Coping with Peripheralization: Governance Response in Two German Small Cities

Abstract

Urban governance processes and strategies in small cities in times of an integrated global economy have received little attention in urban research. However, in Germany as elsewhere they form the backbone of the urban system. On the basis of research in two small German cities—Pirmasens and Völklingen—this paper discusses local governance approaches in reaction to peripheralization. Peripheralization here is defined as a process of out-migration, dis-connection, dependency and stigmatization. The two case studies show quite different patterns of political governance. Pirmasens demonstrates a collective local project on how to deal with structural change, while Völklingen shows a more fragmented approach to overcoming peripheralization. These different political reactions are analysed and related to aspects of specific local settings. It is to be hoped that in future cohesion policy at the European level, but also on the respective national levels, more active policies will be targeted towards nurturing place-based opportunities for small cities.

Notes

1. Research in the “City Careers in Peripheralised Areas” (“Stadtkarrieren in peripherisierten Räumen”) was carried out in co-operation of the two research institutes IRS (Leibniz-Institut für Regionalentwicklung und Strukturplanung), Erkner bei Berlin, and ILS (Institut für Landes- und Stadtentwicklungsforschung), Dortmund, January 2009 to December 2011. Main project results are documented (in German) in: Bernt & Liebmann, 2013. The case studies Pirmasens and Völklingen were carried out by the authors of this paper. Research was financed by the research institutes from their own resources.