Is that in line with the city of Frankfurt's new location concept for data centers - or regardless?
This question arises after it was announced on Friday that several data centers are to be built in Industriepark Höchst.
At least those who had hoped that fewer or no new data centers would be built in Frankfurt because city planning only allocates them a few commercial areas could be disappointed.
Because within just four weeks, two new major projects for the construction of data centers in Frankfurt were announced.
Both are outside of the clusters that the city grants the industry and in locations that the concept expressly identifies as merely “restricted suitability areas”.
One project is the announced data center in the Schwanheim part of the Höchst industrial park, which is to be built on an area that was previously kept free for companies in the chemical industry.
The other is data centers on the site of the former Griesheim industrial park, which is to be turned into an innovative business park.
The location of the data centers here is justified by the need for district heating.
But it certainly also plays a role in the financing of the major project, because the investors behind the data centers are willing to pay.
In the case of the Höchst project, on the other hand, it is said that there is no longer any chemical company willing to settle on the previous reserve area, and it is emphasized that the waste heat produced should be used.
The urban planners negotiated both projects, while the public argued about the cluster concept and the suitability of the industrial parks as locations.
The planning department argues that people have already acted in line with the concept.
At the same time, it shows that there is nothing wrong with the criticism that the city is crowding out the industry and giving it too little space to continue growing.
It's just a matter of directing development.
That is the task of urban planning anyway.
She would have liked to have been able to start a little earlier to avoid the impression that the industry was no longer wanted in the city.