Hannover Region and City of Garbsen drive technology location forward

Hanover Region

Hannover Region. The Hannover Region and the city of Garbsen have today signed a long-term usage agreement that will ensure that a state-of-the-art innovation and technology location is created at the Mechanical Engineering Campus in Garbsen. The area directly to the west of the Mechanical Engineering Campus of Leibniz Universität Hannover is around four hectares in size.

Plenty of space is planned for technology-oriented companies, start-ups and other university-related uses in the immediate vicinity of the university campus. The site is intended to complement the regional technology and innovation ecosystem in a sustainable and meaningful way and further strengthen the region as a technology location overall.

The city of Garbsen is the owner of the site and had already acquired it in 2018 with financial support from the Hannover Region. At the time, the Hannover Region and the city of Garbsen had undertaken, as part of the approval notice, to jointly draw up a utilization concept and to develop and market the land by mutual agreement. To this end, a new urban development concept has been drawn up jointly in recent months. The signing of the utilization agreement today marks the next step.

Ulf-Birger Franz explains what the Hannover Region hopes to gain from the overall concept:

"With our funding for the acquisition of land, we want to ensure that high-quality space is available in the immediate vicinity of Leibniz Universität Hannover's mechanical engineering campus. This in turn should make the location attractive for technology-oriented companies, start-ups and university-related institutions. They can settle in the immediate vicinity of the mechanical engineering campus."

The city of Garbsen had already passed a resolution to draw up the development plan in June 2020. The urban development planning is being continued on the basis of the urban development concept that has now been drawn up - financed by the Hannover Region.

Garbsen's mayor Christian Grahl names a number of specific uses that are to be developed on the still unused site:

"For us, the updated urban development concept forms the essential basis for the further development of the sites. In principle, the goal is up to 50,000 square meters of office, seminar, laboratory and workshop space on five large building plots. We are also considering an additional student residence."

The next step will be for the region and city to work together with other stakeholders to market the areas.

"This project is a big step into the future for Garbsen as a science and business location," says Grahl.

There will be a constant exchange between the Hannover Region and the city of Garbsen, as well as Leibniz Universität Hannover. At the same time, urban land-use planning will continue until the end of 2022. The first construction measures could then take place from 2023.

The urban development concept was created by the architectural firm Ferdinand Heide Architekten from Frankfurt in consultation with the city and regional administration. Leibniz Universität Hannover was also involved in the development of the concept in order to create an optimal connection between the future technology location and the mechanical engineering campus.