Grüne on the economy

The Greens want rents in the city center to fall and plan to pursue this through talks with property owners. The city is to support the conversion of large retail and office buildings using federal urban development funds and special urban planning law. The aim is to let new, creative businesses gain a foothold downtown.

The Greens want lower rents for stores downtown. They want to talk with the building owners about this. The city should help with rebuilding old buildings. Then new businesses can move downtown.

The platform notes that the city owns few properties downtown and that private owners shape the market. It says retail is under heavy pressure from online shopping, so rents need to adjust to the new situation. Large retail spaces are to be turned into smaller stores and other uses. Building and planning law is to be reviewed for leeway to reshape the city center, especially to allow more housing. The party calls this approach a “culture of enabling.”

The Greens want Bremen to remain a steel location and to support the steel plant in switching to climate-neutral production. To do so, they plan to create the legal and infrastructure conditions and to fund new technologies heavily. As part of a green industrial policy, companies and employees are to be involved in the transition.

Bremen should keep making steel. But the steel plant should stop harming the climate. The Greens want to provide the rules, power lines and networks for this. They want to give strong support to new technology.

The platform points to the steel plant's plan to produce "green steel" in Bremen within about ten years and explicitly pledges support for it. At the state and federal levels, the party wants to push for the conditions that allow the mill to run on sustainable energy. According to the platform, the plant's expanded power connection is already part of the nationwide grid expansion. The Greens also propose examining whether a European-certified ship recycling yard could be built in the state of Bremen. The reasoning is that the number of old ships will grow and that scrapping them can supply material for steel recycling.

The Greens want to turn the Hansalinie business park into a green commercial area in order to secure automotive jobs in Bremen. Mercedes and its suppliers are to get a site there for their path to climate neutrality. In addition, charging infrastructure for electric cars is to grow quickly.

Bremen should stay a place where cars are built. The Greens want to develop the Hansalinie business park in an eco-friendly way. Mercedes and other companies should have room there for electric cars. More charging stations should be built quickly.

According to the platform, old and new models will briefly be produced side by side during the change of drive technology before only electric vehicles are built. Hansalinie is said to offer the space needed for this. The area is to be supplied with renewable energy, built sustainably and used in a land-saving way. The party names a rapid rollout of charging stations as a condition for electric mobility to work in everyday life.

The Greens want to develop the sustainable Lune Delta business park in Bremerhaven for green-economy companies. A start-up center and a test field for electrolyzers are to form its core and turn the Luneplate area into a hub for hydrogen research. The party expects this to give an economic boost to Bremerhaven and the region.

A large, eco-friendly business park is planned in Bremerhaven. It is called Lune Delta. Companies with green ideas should work there. There should be a center for new companies. Researchers should test hydrogen technology there.

The area covers about 150 hectares. According to the platform, its core elements are a start-up center, hydrogen research and an electrolyzer test field. The party also backs a "sea state simulator" in Bremerhaven to advance hydrogen-based propulsion systems. In addition, founders in Bremen are to get more places for their projects through the allocation of suitable sites.

The Greens want commercial land to come mainly from existing sites in the future instead of paving over more green space. The current pace of new land sealing, they say, is neither ecologically nor economically viable. New standards are to create green business parks, and in the long run the net-zero target is to be reached.

Bremen should build on fewer green spaces for business. Companies should use existing land better. The Greens want to advise businesses on this. New business parks should protect the climate and the environment.

As a first step, a densification strategy is to show what land reserves exist in all established areas. Business park management is to be strengthened and advice on efficient land use offered, which is also meant to help companies with the social-ecological transition. When new companies settle, the party wants to pay attention to climate protection and environmental compatibility. For the net-zero target on land consumption, a strategy with milestones and timelines is to be drawn up. The party also wants to continue the zero-waste strategy with further steps to cut waste.

The Greens want Bremen to remain an important location for the aerospace industry. The sector is meant to help reach the goal of more climate-friendly air travel. To this end, the party wants to strengthen Bremen's profile within cross-regional partnerships.

Bremen should stay an important place for building planes and for space travel. Flying should harm the climate less. Companies and researchers should work together on this. Bremen works with Hamburg and Lower Saxony here.

As an example, the platform cites cooperation between companies and research institutions at the "Center for Eco-efficient Materials & Technologies" (ECOMAT). Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen have also formed the "Norddeutsche Allianz Grünes Fliegen" (Northern German Alliance for Green Flying). The party sees Bremen's strengths in lightweight construction and hydrogen tank architecture.

The Greens want to protect existing commercial sites from being converted to other uses and to keep the total stock of industrial land from shrinking. Because Bremen and neighboring municipalities have few land reserves left, they want a joint strategy for business sites.

The Greens want to protect land for businesses. This land should not simply become housing. Bremen has little free land left. So Bremen should plan together with nearby towns.

Pockets of commercial use inside residential areas that currently lack protection under building law are to be secured as “commercial protection areas.” The total area for industry and disruptive businesses should not decline. Together with the association of surrounding municipalities, the platform wants to draw up an inter-municipal strategy for business land that follows the goals of the 2030 commercial development program. The shared land register of Bremerhaven and the districts of Cuxhaven and Wesermarsch is cited as a model. Mixed-use sites of the “Productive City” are also to grow: on brownfield land, zoning plans should set aside firm shares for craft workshops and storage, with adequate noise protection.

The Greens want Bremen's business development agency (WFB) to see itself as a transformation agency that advises companies on the social and ecological transition. Management of commercial districts is to be extended step by step to every site in the city.

Businesses should become greener. They need advice for that. The Greens want Bremen's business development agency to help. It should look after all business districts in the city.

District management is meant to record the needs of the companies in an area, compare them and carry out measures in a coordinated way. Teams from city planning and business development are to revise the planning rules for the large commercial districts so that land can be used more efficiently. For the 1,000-hectare “Zukunftsband A281,” the platform also names sustainable energy supply and better public transit and bike connections. Small and mid-sized companies should be able to get advice on land efficiency from the new Klima-Bau-Zentrum (climate construction center). Existing districts are to gain more pleasant spaces for staff, childcare and shopping options.

The Greens want to offer founders permanent locations instead of temporary ones and to provide the storage and hall space that is lacking. Public funding for social enterprises is to be made permanent, and women are to get targeted support when starting a business.

The Greens want to help people who start a company. They should get lasting rooms and halls. Social enterprises should keep getting money too. These are firms that want to solve problems in society. Women should get special help when starting a company.

Institutions such as Starthaus and belladonna would continue to receive support. For places like the Creative Hub, the platform aims for permanent sites and long-term leases. The FoodHub at the wholesale market is to become the starting point of a development strategy for the whole market, linking it to the Überseestadt district and adding teaching kitchens. Funding for social entrepreneurship is to be distributed in a gender-sensitive way and promoted beyond the region. At the federal level, the Greens want better social security, more favorable fees and taxes, and less red tape for the self-employed.

The Greens want tourism to remain a strong economic factor in the state and to evolve in light of climate change. More marketing and digital services are meant to raise the profile of both cities as destinations for sustainable travel.

Tourism matters for Bremen and Bremerhaven. The Greens want to keep it strong. It should become greener. For that, there should be more advertising and more digital services.

The platform notes that the pandemic hit tourism in both cities hard. According to the Greens, higher energy prices and scarce gas are putting further strain on hotels and restaurants. In response, the platform names stronger tourism marketing and better digital services. Both cities are to position themselves beyond the region as sustainable destinations.

The Greens want Germany's seaports to cooperate more closely instead of working against each other. The northern German states should define shared interests and pursue them at the federal and EU levels. This is meant to strengthen their position against other European ports and the large container shipping alliances.

The Greens want the ports in northern Germany to work together more. The northern states should agree on shared goals. They should push for these goals in Berlin and in the EU. This should make the ports stronger against big shipping companies.

The platform calls closer seaport cooperation both economically and ecologically sensible. Each port should specialize in order to compete internationally. The Greens welcome the national port strategy planned by the federal government and call for a stronger federal role in port policy. At the European level, the federal government should launch initiatives for a northern European system of port cooperation. Large investments such as the renovation of the Stromkaje quay in Bremerhaven and new cranes should proceed step by step and be coordinated with Wilhelmshaven.

The Greens want a port and infrastructure policy that secures domestic control over the ports. In the platform's view, economic ties with autocracies lead to dependence in critical infrastructure and trade. The policy is meant to support a values-based foreign trade strategy.

The Greens want Germany to keep control of its ports. They warn against business deals with states that are not democracies. In their view, such deals create dependence. Trade with other countries should be guided more by values.

The platform calls sovereignty over the ports non-negotiable for a state shaped by foreign trade. The Greens intend to push for this in Bremen, together with the northern German states and at the federal level. In their account, economic entanglement with autocracies endangers democracy.