The aim of the feasibility study is to derive a recommendation for a suitable legal form for future intensified intermunicipal cooperation between the cities, municipalities, and districts in the Dresden region, in accordance with the underlying application within the framework of the Regional Development Funding Guideline (FR-Regio) and based on the discussion that has been ongoing since 2024 and the basic objectives expressed to date (working title: “Dresden Region Municipal Association”).

After a brief presentation of developments to date, this feasibility study explains the main factors influencing the decision on the legal form. In addition to an explanation of possible public and private legal forms, three examples of other city-surrounding area cooperation initiatives around Bremen, Berlin, and Munich are also presented. Finally, a concluding proposal is made for a suitable legal form for the organization of intermunicipal cooperation between cities and municipalities within the framework of a new “Dresden Region Municipal Association.”

Based on the criteria identified, the registered ideal association (e. V.) is recommended from the catalog of public and private law cooperation instruments as the preferred option to be pursued for formalized cooperation within the framework of a “Kommunalverbund Region Dresden e. V.” (Dresden Region Municipal Association) to be founded.

The municipal association's activities tend to focus on providing conceptual services for intermunicipal cooperation on behalf of its members by pooling, moderating, and communicating the municipalities' common goals and interests, with a particular focus on the interests and requirements of the cities and municipalities in the association. A genuine transfer of tasks, as well as entrepreneurial and commercial activities with the aim of generating sustainable income through the “Kommunalverbund Region Dresden” (Dresden Region Municipal Association), is not currently intended.

An association offers all members equal cooperation through its association structure. Membership in an association is voluntary and not binding for municipal self-determination. In principle, a large number of members can be integrated into the work of an association without impairing the basic working capacity of the association. 

This makes it possible to achieve the goal of broad membership among the cities and municipalities in the Dresden region while at the same time creating a resilient institutional structure. A possible geographical scope, which is closely related to the potential number of members of a “Dresden Region Municipal Association,” can be made dependent on a variety of different criteria. In addition to the more hard factors (distance, accessibility, natural environment, etc.), softer factors such as a sense of belonging or political aspirations also play an important role in the decision to become a member. For this reason, it is recommended not to draw a hard line for a municipality's affiliation to the Dresden region, but to be open to cities and municipalities that may not immediately qualify for membership at first glance.

In addition, examples from Bremen/Lower Saxony, Berlin/Brandenburg, and the extensive results from the Munich-North region show that urban-rural cooperation can be effectively organized through the legal form of an association, as long as no sovereign tasks are to be transferred and no economic or entrepreneurial business operations are intended.

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