First priority: establish support and build belief
The first concern was to raise support for this project in the circumstances of Saarbrücken. Support is essential for the project, especially in a city with a long history and a lively discussion of urban regeneration projects. Among other project, of course the possibilty of a high way tunnel had been discussed in the past. However, for several reasons (utopist plannings, lack of support from the public or political parties, not beeing put on the political agenda), those visions had never come anything close to more detailed planning or even realization.

However, there have been regular proposals in the past, almost one a decade. In the nineties, the attitude among politicians was one of disillusionment with talking and dreaming. Ambitious plans were dismissed as unrealistic dreaming. So when the first idea for the City on the River was put forward in 2002, grumbling was the anticipated response. The strategy was to raise support for the project in a very informal setting (drawings on the back of beer mats, meetings in the pub with politicians). Using this informal agenda, the project gradually gained public support and all of a sudden the sceptical politicians were confronted with a movement, forcing them to discuss the project. An informal agenda was established, involving discussions with leading professionals from a range of involved organisations and governments authorities, as well as with key persons, 'multiplicators' such as leading architects, former mayors etc. from outside these organisations who were residents of the city. They were involved as co-makers of the project: they contributed, and by doing so, the project gained ownership of the project.

From informal to formal agenda
However, from the beginning, the strategy was not to keep relations informal for too long, or to stay too long in the informal stage. Other smaller refurbishing projects have missed the train of political decision-making. At some point, a more formal structure needed to be introduced gradually to get things actually done.
A Board of Supporters was also formed with high-ranking prominent members of the public in order to express and underline the importance of the project. Among them the president of the motor club, who sees and promotes this project as a win-win situation for motorists and residents, an important step in terms of support.
Critical success factors to achieve this support have been:
• total professional support, early (and informal) involvement of the professionals
• leading individuals in administrations of ministries were involved
• political parties were involved, before putting it on the adninistration’s agenda
• there has been informal contacts with the press to inform them and ‘warm them up’ before formally presenting the project.
In 2005, this process led to 100% consensus among all involved parties in the city, and a growing support for the project with the government of the Saarland.

2005, decisive year
The year 2005 will be the decisive year for the project. The latest calculations show that in total, a sum of € 180m is needed to complete the project. The project will need to raise this money from regional private investors and national / international institutional investors. Of course, financial support by the Land, the Federal Transportation Department, but most of all, from by the EU is necessary. The political officials will start negotiations with Brussels and Berlin in 2005. It is a counter cyclical investment, a pre-investment for the long run. It is very hard to cover these costs with benefits from new development.
However, there is a demand for urban, medium – high quality housing in the inner city. New housing should be created not through new construction work but by transforming existing buildings. For instance, the Ministry of Finance is due to leave its large office building alongside the river, and this is a major opportunity allowing for the transformation of the building for housing purposes. In addition, most of the Berliner Promenade is standing empty. It will be transformed from office spaces to apartments on the river. The only problem with transforming offices into housing is that it is a costly operation without major returns.

There has not been an actual survey for niches in the housing market or for target groups, but there have been many discussions with real-estate specialists, universities and employers about the kind of housing needed. These discussions established that there was demand for high-quality housing in the inner city. Well-educated employees are moving to the outskirts because there is no suitable housing for them at present. Formal surveys and research in cooperation with the Berliner Promenade landlords will be conducted as soon as the project has a chance of being implemented.

Düsseldorf is seen as a very important example for the City on the River project. Their project consisted only of building a tunnel for the motorway through the city centre. They too got their project financed in the end by putting forward their strong concept in a strategic way.
One strategy under consideration at present is to involve the French partners from the region (Metz), to get their support, and also to put their projects into a joint bid for the EU.
Another strategy that could be considered is the capitalisation of the rise in neighbouring property values as a result of the project. Instead of direct resale, benefits can accrue from, for instance, the increase in tax values. Indeed, Saarbrücken has done this in the past. The St. Johanner Markt (old town square) was an urban regeneration area. Revitalisation ended 5 years ago, and the area was designated as a 'Sanierungsgebiet' (Redevelopment Area). Over the next 30 years, owners have to pay a certain amount of money for the increase in value calculated in advance.
The community social housing corporation has no housing stock in the project area, so there will be no opportunities chances to ask them for a contribution / financial payback.

Otherwise, studies will be conducted of other sources of private involvement (such as citizen sponsorship for new trees on the new Berliner Promenade).
All the land in the project area - including the Berliner Promenade and the motorway - belongs to the City. This is a major advantage and saves costs. The buildings on the Berliner Promenade are the only ones located on private ground (10-15 owners).