With WKO and universities

Graz launches survey on shopping in the city center

Graz's Herrengasse is probably the best-known shopping street in Styria. However, many stores are currently empty.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

This comes as a surprise: the city of Graz and the Chamber of Commerce have been at loggerheads recently. Now they are joining forces. Together with the University of Graz and the Technical University, shopping behavior and mobility in the city center are being investigated.

The Graz City Hall coalition and the Chamber of Commerce have not really been on the same wavelength recently. Due to the many vacancies and prominent store closures in the city center, a kind of petty war has broken out in recent months between Hauptplatz and Körblergasse, which has sometimes been waged with fierce battles. For the WKO, the policies of the KPÖ, Greens and SPÖ were mainly responsible for the economic turbulence. The town hall, on the other hand, was not secretly laughing up its sleeve after the disastrous turnout in the chamber elections and the downfall of the black business association.

Now, however, they have apparently come to the realization that more can be achieved together after all. Together with the Center for Active Mobility at the University of Graz and Graz University of Technology, the study "Mobility-related shopping behaviour in Graz city centre" will be carried out. The pedestrian survey will run until April 5 and will be conducted directly in the city center, supplemented by an online survey. At the same time, the WKO is surveying city center businesses. 

The Deputy Mayor of Graz, Judith Schwentner (Greens).(Bild: Juergen Fuchs)

"My goal is a Graz city center that is attractive and lively, has a strong economic future and is easily accessible for everyone," says Deputy Mayor Judith Schwentner (Greens). "The Neutorlinie and Koralmbahn projects of the century are in the final spurt and now is a good time to actively involve the people of Graz and visitors to the city center once again."

The aim is to examine the purchasing behavior and motives of customers, the views of business owners, customer mobility and the attractiveness of public spaces. "Our aim is to understand what customers and business owners need in order to further strengthen the city center as a retail and experience space. The results of this study will help us to implement targeted measures to revitalize the city centre," explains WKO Regional Office Manager Viktor Larissegger.

Bernhard Bauer and Viktor Larissegger from WKO Graz.(Bild: Foto Fischer)

"Factors such as quality of stay, accessibility and the attractiveness of the offer generally have a major influence on how and whether people like to come to the city center and stay there," says Nina Hampel from the University of Graz. "The city is an organism that is constantly changing. For its proper development, it is necessary to investigate these changes on the basis of proven methods and facts in order to be able to better adapt the management of these changes," adds Agalée Degros from Graz University of Technology. The first results of the study should be available by summer/autumn.