SPD on other topics

The SPD no longer wants to treat the city centers of Bremen and Bremerhaven mainly as shopping zones. They are to remain business locations but offer more room for housing, culture, leisure, education and meeting people. The platform points to online retail, arguing that downtowns can only compete through the quality of the experience they offer.

The SPD wants to change the city centers. They should not only have shops. People should also live, learn and enjoy culture there. The walking zones should be large. The SPD says: Many people now shop online, so the city needs new things to offer.

The platform describes a shift from a "consumption zone" to a "downtown world of experience." It calls for large pedestrian zones, recreational areas and a mix of housing, work, crafts, culture and education. In Bremen, a promenade with circular walking routes is planned, with Obernstraße playing a key part. Small-scale, regionally rooted shops and small workshops are to remain. The city and the City-Initiative are to draw up a yearly events schedule together. The platform refers to the Senate's "Centrum Bremen 2030+" strategy and to the "Zukunftscamp Innenstadt Bremerhaven" participation process.

The SPD wants to redesign Domshof square so that it draws people all day and into the evening. In addition, the Wall ring road is to become a boulevard, and the Wallanlagen park is to be used more.

Domshof is the largest square in downtown Bremen. The SPD wants more life there, also in the evening. The weekly market should look nicer. There should be more restaurants and cafés. The street along the Wall park should also become nicer.

The weekly market is to become more attractive through a more inviting layout and more modern stalls, with food and enjoyment as the theme. Besides the Markthalle Acht food hall, the SPD wants more restaurants on the opposite side of the square. Car and bike routing at Domshof is to be reviewed and changed if needed. A use for the bunker under the square is being examined, mainly as bicycle parking. The rebuilding of the Wall ring for the premium bike route is to be used to create a boulevard. The heritage-listed Wallanlagen park is to be carefully enlivened, for example with permanent food service on the Theaterberg hill.

The SPD wants to develop a "new center" around the current Parkhaus Mitte parking garage. The city is to acquire the necessary property rights and create planning permission so that the garage can be torn down quickly and replaced by a new building complex.

There is a parking garage called Parkhaus Mitte in downtown Bremen. The SPD wants to tear it down quickly. The city should buy the land it needs for that. A new building should go up there. People should be able to walk through the area easily.

The platform regards the future of the garage and the neighboring Karstadt and Kaufhof department store buildings as decisive for the whole city center. Purchase and planning law are to create the conditions for demolition. The new complex must not get in the way of better walking connections and circular routes in the area.

The SPD wants to create public places in downtown Bremen where nobody has to buy or consume anything. It also plans a central "Spielort 4.0" play space for children and teenagers and wants to keep the club scene near the main station.

The SPD wants new meeting places downtown. Nobody has to buy anything there. There should be a big play space for children and teenagers. The clubs near the train station should also stay.

According to the platform, such a "third place" already exists in the city library on the Wall. More are to be set up in the Town Musicians and Literature House and in the planned university campus at the Brill. The "Spielort 4.0" is to be centrally located and make the center more attractive for children, teenagers and families, both visitors and residents. For the club scene in the Bahnhofsvorstadt district, the SPD wants to keep suitable conditions in place.

The SPD wants to make downtown Bremerhaven more attractive by linking housing, work, culture, education and tourism more closely. It relies on more green space and unsealed ground and on a better connection to the Havenwelten waterfront. The former Karstadt site and the area around the pedestrian zone are to be redesigned.

The SPD wants to make downtown Bremerhaven nicer. There should be more green and less concrete. Columbusstraße cuts the center off from the Havenwelten waterfront. The SPD wants to change that. Residents should have a say.

The platform assumes that more shops alone do not make a place pleasant to spend time in. It plans green open spaces with offerings for children and families, seating, planting and cleanliness. The role of Columbusstraße is to be rethought to overcome its dividing effect; solutions are to be found with broad public participation and be affordable. The Eulenhof site, the former tax office and the parking lot on Schifferstraße are candidates for large projects and an east-west axis. The city has already bought the Karstadt building.

The SPD wants to give the Verbraucherzentrale Bremen (consumer advice center) more funding so it can offer budget counseling at no charge and advice on energy law. The platform justifies this with sharply higher prices for heating, food and fuel.

Heating, food and fuel have become much more expensive. Many people worry about money because of this. The consumer advice center helps people with that. The SPD wants to give it more money. Then it can give free advice on spending and energy bills.

The services are to be available in Bremen and Bremerhaven. Budget counseling is meant to help people keep track of spending as a precaution; legal advice is meant to clarify whether price increases are lawful. The advisory position on climate protection management is to be kept. Counseling in the neighborhoods is to move from pilot project to permanent feature. The SPD wants to continue online talks and advice by video and phone.

The SPD wants to renovate gyms quickly, build new halls and artificial turf fields, and upgrade club-owned facilities for energy efficiency. New and renovated facilities are to be suitable for inclusive sports.

The SPD wants to repair gyms. There should be new halls and new sports fields. Sports buildings should use less energy. People with disabilities should also be able to do sports there.

In Bremen's north, west, east and south, the SPD backs one additional large sports hall each, preferably built together with clubs and with upkeep costs secured. New all-weather fields are to be added continuously, and existing turf fields renovated quickly. For club-owned facilities, red tape is to be cut, and energy-retrofit programs are to be developed with the state sports federation. Clubs should get easier access to public spaces and help with grants for accessibility.

The SPD wants to significantly raise subsidies for instructors in sports clubs and change the cap on subsidized hours. Training is to become free for participants. The platform cites growing responsibilities and a shortage of qualified instructors.

Instructors run the training in sports clubs. The SPD wants to give them more money. Their training should be free. People should be able to study sports at the University of Bremen again.

The changes to the hours cap and subsidies are to be agreed with the state sports federation and the clubs. The sports degree program at the University of Bremen is to open without delay and encourage students to work in clubs. Schools are to train instructors in advanced sports courses together with the state sports federation and the Bremen gymnastics association. A dedicated inclusion module is to be added to license training, and people with disabilities are also to be trained as instructors.

The SPD wants to expand cooperation between daycare centers, schools and sports clubs, including for children under three in daycare. Children and teens should take up sports early, which the platform says promotes health and later involvement in clubs.

Children should start sports early. Daycare centers and schools should work more with sports clubs. This should also include very young children. Children from poor families should keep getting money for club fees.

School sports are to be expanded and modernized; club offerings should supplement them, not replace them. Gyms are to remain reliably available to clubs despite all-day schooling. Support through the Bremen-Pass, for example for club membership, is to stay, with the monthly amount developed further over time. The SPD also backs the child-protection programs of the Bremen sports youth organization against sexualized violence and wants them applied in competitive sports too.

The SPD wants every child in Bremen to learn to swim and wants to keep the existing public pools. Funding and staff are to be secured for this. The discounted one-euro admission is to stay in the long term.

Every child in Bremen should learn to swim. The swimming pools should stay open. The one-euro ticket should stay. The SPD will check if all pools can offer it.

The platform names securing the money and staff for swimming as its goal. The one-euro offer for pool visits is to be secured permanently. The SPD will examine how it can be extended to all pools in Bremen. The "Kids in die Bäder" (kids into the pools) program is to be developed further.

The SPD wants to promote competitive sports, including through a sports boarding school and targeted programs in schools. It sees elite sports as an economic asset and good publicity for the state of Bremen. Competitive sports for people with disabilities are also to get more money.

The SPD wants to give more support to top-level sports. There should be help for a sports boarding school. Athletes with disabilities should also get more money. The SPD says this is good for Bremen's image.

The SPD calls for reliable funding of the federal training base for rhythmic gymnastics. The funding program for competitive sports is to be developed further with the state sports federation and interested clubs. Competitive sports for people with disabilities, such as Special Olympics, are to receive stronger financial support. On esports, the SPD will examine whether offerings by nonprofit clubs can be funded; it rules out funding commercial esports.

The SPD wants to maintain low-cost and free leisure activities and make them better known, especially among low-income households. An advertising campaign starting in 2023 and an app are planned. The Freikarte (free pass) for children and teens is to be kept in its core form if its evaluation is positive.

Free time often costs money. The SPD wants to make free activities better known. It plans advertising and an app for this. The free pass for children should stay if it works well.

According to the platform, leisure options depend heavily on income, education, and social circumstances, and existing offerings are little used by poorer households. The campaign is to point to things like free museum days, outdoor concerts, and exercise options in parks. The Freikarte is worth 60 euros per child or teenager. The planned app is to show offerings in the neighborhood and citywide based on the user's location.

The SPD wants to continue the music, dance, and sports offerings in parks that emerged during the COVID period. A pilot project is to test whether the rules for using green spaces can be relaxed. Restrooms are to be provided at central green spaces.

During COVID, many activities took place in parks. The SPD wants to keep these activities. A test will show if simpler rules for parks are possible. Important parks should have restrooms.

The platform calls the outdoor offerings by cultural institutions, sports clubs, and leisure facilities an alternative to expensive and environmentally harmful travel. The pilot project is to determine how far self-directed use of green spaces can be made easier. Restrooms, like those already at the lakes, are meant to make spending time outdoors more attractive and prevent littering.