and retained.

• TOP 4: We are expanding Wolfsburg as a center of innovation

  Wolfsburg is extremely strong in automotive technologies. In line with the economic structure, the location is not only strong in production but also in research and innovation in the automotive industry.

  Great potential for innovation and thus value creation arises in an economy that is characterized by related diversity.

  Here, companies work together that share a knowledge and technology base and can thus benefit from knowledge transfers and spill-over effects and innovate at technological edges. In an economic structure characterized by related diversity, there is an optimal degree of diversification. The existing strengths - from Volkswagen and the OHLF to School 42, the Wolfsburg Medical Campus, as the second study location of the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) and others - can develop a much greater impact together than is currently the case. A well-established network of knowledge players can position and further develop Wolfsburg as an ambitious innovation location. The above-mentioned "related sector diversity", which allows innovations at the technological margins, is particularly useful for further development towards a resilient economic structure. Start-ups that bring new ideas and technologies to Wolfsburg, where they can try them out and develop them further, have an important influence here. This requires test fields and real laboratories in which start-ups can use large machines and systems that are outside their budget. In the current era of radical leaps in innovation in the areas of decarbonization and digitalization, start-ups are of central importance for the further development of a location. With its engineering excellence, Wolfsburg is well placed to attract high-tech start-ups.

  At the same time, it is crucial to continue to be a beacon for optimal e-mobility framework conditions in order to demonstrate the potential of the technology. A comprehensive charging infrastructure is crucial to promoting the acceptance of electromobility and ensuring environmentally friendly mobility. Wolfsburg is already ranked second out of all 72 major cities in Germany in terms of charging station infrastructure by WirtschaftsWoche and ImmoScout24. We will secure and further expand this position in order to underline our pioneering role in e-mobility throughout Germany.

  The charging infrastructure will make an important contribution to the energy transition.

  Wolfsburg is home to innovative companies that are already pioneers in the field of charging infrastructure and electromobility. The development and expansion of bidirectional charging is a key technology for successfully shaping the energy transition.

  This allows electric vehicles to both absorb electricity and feed it back into the building or the power grid. This intelligent networking between mobility and energy supply makes it possible to use renewable energies more efficiently and stabilize power grids.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step to support this: We will found and establish a science network for Wolfsburg. In addition, we will implement the science concept for the future and focus on Wolfsburg as an innovation location for charging infrastructure.

  Wolfsburg must make its economic structure more resilient through innovation. The existing strengths - from Volkswagen, the Open Hybrid Lab Factory and Ostfalia to Schule 42 and others - can be even more effective together and with a targeted development strategy. We want to link, complement and strengthen the good points of contact between TU Braunschweig, DLR and Fraunhofer CCEM. To this end, we are building on existing strengths and establishing a sustainable science network on the basis of the Future Concept for Science in order to effectively strengthen the transfer of knowledge and technology. The close integration of science, business and urban society will strengthen the sense of community. Wolfsburg can raise its profile as a knowledge and innovation-oriented city, which increases the attractiveness of the location for the population as well as for start-ups, investors and visitors.

• TOP 5: We strengthen test fields and real laboratories

  We want to develop the city into a real laboratory for digital services, new business areas, new mobility and new ways of working.

  Test areas can be the nucleus for a targeted diversification of the economic structure. Test environments in pilot areas are important in order to repeatedly generate new impetus in realistic environments and thus test new business models. In this way, an innovation-driven economic structure can constantly reinvent itself and integrate technologies into existing structures.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step to support this: We are pushing the Ready4Four project as part of #WolfsburgDigital and strengthening the e-charging infrastructure throughout the city.

  With the OHLF, Wolfsburg already has an excellent basis for circularity. Together, we will invest specifically in strengthening and strategically expanding the OHLF. We will develop this potential more proactively together. The joint #WolfsburgDigital initiative also provides the basis for the Ready4four project. In this project, we will set up test fields where autonomous driving will be further developed. This kind of concerted action could accelerate a field that will not only create a market volume in land-based mobility, but also in the area of drones. We will also explore options for accelerating the further development of the industry structure in Wolfsburg. This includes, for example, the use of funding programs for test fields and real laboratories, the establishment of an innovation park or support for start-ups. At the same time, it is crucial to continue to be a beacon for optimal e-mobility framework conditions in order to demonstrate the potential of the technology. A nationwide charging infrastructure is crucial to promoting the acceptance of electromobility and ensuring environmentally friendly mobility.

• TOP 6: We set innovation lighthouses

  Together with the TU Braunschweig, Ostfalia, Fraunhofer Project Center, Volkswagen and other partners from research, science and industry, we will expand the joint Wolfsburg campus. The current developments of the Wolfsburg campus around the OHLF strengthen Wolfsburg as a leading university location for research and education.

  We will strategically expand the new campus and integrate the Mobile Life Campus in cooperation with Volkswagen. Our common goal is to develop the campus into an innovation park. This would further strengthen and raise the profile of the science location.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step to support this: We are launching our communication campaign around the OHLF on the subject of the "Wolfsburg University Campus". At the same time, we will set up the joint campus and open a pop-up store on the subject of science in the city center.

  Other test environments are also being considered, such as the OHLF with its large industrial facilities, in order to test innovations under real-world conditions outside the controlled laboratory. There is great potential for a supra-regional innovation ecosystem in the industrial areas of circularity and new materials in conjunction with digital technologies such as extended reality. The city center will also be a meeting place for the development and exchange of new ideas in the future. Within walking distance of the Ostfalia campus and the new developments at Nordkopf, co-working spaces and places to exchange knowledge will be created or contacts will be made at conventions.

• TOP 7: We provide commercial space in line with demand

  Throughout western Germany, it is difficult to find large, contiguous industrial and commercial sites ready for construction. This is why it is often a decisive advantage in the competition between locations to profile such sites and proactively make them ready for marketing. Development times of 2-3 years are often an exclusion criterion for a location decision. With the structural concept for settlement areas and the economic area concept based on it, the city administration has developed the foundations and will now implement them consistently. Our aim is to reverse the demand-oriented development towards a supply-oriented development. It is crucial that site inquiries can be dealt with promptly.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step to support this: The Heinenkamp Ost and Heinenkamp West business parks are being actively expanded. Investors are being acquired even more intensively at Nordkopf as part of the development.

  With the current expansions to the west and east of Heinenkamp, traditional commercial areas for small and medium-sized companies are being developed. In addition, the city of Wolfsburg has resumed the development of the Warmenau Nord industrial estate in order to be prepared for a strategically larger area development or large-scale settlement. There is potential space available in the city center for knowledge-intensive service providers with high urban requirements. The city of Wolfsburg would like to offer these companies an attractive range of space and close the currently prevailing supply gap between city center locations and traditional business parks. In addition to the availability of space, it is also important that potential investors feel that their projects are wanted and that they will receive solution-oriented support. Investors can choose from sites in attractive locations across Europe and are keen to invest in as pragmatic an environment as possible in view of the density of regulation in Europe. The availability of green electricity is a key prerequisite for industrial activities in the future. It is important here that the settlements are not in competition with company settlements, but serve as privileged projects to secure the electricity supply.

• TOP 8: We sustainably strengthen cohesion

  As I said at the beginning, we are currently working to safeguard the economy by promoting investment in the future of our location and working to maintain our prosperity. It is about maintaining good, secure jobs. And it is about nothing less than preserving social peace and our basic democratic order. In these times of upheaval, it is therefore of central importance to stick together as a city society and shape Wolfsburg's future together. Wolfsburg is a city with a very strong club landscape and many people committed to volunteering. Despite the difficult budget situation, the city of Wolfsburg will continue to support the clubs and maintain its commitment to voluntary work. Increasing the incentives for voluntary work would also help to create an even stronger sense of community.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step to support this: We will set up a platform for strengthening volunteering in order to further support, promote and facilitate commitment to the urban community. At the same time, we will further strengthen city marketing and communication in order to further improve the view of Wolfsburg from inside and outside.

  Overall, we will consolidate our city and location marketing activities together with our subsidiary Wolfsburg Wirtschaft und Marketing GmbH and strengthen them in close cooperation with other partners, such as Autostadt, VfL Wolfsburg and Designer Outlets Wolfsburg. We want to support social cohesion with economic dynamism and clear prospects. New jobs in the mobility and digital environment can create important job prospects.

• TOP 9: We want to create a spirit of optimism and bring players together

  In order to successfully tackle the tasks ahead, it is important to take the population along on this journey and to listen to their concerns. Urban society, municipal employees and partners will be taken along on the path of transformation, specifically addressed about the upcoming processes, interested in them and encouraged to participate. It will be crucial that everyone sees themselves as part of the solution. Shaping the coming years and securing local prosperity is a collective task.

  We are therefore implementing this specific measure as a first step in support of this: Together with Wolfsburg AG, the joint company of the city and Volkswagen, we will develop a current vision for Wolfsburg's future and launch a 2035 strategy concept.

  This is the only way to proactively shape Wolfsburg's future and to signal to the local population that the current situation is not frightening and paralyzing, but that Wolfsburg's existing potential is to be courageously exploited with a view to future mobility in the broadest sense.

• TOP 10: We influence state and federal policy

  As much as the city of Wolfsburg can initiate locally, the city administration cannot directly influence the national and state-wide framework conditions. However, these framework conditions play a significant role in the extent to which the mobility ecosystem in Wolfsburg will continue to be successful for years to come. The city of Wolfsburg will therefore represent its interests together with the other automotive regions at state and national political level.

  To support this, we are working with the city council to activate political networks and direct exchange with federal and state politicians. Wolfsburg stakeholders are excellently networked on the political stage beyond the city limits. We will make even greater use of these good conditions.

  Wolfsburg currently has virtually no state or federal institutions worth mentioning. Consequently, we will campaign for the preservation and establishment of public facilities and, among other things, by offering plots of land ready for construction with a supply-oriented land use plan. It is also very important for the location to further expand and improve its good accessibility. We will continue to work together to expand the infrastructure with a view to the B188 and A39. In addition, accessibility by rail is also an important location factor today and tomorrow, which is why the frequency to Hanover should be reduced to 30 minutes and a new train stop in Vorsfelde should be planned in addition to the new Sandkamp train stop.