City administration conducts survey Where Bonners do not feel safe even during the day
Bonn · For three weeks, Bonn residents were asked to give their suggestions on the topics of order, safety and cleanliness. The city's survey shows that there is a need to take action, especially in the heart of Bonn.
The pedestrian underpass from Kaiserplatz to Poppelsdorfer Allee is a place which causes anxiety for Bonn's residents more than all others. In terms of safety and cleanliness, there is no other topic that seems to concern Bonn residents as much, at least in view of the results of a residents' survey that has now come to a conclusion.
For three weeks, residents were asked to submit suggestions as to what the city should pay particular attention to when coming up with a concept for safety, order and cleanliness in Bonn. The comments from the surveys were sorted by the corresponding city district - the Bonn city district accounted for around 80 percent (118 contributions and 121 comments) of all the suggestions submitted.
Of these, some deal with problem areas in the Tannenbusch district, but most revolve around nightlife in the city center. Many complain about littering, especially around Bonn Central Station, but an even larger number feel unsafe or disturbed by noise in various places at night.
The comments posted online quickly make it clear: No other space is as much the subject of criticism as the walkway from Kaiserplatz to Poppelsdorfer Allee. The underpass in particular has developed into a space where people are fearful.
A queasy feeling even in broad daylight
"As a woman, I feel very unsafe and often threatened even in broad daylight in the city center, especially in the Kreuzkirche/Kaiserplatz area and at the pedestrian underpass to Poppelsdorfer Allee," comments one person. Numerous residents complain that the underpass is now characterized by littering, public drug use and homelessness and they cannot understand why the city administration does not intervene and provide for a better environment: "Is it clear to the city leadership that this dreadful narrow underpass should actually be a nice entryway for international visitors going in the direction of Poppelsdorf campus, the Botanical Gardens, etc.?" asks one participant in the online survey.
Another says that as a resident of Bonn, one can only feel shame for that place. But it’s not only the conditions in the underpass which are a source of concern for residents, it’s also the nightlife on Poppelsdorfer Allee: Many suffer from the fact that the street has developed into a nightlife hotspot. Some report that it has become a "party mile with binge drinking on the weekends.
Loud music into the night hours
Using portable music speakers and other devices on which music can be played loudly, the people hanging out here at night cause some residents to have sleepless nights. Those affected cannot understand why neither the public order office nor the police patrol the area at night.
In general, the comments call for a stronger police presence at night. Poppelsdorfer Allee is not the only area where people party loudly after midnight: Residents of the Altstadt also feel their nightly sleep is disturbed: "Music is playing here until the early hours of the morning and lots of trash is left behind," writes one person.
It’s now up to the city administration
The city would like to use all the suggestions collected as a basis for developing measures for more safety and cleanliness in Bonn. This is to be done in workshops before the summer break. The aim is to plan and implement prevention and intervention measures tailored to the various locations in all city districts.
Orig. text: Sebastian Flick; Translation: ck
