Together for a life-friendly, vibrant central district

Linköping's living room – the central district – is being transformed into an even cozier, more attractive and safer place. To get the job done, all relevant actors are on board: the city, property owners and business community, all working together towards a common vision. Framtidens Stadskärna (The City Center of the Future)

In the summer of 2022, the city, property owners, representatives of the business community and other actors in the central district signed a declaration of intent describing how Linköping's central district needs to be developed to meet the needs of the future.

For the central district to remain an attractive place to live, work and visit in the future, the number of people trafficking the district at all hours of the day needs to increase. This means that more businesses and residences are needed in the central parts of Linköping, and that is one of the things that the Pilot Project in Framtidens Stadskärna sets out to explore.

“Around 400 new office spaces, 80 apartments and more business premises are planned for Göran Dyks gata and Gyllentorget. There will be more activity for more hours of the day, even in the evening where this part of the city can sometimes feel unsafe”, says Magnus Liljedahl at the City of Linköping, project manager for Framtidens Stadskärna.
“The range of offers in the central district is in the middle of a change, which will be adapted to today's lifestyle. Innovation, quality and collaboration are important for a life-friendly central district that can accommodate more and more people”, says Oscar Åhman, chair of Cityfastighetsägarna.

“Since the central district will grow, there will be more shops, but also a wider range of businesses with other business models than what we are used to. For example, there may be an office that will also offer some form of sales, or a different mix of temporary pop-up shops. But also education, culture and different service points. We are seeing a clear trend where businesses generally need to be able to adapt and be agile in a way that is completely different than in the past. Conscious consumers in the central district of the future are also increasingly demanding business models that include sustainability and circularity as a hygiene factor”, says Jessica Stille Törnqvist, CEO of Citysamverkan.

Trying new things in temporarily vacant premises

When a company vacates its premises in the city, the property owners quickly receive inquiries from new parties who would like to establish operations. But it can take time to find the right tenant – one who is a good fit for the existing mix - which means that premises sometimes remain empty for a while. But how can the premises be used while waiting for the right occupant?

One of the aims of Framtidens Stadskärna project is to try out and evaluate new ideas to increase the pulse of the central district and attractiveness of the city. That's exactly what happened this summer, when Culture Pop-Up invited an eclectic mix of cultural actors to the central district. Property owners with temporarily vacant premises in the most attractive pedestrian areas let culture pop-ups use the spaces for a month – completely free of charge.

“Lead times have been very short, but when we got this idea, we felt it was too good to wait until next summer. We quickly developed the concept and invited in cultural actors through our partners, and over 50 expressed interest in a very short time. Then came the hard part, which was putting together a group that complemented each other and at the same time contributed to the pulse of the city”, says Jessica.

Visitors were able to participate in a wide range of cultural offerings – including dance, music, ceramics, painting and theatre – through exhibitions and courses.

“We know that a good variety attracts more visitors, which benefits all businesses and merchants in the central district. During the summer, we always have a lot of visitors in Linköping, and we wanted to do something to make the city even more attractive. It also provided a way for cultural actors to try out what it's like to operate in the central district, and hopefully more of them will want to establish locations here permanently in the future. They play an important role in creating the central district of the future”, says Jessica.

A good mix attracts visitors

What has become increasingly clear in recent years is that more and more people are looking for a central district that offers more than just shopping.

“Central districts in general, including Linköping, have increased competition from the outside world due to, for example, the digital transformation and online shopping. If we want to be the first choice for our customers, we need to offer something unique. It can be an experience, a service or unique products. We know that a wide range and a good mix of businesses and activities attracts more people to the central district. We want to be able to have a bite to eat and socialize in restaurants and cafes, and to enjoy cultural and leisure activities. It is important that we have a vibrant city that is able to adapt according to what the visitors are looking for”, Jessica explains.

Gunilla Frenesson runs the shop Edblad and is also chair of the City Association.

“I am really passionate about lively commerce, and we have the merchants on board. It works best when all of the businesses work together towards the same goal. The City of Linköping is an important partner in many areas, together with Citysamverkan, with over 180 members, Visit Linköping & Co, the Culture and Leisure Administration, the property owners and other businesses in the central district, we all work together to create a vibrant central district”, says Gunilla.