Cottbus, also known as Chóśebuz in the Lower Sorbian language, is a university city in Brandenburg. With around 99,500 inhabitants, it is the largest city in Lusatia. Cottbus/Chóśebuz is also the largest bilingual city in Germany and is considered the political and cultural centre of the Sorbs in Lower Lusatia. Due to the coal phase-out, Cottbus is in the midst of structural change - and is embarking on decade-long projects such as the Cottbus Baltic Sea or the Lusatian Science Park on the path to a sustainable future.
In Cottbus/Chóśebuz there is currently a Municipal Development Council active, which is organised by the E.ON Foundation and implemented together with the Berlin Governance Platform.
04/2023 - 04/2025
The Cottbus Municipal Development Advisory Board is discussing the future of a city centre area - "Zukunftsort Stadtpromenade". As part of an accompanying overall process, a proposal for its use and design will be developed and submitted to the city council. The "Zukunftsort Stadtpromenade" has long been an issue for the people of Cottbus: built in the 1960s and 70s as a flagship urban development project, the city promenade became known beyond the region. The pedestrian bridge with its characteristic blue clock, the "Kosmos" milk and mocha bar - affectionately known as "Sternchen" - and the business and restaurant pavilions served as central meeting points in Cottbus city centre. Many Cottbus residents associate personal, mostly emotional memories with the location, which makes the task even more memorable.
After reunification, the city promenade was sold by the Treuhand and demolished by investors for the construction of a shopping centre, large parts of which were never built. In recent years, numerous local residents, parties and initiatives have expressed their displeasure with the situation, but the site remained in private ownership.
When Lord Mayor Tobias Schick took office in November 2022, the Stadtpromenade once again became a political priority. In February 2023, the city of Cottbus/Chóśebuz finally succeeded in acquiring the area in the Stadtpromenade through the city's own building management company. The Municipal Development Advisory Board has now been commissioned by politicians to bring together the diverse interests of urban society in relation to the city centre's centrepiece and to develop a vision for its future design.
