Analyses within the framework of project phases I to III of the Gewerbliches Flächenmanagement Ruhr have shown that around half of all commercial and industrial land potential is subject to usage restrictions and is therefore not available to the market. In the GFM IV project, the focus was particularly on supporting municipalities in dismantling usage restrictions and developing and testing instruments for mobilising commercial-industrial areas with usage restrictions. As a continuation of the previous work, the project Ruhr Industrial Land Management aims at the development and testing of instruments for the mobilisation of commercial and industrial land with usage restrictions. Phase V aims to mobilise additional space potential in existing commercial and industrial areas for marketing together with the municipalities and districts of the region and thus make a decisive contribution to avoiding the shortage of available commercial space in the Metropole Ruhr.

Commercial and industrial areas are of great importance for the creation and safeguarding of jobs in the cities and districts and thus for the economic development of the Metropole Ruhr. However, marketable areas are hardly available in many municipalities in the region.

The GFM V project is intended to support municipalities in their efforts to mobilise land within the framework of a practice-oriented, structured dialogue. The following innovative measures are on the project agenda:

• Underused, misused and upgraded commercial and industrial estates in the portfolio: redensification and adaptation to current requirements with the aim of mobilising and sustainably optimising commercial and industrial estates in the course of an innovative, regional strategy to safeguard the portfolio.

• Digital recording of commercial space enquiries and development and implementation of a demand-oriented system for trade and industry

• Mobilisation of future potential areas for short-term marketing to be secured by planning in the Ruhr Regional Plan

• Regional cooperation locations: Regional concept for different use and development (intelligent specialisation) and marketing offensive

Under the leadership of the BMR, cities, districts and regional players in the Metropole Ruhr are working on the implementation of the project over a period of three years. The Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR) as the responsible body for regional planning and development is a formal partner of the project.