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Infrastructure
Everything close at hand
Easy to reach. Heidelberg is conveniently located in the heart of Europe and in the center of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. With excellent motorway and railway connections to other parts of the country and only an hour from Stuttgart – the capital of Baden-Württemberg – and Frankfurt International Airport, it offers a huge locational advantage to businesses.
Mobile and environmentally friendly. Employees in Heidelberg and the surrounding region profit from a dense network of streetcars and buses. Around 43 million euros will be spent on public transport in the 2019/2020 double budget and will be used to support the Rhine-Neckar transport network and the expansion of the S-Bahn. On weekdays, an average of 160,000 passengers travel on buses and trams operated by the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (rnv) in the city of Heidelberg (as of 2018). A total of around 18.4 million euros is available for the ongoing maintenance of roads, paths and squares as well as traffic facilities and street lighting. In addition, construction measures for roads, the cycle path network and the upgrading of public space to the amount of 43 million euros are planned.
The bicycle is Heidelberg's number one means of transport. As part of the Rad-Offensive, an additional cycling axis will be created: from the south and southwest of Heidelberg via the Neckar river to the Neuenheimer Feld. This includes the Gneisenaubrücke (from the Bahnstadt to Bergheim), and an adjacent cycle and footpath connection across the Neckar River.
Barrier-free and sustainable. The city’s residential areas are designed to be both sustainable and family-friendly. In Heidelberg's new district Bahnstadt, for example, the world's largest passive house settlement is being built. Around 6,800 people will live here and up to 6,000 jobs will be created.
Transformation. The site formerly occupied by the US Army offers a unique opportunity for urban development – at 200 hectares it covers an area almost twice the size of Heidelberg's old town. Together with its citizens, Heidelberg is currently developing concepts for the future use of the area. In addition to creating an attractive residential quarter, the plan is also to develop the area as a business district.