Could Cities in De-Industrialized Regions Become Hot Spots for Attracting Cultural Businesses? The Case of Media Industry in Halle an der Saale (Germany)

Abstract

Policy-makers from many regions where old industrial structures in the field of manufacturing have collapsed are trying to stimulate entrepreneurial activities of businesses in the cultural industry. The question is whether this strategy could be successful. This article examines the strategy of supporting the sector of media industry (“MI”) by policy-makers in the region of Halle in East Germany, where a strong de-industrialization has taken place after the German reunification. Stimulated by the policy-makers' support measures, there actually was a remarkable development of MI. However, the number of MI firms and their employees did not further increase in recent years, after having reached a certain level. This illustrates the limits of political measures for turning a city's path of industrial development voluntarily.

Acknowledgement

An earlier version of this article had been presented at the Workshop on Agglomeration and Growth, Kiel (Germany), 20–21 April 2007. The authors thank all participants for their helpful comments; our special thanks go to Gunther Maier from the Vienna University of Economics.