Pop-up creative spaces - new ideas for vacant spaces in the city center
Vacant stores offer the opportunity to try out new uses and bring fresh impetus to the city center. At the same time, start-ups, creatives and social initiatives often have difficulty finding suitable premises - especially in central locations.
Pop-up creative spaces - new ideas for vacant spaces in the city center
Vacant retail spaces offer an opportunity to experiment with new uses and bring fresh energy to the downtown area. At the same time, entrepreneurs, creative professionals, and social initiatives often struggle to find suitable spaces—especially in central locations.
With the Pop-up Creative Spaces project, the City of Mainz aims to temporarily activate vacant spaces and create room for new concepts.
The goal is to showcase innovative ideas, attract new target groups to the city center, and enhance the diversity of uses.
Project Concept
The basic idea of the project is for the city to lease vacant retail spaces on a temporary basis and pass them on to users at reduced rates.
This allows new concepts to be tested that would often be difficult to implement without support.
The focus is particularly on:
- Creative industries#
- Startups and new business models
- Cultural uses
- Social projects
- Educational programs
- Innovative retail and dining concepts
What is important here is a mixed-use approach that appeals to different target groups and contributes to a vibrant downtown.
Goal
The project has several objectives:
- Revitalizing vacant properties in the city center
- Promoting startups and creative concepts
- Testing new usage formats
- Strengthening the diversity of uses
- Revitalizing the downtown area
- Attracting new target groups
- Improving the quality of the experience
At the same time, the goal is to gather insights into how temporary uses can contribute to downtown development in the long term.
Current status & further progress
Suitable sites in the city center are currently being identified and evaluated. This involves close coordination with the real estate department and property owners.
At the same time, a competition is being organized through which interested parties can submit their ideas for the site’s use.
In the long term, a link to the “Rethinking Neighborhoods of the Future” project is planned.
Further Project Progress
Planned:
Late summer / fall 2026:
Start of the competition process
Late 2026: Selection
of suitable concepts
Starting in early 2027:
Launch of the first pop-up uses (depending on available space)
The project is initially scheduled to run until the end of 2027.
In the long term, we will assess whether this approach can be established as a building block for sustainable downtown development.