Municipal investment and large investment backlogs are well-known indicators of the financing and implementation constraints faced by German cities, municipalities and districts. The federal government's €500 billion infrastructure package is intended to provide some support in this area, too. However, the municipal infrastructure of the future will differ greatly from that of the past. In particular, it will be important to transform long-lived capital stock towards climate neutrality and avoid carbon lock-ins. The associated public finance and local political challenges were examined in a research project funded by the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe's Stiftung für die Wissenschaft – see the new FiFo Report No. 37.