Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/107312 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5200
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This paper questions the widely applied parallelism of demographic and economic development in characterizing urban shrinkage in Germany, and argues that the usage of population change as a single indicator leads to incorrect policy recommendations for combating urban shrinkage. As the cases of several Ruhr cities (Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund) and East German cities (Erfurt, Rostock and Magdeburg) prove, urban economic growth can also be achieved thanks to the substantial presence of modern industries and business services, and despite declines in population size. The serious shrinkage of Halle, Cottbus and Schwerin is primarily due to failures in the post-industrial transformation process. Recent policy measures strongly oriented towards slowing the downsizing process of population (via urban regeneration measures to hinder suburbanisation and low core urban density) do not address this major problem effectively. More active industrial policy measures are required in these East German shrinking cities to create a competitive manufacturing sector (endowed with new high-tech firms) and to boost its growth interdependence with modern local services.
Subjects: 
urban shrinkage
East Germany
post-industrial transformation
parallelism of demographic and economic development
smart growth
modern industries and services
JEL: 
P25
O14
O38
R11
H76
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.