Shrinkage, Metropolization and Peripheralization in East Germany

Abstract

Since around 2000, there has been extensive research on questions regarding shrinkage and urban renewal in Germany after a task force report revealed approximately 1.4 million vacant flats in East Germany. Since then, most towns and cities have been labelled “shrinking cities” there. While from a planning perspective urban decline and also shrinking cities are widely studied phenomena throughout the industrialized world and a substantial literature exists on the phenomenon in Germany, the impact of political debates and normative considerations is under-researched. This paper highlights the role of political–normative ideas of metropolization and societal relations within this complex core–periphery process, elaborating on the concept of peripheralization and calling for further research.