Europe's largest steel location, the world's largest inland port, an internationally important logistics center, and the starting and end point of the new Silk Road. In addition, the city of half a million people relies on technology and service companies. A major plus is the ideal location on the Rhine and Ruhr as a connecting element between the polycentric Ruhr metropolis, the Rhineland and the Lower Rhine. The infrastructure is excellent in terms of connections to highways, airports and rail networks. In addition, there is an enormous potential for skilled workers due to the high population density in the Metropole Ruhr.
as a hotspot for hydrogen economy and key for sustainable industrial production in the whole region. The development towards an economical use of hydrogen will be an important part of a CO2 emission-free economy and energy technology in the future. Duisburg as an important industrial and logistics location offers broad fields of application for hydrogen, not only for green steel, and at the same time opportunities for large-scale production and by-product use. In the association "Hy.Region.Rhein.Ruhr e.V."whose office is located at Duisburg Business & Innovation (DBI), the various initiatives are bundled.
As a smart city, the city is developing a holistic approach to increasing quality of life, economic activity and sustainability. These are the seven fields of action: Broadband & 5G, e-government, economy, mobility, housing, infrastructure and education.
Thus, the completely new Wedau-Nord district with the Technology Campus of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Duisburg-Essen will become a future incubator for aspiring founders from the high-tech sector with supraregional steel power. Together with municipal partners - the City of Duisburg, Wirtschaftsbetriebe Duisburg, Duisburger Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft, Sparkasse Duisburg and GEBAG Duisburger Baugesellschaft - as well as sponsoring partner Volksbank Rhein Ruhr, DBI organizes the Ruhr region's largest start-up challenge "garage DU".
This is because attractive investment properties are still available here - and they are concrete and profitable across all asset classes. Logistics and office properties are strongly represented in the Duisburg real estate market, which is continuing its upward trend: The top rent for offices rises to 17.50 euros/sqm, the logistics top rent climbs by 10% to 5.70 euros/sqm - with a high real estate investment totaling 418 million euros. As in most German cities, the corona-induced economic situation has not had any negative impact on the Duisburg real estate market for more than two years so far. At leading trade fairs such as the Mipim in Cannes in the spring and the Expo Real in Munich in the fall, Duisburg courts investors and settlers.
In total, the city, as owner in the form of Gebag, will develop over 120 hectares of brownfield sites into modern, because sustainable, construction areas: Wedau-Nord, 6-Seen-Wedau and Duisburger Dünen. The potential of the new districts and neighborhoods that are currently being created in the middle of Germany's TOP 15 cities, at the hub of the Ruhr metropolis on the Rhine, is exceptionally large: for example, directly on the Rhine in the new RheinOrt district with over 3,000 urban apartments in a waterfront location, or in the immediate vicinity, in the "melting pot" Hochfeld - where the exciting flagship project "Urban Future Ruhr" together with the Initiativkreis Ruhr will improve living conditions as a blueprint for the entire Ruhr region and beyond. The RheinPark is already largely complete and will be linked to the entire Ruhr region via greenways by the International Garden Exhibition IGA 2027.
Where else can you find such extraordinary neighborhoods, so many exciting large-scale projects, so much substance to build on? In all of North Rhine-Westphalia, there are currently no cities with such dynamism on the real estate market. Duisburg, on the other hand, is demonstrating innovative strength for forward-looking projects! In Ruhrort, for example, the world's first environmentally neutral, grandchild-friendly district is to be built by 2029 - mega-projects in urban development that will generate further demand in the higher-quality housing market over the next decade. Here you will find an update on all projects.
such as Aurelis Real Estate, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, Grillo Werke AG, Helios Rhein-Ruhr Kliniken GmbH, Klöckner & Co. GmbH, König-Brauerei GmbH & Co. KG, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe GmbH, Xella International GmbH or Thyssen Krupp Stahl AG and Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH. Furthermore, well-known companies have branches in Duisburg, such as Deutsche Bahn AG, Deutsche Post AG, Kühne & Nagel AG, Siemens AG Energy Sector, Targobank AG and Plug Power Germany GmbH.
The team at Duisburg Business & Innovation GmbH, the progressive economic developer, offers a wealth of free services to both large players and small and medium-sized enterprises. These are aimed at companies that are already located in Duisburg as well as businesses that want to relocate here or establish an existence in Duisburg as a start-up.
In the words of British star architect and master planner Sir Norman Foster, "Duisburg is where it's really happening."