International Changes and the Single European Market: Impacts on the Spatial Structure of Germany

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship and connections between international changes, the Single European Market and urban and regional developments in Germany . In the first part of the paper, the ongoing changes in the global political and economic system are described in broader terms, focusing on shifts in Europe. The assumptions of the Cecchini report, a discussion of its neoclassical orientation and critical comments on the likely outcomes of SEM are the subject of the second part of the paper . In the third section we present an overview of recent urban and regional developments in Germany including the effects of unification. The impacts of the SEM on the spatial structure of Germany are discussed in the fourth part of the paper . In the final section, a summarising view is offered and the question is raised of how planning and intervention opportunities are changing at the urban and regional level .

Ranking functional urban regions: A comparison of interaction and node attribute data

“…Nevertheless, we find that the positions of metropolitan areas in Germany tend to be underestimated by node attributes. One underlying reason appears to be the well-balanced system of medium-sized and large metropolitan areas with markedly specialised economic functions (Bremm and Ache, 1993). Since the interaction between metropolitan areas is primarily structured by their functional differentiations, the specialisations of the German metropolitan areas may lead to intense exchanges between them (Janelle, 1969).…”

Cities in Old Industrial Regions Between Local Innovative Milieu and Urban Governance—Reflections on City Region Governance

“…An old industrial region like the German Ruhrgebiet is often considered as a loser in terms of global competition, at least according to the repeated lesson of the debate on the south-north divide (cf. Bremm & Ache, 1993). Regarding the public image of the Ruhrgebiet this prejudice is still alive and discrediting despite PR initiatives like Der Pott kocht (the pot boils for English native speakers, nothing exciting, but in the German language a reference to the label Ruhrpott, a reminiscence of the boiling of steel and the amalgamation with immigrant populations, too, see Figure 2).…”