The image of the city received a huge boost in 1996 with the opening of the CentrO shopping mall in the Oberhausen ‘Neue Mitte’. The former cradle of industry in the Ruhr district (the St. Antony works in 1758) now became the most popular shopping and leisure town in the Ruhr district. Now Oberhausen is generally recognized as the prime example of structural transformation. As is the case in many cities of the Ruhr district, successful investments are being made here for the future. Where the past was characterised by a great industrial tradition, today Oberhausen directs its energies towards becoming a successful family and generation-oriented city.

Every year 23 million visitors pour into Europe's largest shopping and leisure centre. They not only come to buy things, but also to take advantage of Oberhausen's huge range of cultural and leisure venues and events, like exhibitions in the Gasometer, megastars in the König-Pilsener Arena, the Oberhausen Theatre, the Metronom Musical Theatre, the Oberhausen SeaLife Centre, the Oberhausen model railway world, the cabaret and comedy theatre Ebertbad, cinemas, industrial and art museums, the climbing garden tree2tree, the CentrO leisure park and the large number of restaurants, cafes and bars. Add to this the huge amount of recreation facilities like the wellness bath in the Vonderort Revierpark, golf on the Jakobi public links, cycling or walking in Kaisergarten – Oberhausen offers something for everyone.

There is no question that Oberhausen, the city where outsiders prefer to spend their leisure time, is a good place to live and work. In the last few years more than 20,000 new housing units have been built and more are being prepared. It makes no difference whether you choose to live in the middle of town or in a leafy area on the outskirts, for you will never be far from the action: a close-knit public transport network links all the different areas of the town, at times even once every 90 seconds. A broad spread of playgrounds, kindergartens and all types of schools ensure a family-friendly infrastructure.

To enable family and career to be co-ordinated effectively with one another the Oberhausen public authorities has been heavily involved in the provision of good, comprehensive childcare for many years now. Full-day care for pre-school children and numerous extra-curricular options in the schools have high priority in Oberhausen.

As a city at the heart of the Ruhr district, Oberhausen offers the ideal prerequisites for economic growth: industrial parks of differing character, universities in Essen, Duisburg, Dortmund and Bochum and first class transport links and infrastructure.
Oberhausen offers interesting sites for every sector and requirement. Office space is available in both modern new buildings and historic structures of the industrial age.

For example, centrally located in the Neue Mitte Oberhausen, ideally placed between the A42 autobahn and the city centre are the TZU technology centre, the nearby UMSICHT Fraunhofer institute, the Office Center and Business Park Neue Mitte Oberhausen as well as Marina Oberhausen are just a few of the sites offering ideal conditions for innovative small and medium sized companies. The OLGA Park is an interesting address for the self-employed, service companies and trades – offering favourable transport links to the 2 km-distant autobahn and the CentrO shopping and leisure centre. The enterprise zones ‘Grüner Gewerbepark im Erlengrund’, ‘Gewerbepark Am Kaisergarten’ and ‘Gewerbegebiet Waldteich’ offer unusual sites in attractive surroundings with a first class address.

Oberhausen is the headquarters of many companies known far and wide beyond the local borders. They document the economic capabilities of the city and embody concepts like technology, dynamics, growth, research and development: MAN TURBO, GHH Radsatz, b+w Electronic Systems, GHH-Rand, Babcock Borsig Service, ECOSOIL, ThyssenKrupp Anlagenservice, Yara Industrial, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (UMSICHT), Kempchen Dichtungstechnik, S&B Industrial Minerals, PURMETALL, Lenord Bauer & Co., Nanofocus, Air Liquide, Liebherr etc. A large number of highly efficient smaller and medium-sized businesses round off the spectrum of Oberhausen as a dynamic business location. Oberhausen has detached itself from the regional trend with regard to its economic development, and is now showing signs of above-average growth. This is particularly true for the number of employees subject to social security contributions, and also in respect to the gross domestic product produced by each working person.

Triggered off by immense structural improvements and the concomitant creation of the tertiary sector, the market for office space in Oberhausen is showing signs of enormous growth. Alongside Essen, Dortmund and Bochum, Oberhausen is also one of the favourite places for office locations in the Ruhr district. At first, single buildings were contracted for third-party usage in classical trading estate areas, but now this process is basically concentrated in the area of the Neue Mitte Oberhausen and around the CentrO shopping mall.