June 19 to 22, 2025
Why Chemnitz? As a major city, Chemnitz combines problems that can also be found in other growing metropolitan regions with issues that many medium-sized cities in federal states of the former GDR are facing. Shrinkage, strong demographic change, vacancies and the right to take up space raise questions about the right to the city. Chemnitz offers space, and this space is contested. In a city that is (still) affordable, the major event of the European Capital of Culture 2025 is intended to reactivate vacancies, change the image and make the city attractive to investors. At the same time, funding for culture and social affairs is being massively cut and places are having to close, while right-wing structures and their continuity, which in some cases goes back decades, are disappearing into the background and are barely being considered.
2025 is an important year in which the city will be in the spotlight: Chemnitz, the so-called “City of Modernity”, will become the “European Capital of Culture” (together with Nova Gorica/Gorizia) and thus receive international media attention. As the activist scene organizing the forum, we want to critically question this event: What is made visible at such major events and what is not? What do slogans and narratives hide about societal and social issues? And we want to ask what this means in practice: how can we use the festivalization of cities in such a way that the relevant social and ecological issues of the right to the city and the strengthening of solidarity structures come to the fore and ensure that it stays that way?
The right place in the right year to show that there are numerous initiatives in Chemnitz and beyond that are committed to the right to the city in all its dimensions. Through redistribution, a different way of doing business and social climate policy, we can counter the shift to the right. And this is not possible without participation in society for everyone, including those on a budget and those affected by racist discrimination. We can only achieve this together. So, get involved!
What can I contribute?
The forum lives from your contributions, topics and struggles. Workshops, but also plenums, films, demos, performances, city walks and other actions and events can be organized. You determine the topics of the forum with your local struggles in your regions and cities, nationwide; they are as broad as the right to the city: urban policy, housing supply, migration, ecological issues, access to regional and healthy food, culture, queer feminism, mobility. But it’s also about rural areas, open spaces, vacancies, conversion and demolition.
Bonus program: the Chemnitz strand
During the forum, a program strand will deal explicitly with Chemnitz. Together with you, we will take a look at the city, current and upcoming struggles, the major European Capital of Culture project and look for ways to strengthen local structures. Here, too, we welcome submissions for contributions of all kinds.
As a rule, a contribution lasts 2 to 2.5 hours.
Call for contributions of any kind
Please submit your proposals (max. 300 words, title & topic, schedule, organizers, material and space requirements) for workshops and events by 28.02.2025 to info@rechtaufstadt-forum.de . We want to make all formats at the forum as practice-oriented and interactive as possible. We ask you to take this into account when making your suggestions. You can offer a workshop with several groups from different cities or report on individual fights: We are happy to be surprised in the program working group and will adapt your suggestions to our framework (time, space) together with you!
We also need your help financially! We are also happy to receive a donation in advance. Bank transfer to:
Recipient: Bordsteinlobby e.V.
Bank: Triodes Bank N.V. Germany
IBAN: DE41 5003 1000 1063 5670 07
See you soon!
The preparatory group of the Right to the City Forum 2025 Chemnitz
