In the treaty of the new coalition of the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt in the Frankfurt Römer, the concept of the region plays a major role: it is teeming with declarations of intent as to what should be developed and strived for together with the region. But what does it mean when it says, as a preamble to all regional issues: “The city of Frankfurt in the middle of the currently growing Rhine-Main metropolitan region bears a great responsibility to cope with the effects of the climate crisis, to meet the need for more affordable housing and to provide modern industrial and commercial space. Questions of social cohesion, the consequences of the climate crisis, (...) and the provision of the necessary infrastructure in an increasingly demanding technical environment must be tackled together "?

Certainly, things will be a little more specific afterwards about transport, housing, agriculture, trade - but not specific enough.

As in the entire contract, the question arises again and again of who should ultimately pay what and, above all, in which order priority is given.

Now the coalitionists could argue that this is not true, that climate protection always has priority.

But what does that mean?

As experience shows, even high-speed cycle paths are not built straight away.

Local public transport cannot be improved quickly.

Bike lanes in the city, on the other hand, are marked all the more quickly, which is also explicitly announced.

But does it all still fit in with a coherent concept?

Nice dreams for a green Frankfurt

It goes without saying that in Frankfurt a government is elected for the city. But you can't just think from the inside out, as the treaty repeatedly says, somewhat contradicting the emphasis on the importance of the region. The facts make the situation more complicated than in the Wünsch-Dir-Was of the coalition: no other metropolis in Germany commutes more employees subject to social security contributions every day. And people's willingness to commute is even increasing, because living space that you might even want to buy yourself is becoming more and more expensive, especially for families in the city. In view of various new requirements relating to construction, it is not possible to identify in the contract what should be improved in it.

That is why the migration balance of 18 to 30 year olds into the city of Frankfurt is already extremely positive, which, as you can see, has a corresponding effect on the election results and thus on politics. But everyone gets older, and maybe at some point they want to start a family. And then? The honest examination of the reasons for commuting and the realities that result from it, which in view of the unsatisfactory public transport in the long term cannot be covered by bike alone, is not the only thing that makes this coalition agreement of beautiful dreams for green Frankfurt is missing.