The German University Sports Federation (ADH) announced in August 2018 that it intended to submit a bid to FISU for a future edition of the Summer Universiade.

In mid-April 2019, an ADH delegation visited FISU headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, which was pleased with the German intention to host the Summer Universiade, and it was agreed to immediately maintain a close and continuous talks issues related to the executive project and the rules for the bid.

[7][8] Reception to the project grew exponentially and positively to the point that the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany), Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, German Olympic Sports Confederation also almost immediately approved the proposal and started talking to the cities of Bochum, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, and Mülheim an der Ruhr so that a joint bid for the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region could be made, given their ease and proximity.

[18][19] [20][21][22] It was also expected that Budapest, the Hungarian capital that had applied to host the 2019 Summer Universiade, would make a proposal to FISU, but the lack of accommodation and some conditions forced the city to withdraw.

The competition venues are spread over five cities in the North Rhine-Westphalia state (Bochum, Duisburg, Essen, Hagen and Mülheim) and the German capital Berlin.