Future of the Millennium Field: Citizens fight for a green district park!

Future of the Millennium Field: Citizens fight for a green district park!

In January 2025, the city council decided to draw up a development plan for the Millennium Field in Lindenau. This approximately 2.5 hectare undeveloped area on the Karl Heine Canal is an important green area for the city of Leipzig that should be protected from complete development. The aim of the plan is to partially use it as a district park, but the citizens' initiative “Save the Millennium Field!” calls for a comprehensive conversion of the entire area into a district park in order to secure the valuable green space in the long term and maintain the quality of life in the area.

A key problem with the plans is the contaminated area that is part of the Millennium Field. This was previously used as a paint shop location and is therefore heavily polluted. The citizens' initiative and the environmental association Ökolöwe have already initiated a petition and organized protests to draw attention to the inadequate renovation measures. Critics describe the current situation as a “rotten deal” because the contaminated sites on the site are only covered with a film, which makes it impossible for trees to grow.

Planned development and its consequences

In addition, Stadtbau AG is planning to build a six-story school building for the Leipzig International School (LIS) on the Millennium Field, which is designed for over 2,000 students. In comparison, the largest school in Leipzig, the “Schule am Palmengarten”, currently has around 1,120 students and the “Schule Gießerstraße” almost 500. This significant increase in students and the associated traffic problems is causing concern among residents.

The planned use of the area could lead to a drastic increase in traffic volume. There is already a high level of noise pollution on Karl-Heine-Straße, which is likely to increase further as a result of additional school use. Citizens also fear that the development will lead to gentrification and rising rental prices, which will endanger local community offerings.

Demands of the citizens' initiative

The citizens' initiative is calling on the city administration to acquire land that can be unsealed instead of investing further in problematic construction projects. In their eyes, the development plans contradict the current land use plan, which designates the Millennium Field as an area for public use. They are pushing for the creation of a qualified development plan that ensures the preservation of the Millennium Field as a green space.

In addition, the initiative appeals to Stadtbau AG and LIS to consider alternative locations for the school project. They warn that in times of climate change the city urgently needs more green spaces, for example to improve air quality and counteract the effects of summer heat. The city's climate analysis classifies the Millennium Field as an area "particularly worthy of protection", which further supports the demands of the citizens' initiative.

Groundbreaking decisions can be expected in the future for the millennium field. Further development will be crucial for the preservation of green spaces and the quality of life of residents in the west of Leipzig.

For further information on developments surrounding the millennium field, you can read the reporting on L-IZ and up Millenniumfield.noblogs.org track.