City for All

S.O.U.P. - these letters, together with the slogan "Shaping Our Urban Phuture", cover a large area of the façade of the former Kaufhof Sportarena on the Hauptwache in Frankfurt am Main. In 2017, the department stores' chain moved out of the building, which has since been managed by SIGNA Real Estate Germany. The latter is currently using the centrally located space to support cultural formats: From 9 to 11 September 2021, the 4,400 square metres will therefore be dedicated to the theme "City of the Future". Nico Ubenauf and James Ardinast have devised the festival format and would like to use the platform to facilitate a discourse across society. Together with citizens and experts from science, politics, culture, society, design and architecture, the aim is to promote interdisciplinary awareness of the city of the future and to discuss new ideas for sustainable urban development. The programme includes a variety of debates and lectures with over 30 speakers such as Raphael Gielgen, Future of Work Trendscout at Vitra, Florian Reiff, Head of Germany Tishman Speyer or Liam Young, architect and director. Online live streams will complement the programme on site. "S.O.U.P. is much more than just the next conference on urban development. We want questions about the future to reach the people living in cities. That is why we put a lot of effort into strong content and clear visibility," says Nico Ubenauf. (am)

The event will thus offer a kaleidoscope of interactive offerings that will also benefit the city of Frankfurt am Main itself: "With the new event format S.O.U.P, we are showing another facet of Frankfurt am Main that we can very much look forward to: Convention, Festival, Workshop, Discussion Forum, Performance, Art Installation.", says City Councillor Markus Frank, Head of the Economic Department of the City of Frankfurt. The focus is on linking the various disciplines for a joint discourse: "The question of how we want to shape liveable cities in the future encompasses almost all areas of public and private life. Platforms like S.O.U.P make an important contribution to this by bringing experts from a wide range of disciplines together with the broad urban society. Public spaces as places of debate culture and cultural venues such as theatres, museums or clubs must also be preserved in inner cities and protected from displacement. The city of the future is a common challenge that requires creativity, courage, solidarity and consideration," says Frankfurt City Councillor Dr. Ina Hartwig. S.O.U.P is intended to be the prelude to an annual event that offers an inclusive space in which current issues concerning the future of urban development can be discussed together with citizens. (am)

S.O.U.P. - Shaping Our Urban Phuture
9 to 11 September 2021
Sportarena, Hauptwache 1, Frankfurt

Thursday: 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Friday: 9:15 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9:30 a.m. - 6:15 p.m.