Around 40 participants of the Dortmund Conference on Spatial and Planning Research (DOKORP) of the Faculty of Spatial Planning at the Technical University of Dortmund visited the future location PHOENIX West and the Centre for Production Technology Dortmund (ZfP) located there as part of an excursion.

Group photo in front of the blast furnace of the former PHOENIX steelworks: DOKORP participants visited the future location PHOENIX West. Photo: TZDO / Roland Kentrup

PHOENIX Technology Park as an important centre of innovation

Dirk Stürmer, Managing Director of the TechnologieZentrumDortmund (TZDO), explained the historical and current development of the PHOENIX West site to the visitors at the ZfP and then took the group on a tour of the site. Here, the disused blast furnace of the former Phoenix steelworks still bears witness to the former metal industry site, which is now one of Dortmund's most important innovation centres as the PHOENIX Technology Park.

Two TZDO competence centres at PHOENIX West

Centre Director Dr Christoph Gehlen introduced the group to the TZDO's two competence centres in the PHOENIX Technology Park: the Dortmund Centre for Production Technology and the MST Factory Dortmund.

On 10 February 2025, the Ruhr Regional Association (RVR) co-organised a half-day excursion to highlights in Dortmund as part of the DOKORP. Before the PHOENIX technology park, the group visited the IGA site of the Hansa coking plant, which is an industrial-cultural highlight that symbolises successful structural change.

Dortmund Conference on Spatial and Planning Research

The Dortmund Conference on Spatial and Planning Research (DOKORP) will be held from 10 to 12 February 2025 by the Faculty of Spatial Planning at TU Dortmund University together with the Academy for Spatial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL), the Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research (ILS) and Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR). Further information on DOKORP can be found here.