A Regional Study of the New Ruhr...Metropolis Ruhr. A Regional Study of the New Ruhr [edited by Regionalverband Ruhr] Translated by Hans-Werner Wehling First edition 2013 Essen: Regionalverband

Regionalverband Ruhr

Metropolis Ruhr A Regional Study of the

New Ruhr

UmschlagEngl Layout_Geschäftsordnung_Bezahlung 12.11.13 16:12 Seite 1

Andreas Keil and Burkhard Wetterau

Metropolis Ruhr A Regional Study of theNew Ruhr

I M P R E S S UM

Editor:

Regionalverband Ruhr

Department for Strategic Development

and Communication

Authors:

Andreas Keil

Burkhard Wetterau

Translation:

Hans-Werner Wehling

Printing:

Woeste Druck + Verlag, Essen

Closing Date: 2012

Frontcover:

Development of the City of Essen

(Map sections 1840, 1930, 1970 and 2010)

Die Deutsche Bibliothek –

CIP-Einheitsaufnahme

Andreas Keil und Burkhard Wetterau:

Metropolis Ruhr. A Regional Study of the

New Ruhr

[edited by Regionalverband Ruhr]

Translated by Hans-Werner Wehling

First edition 2013

Essen: Regionalverband Ruhr, 2013

ISBN: 978-3-939234-05-0

First edition © 2013 Regionalverband Ruhr

Kronprinzenstr. 35, 45128 Essen, Germany

Fon: 0049 201 2069-0

Fax: 0049 201 2069-500

E-Mail: [email protected]

Internet: www.metropoleruhr.de and

www.ruhrgebiet-regionalkunde.de

TA B L E O F CO NTE NTSSeite

I NTRO D U C TI O N 2

TA B L E O F CO NTE NTS 3

1 TH E R U H R – STA RTI N G P O I NTS 4

1.1 The natural landscapes 4

1.2 Adaptation to the physical conditions 6

1.3 The historical development of settlement 10

1.4 The development of coal mining (up to the 1960s) 12

1.5 The development of the iron and steel industries (up to the 1970s) 15

2 TH E R U H R /M E TRO P O L I S R U H R – S O C I O -S PATI A L A N D U R BA N D EV E LO PM E NTS 17

2.1 Development of the administrative boundaries 17

2.2 Development of the settlements 20

2.3 Population development 25

2.4 Urban development/Urban renewal/Urban reconstruction 27

2.5 Regionalisation/Regional awareness 31

3 M E TRO P O L I S R U H R – E CO N OMY 35

3.1 Structural change 35

3.2 Structural policy and economic promotion 40

3.3 Restructuring the major companies 46

3.4 Development of the small and medium-sized businesses 49

3.5 Tertiarisation 54

3.6 Sports, tourism and culture 58

4 M E TRO P O L I S R U H R – D EV E LO PM E NT P RO C E S S E S 66

4.1 Housing, traffic and logistics 66

4.2 Education and research 77

4.3 Nature, recreation and leisure 80

4.4 Sports and culture 89

4.5 Image 93

5 M E TRO P O L I S R U H R – P E R S P E C TI V E S 95

5.1 Think globally – act regionally 95

5.2 Institutions and networks 97

5.3 The “Europe of the Regions” and the Metropolis Ruhr 100

B I B L I O G R A P HY A N D L I N KS 104

F I G U R E S A N D C R E D ITS 105

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Considering the processes that have taken place since the

beginning of the millennium the Ruhr can be - and increas -

ingly is – addressed as “Metropolis Ruhr” – a term that is

regarded as the up-to-date and adequate expression of the

regional development perspectives. In all fields relevant to

a regional study the Ruhr is currently changing towards a

modern 21st century metropolitan region.

It is therefore the aim of this study to present the recent

development trends of this region. On more than 100 pages

a survey shall be given that is profound, pointed but never-

theless easy to comprehend. It is dedicated to readers from

both inside and outside the Ruhr that are interested in

the development and change of this region; special regards

are given to research and teaching activities. This is the

first translation of the original German text in a series of

versions in foreign languages to come.

This study seizes the concept developed for “Das Ruhr gebiet.

Landeskundliche Betrachtung des Strukturwandels einer

europäischen Region” (authors: Bronny/Jansen/Wetterau)

edited by the former Kommunalverband Ruhrgebiet in

2002. The processes and relations of the past exhibited in

that study are still relevant to the present and have there-

fore been taken up as the starting points of the actual

processes in the Metropolis Ruhr as this study is explicitly

centered on regional developments and structural changes

that are currently relevant to the Metropolis Ruhr.

The first chapter presents the starting points, i.e. the

natural zoning and the historical development of the

region, followed by the historical outlines of the coal min-

ing (up to the 1960s) and the iron and steel industries (up to

the 1970s) developments. The industrial evolvement of the

region has been constituent to the old Ruhr area but it is

also the foundation from which the new Metropolis Ruhr

has started.

The second chapter deals with the socio-/cultural-spatial

developments of administration, urban structure and

social patterns and gives way to actual processes in the

Metropolis Ruhr considering the urban renewal and the

regional consciousness.

The third chapter is focused on the new economic structures

of the Metropolis Ruhr and addresses the tertiarization, the

small and medium businesses as well as the increasing

economic importance of tourism, sports and culture.

The fourth chapter describes the actual changes of patterns,

networks and functions in this metropolitan region, includ-

ing the impacts of the European Capital of Culture 2010

events.

The fifth chapter tries to outline the perspectives of the

Metropolis Ruhr as a region in the network of globalization.

2

I NTRO D U C TI O N

1.1 The natural landscapes

As is indicated by the 429 m rangebetween the topographical heights ofthe lowest and the highest points, theregion of the Ruhr comprises differentnatural landscapes that aggregate tothree major ones. The lowest point(13 m) can be localized in Xanten (Districtof Wesel) in the west of the region, inLower Rhine Bight. The highest one(442 m) is located on Wengeberg inBreckerfeld (Ennepe Ruhr district) in thesouthern Rheinisches Schiefergebirge(Rhenish Slate Mountains). In the northof the region there is the third largenatural landscape, the WestphalianBight.

The three large natural landscapes can bedivided in smaller units the impact ofwhich has been as important for thedevelopment of the regional patterns ashave been the courses of the majorrivers – the westward orientated riversRuhr, Emscher and Lippe and the north-ward bound river Rhine.

Between the heights of the RheinischesSchiefergebirge in the south and theWestphalian Bight in the north there isthe lowland of the river Ruhr after whichthe region has been named. The river isdeeply eroded into the Schiefergebirge.The inner banks and the terraces of theRuhr valley are covered with fertile loamand loess soils that favoured settlementsand agriculture. The valley cut of the riverRuhr had also disclosed the carboniferousstrata of the Schiefergebirge that gavebirth to the regional coal mining startingin small open diggings (glory-holes) and ingalleries.

North of the Ruhr valley there is the Hell-weg zone which is part of the WestphalianBight. The relatively plain Hellweg zoneslightly inclines to the north and ischaracterized by a fertile loess cover thatexhibited agricultural land use since theyounger Iron Age.

To the north the Hellweg zone gives wayto the river Emscher lowland. Up to theindustrial times the impounding strata of

Emscher marl had made these areas alongthe river a zone of wet moorlands whichhad only sparsely been populated. In con-trast to these lowlands the mountainousarea of the Recklinghäuser or VestischeHöhenrücken in the north of the regionhad been preferred by settlements andagriculture due to its post-glacial loesscover.

On both sides of the river Lippe there isthe Lippe zone in which the soil wetnessof the floodplain prevented a dense agrar-ian settlement as it did in the Emscherzone. The Lippe zone is embedded intothe hills of the Southwestern Münster-land.

The natural landscapes mentioned sofar exhibit an east-west orientationand thus follow the courses of the riversRuhr, Emscher and Lippe. But this east-west orientation can also be deducedfrom the two levels of the underlyinggeological structure. The upper “floor”comprises Upper Cretaceous deposits. Inmining these strata are named the over-

4

1 . TH E R U H R – STA RTI N G P O I NTS

1.1.1 The natural landscape structure of the Ruhr

5

1.1.3 A Hellweg zone green belt: The Mechten-

berg bridge in Gelsenkirchen

1.1.2 Ruhr zone: Free-range cattle on the banks

of the “old” Ruhr near Mülheim Raffelberg

burden as they cover the carboniferousstrata that form the “lower floor”. Thecarboniferous strata crop out in thesouthern Ruhr valley zone from whichthey dive down beneath the WestphalianBight by an inclination of 2–3 degrees.Consequently, the thickness of the over-burden increases to the north and thusdoes the depth of the coal. With thequality of the coals increasing to thenorth, coal mining spread from the Ruhrvalley into the areas of the WestphalianBight.

1.1.5 Emscher zone: Landscape of bridges in the Gelsenkirchen Nordstern Park with the Emscher

island and the open-air theatre

1.1.4 The Lippe zone near Waltrop

Grenze des Regionalverbands Ruhr

Grenze eines Regierungsbezirks

Grenze eines Kreises oder einer kreisfreien Stadt

1 . TH E R U H R – STA RTI N G PO I NTS

1.1.6 Physical geography and administrative boundaries (Regionalverband Ruhr/Regional Association Ruhr area)

In the northwest the NiederrheinischeSandplatten (Lower Rhine sandy hills)separate the Westphalian Bight in thenorth from the Bight of the Lower Rhinein the west; these Sandplatten are heath-lands on the main terrace to the right ofthe Rhine.

Adjacent to the west, the plain of thelower Rhine is a landscape of wetlandsand terraces molded by the river. Thewetlands are green lands and usedby cattle breeding and dairy whereas theterraces are covered by agriculture.Unlike the areas on the right bank ofthe river Rhine, the overburden ofthe carboniferous strata underneaththe Lower Rhine plain has been builtup by tertiary strata and by Buntsand-stein and Zechstein deposits. But asthe quality of the coals increases to thenorth as well, there is a paramountnorthward movement of coal mining inthe Ruhr.

6

• Further north, in the Hellweg and Em-scher zones, the 19th century shaft min-ing tapped the forge coal and coking coalseams. The coking coal with its remarkablyhigher contents of volatile components(19-28 per cent) allowed the production ofcoke. Since 1850 this coke has been usedin the smelting works of the Ruhr to pro-duce pig iron.

• Long-flame coal which is being excavat-ed in depths of up to 1,300 m in the stillactive coal mines of the northern Emscherand Lippe zones exhibits particularly highcontents of volatile components (35-40per cent). Thus this coal has become thefoundation of the coal chemistry industryin the Lippe zone and is also used in coal-fired power stations.

Next to coal iron ores have been mined inthe Ruhr. Already in mid-18th century thefirst iron smelting works were founded inthe Emscher zone where bog iron couldbe gained by means of open cast mining.The small iron smelting works were con-solidated to Gutehoffnungshütte in 1803which developed to one of the great in-dustrial companies, by now operatingunder the name of MAN Turbo AG. Ironores could also be mined in the Ruhr zoneas in the course of carbonization ironcarbonate precipitated. Very soon, how -ever, these Ruhr zone smelting works losttheir economic importance as all overthe region importing iron ores from theSiegerland and particularly from abroad,e.g. from Scandinavia and from Brazil,became less expensive, and it still is.

Next to coal and iron ore salt is another re-source of the Ruhr. Layered upon the coalseams the rock salt deposits extend fromleft of the river Rhine near Duisburg to thenorth. Since 1925 they are excavated indepths between 740 and 840 meters onthe Borth salt mine in the Wesel ruraldistrict (1.8 million tons in 2010). The salt

1.2 Adaptation to the physical conditions

Over centuries the areas between therivers Ruhr, Emscher, Lippe and Rhine havedeveloped in compliance with the physicalconditions described above. Mostly fertilesoils provided good conditions for variousagricultural activities and an old, even ifsparsely populated agrarian landscapecame into being. The industrial use of thecoal resources, however, caused a funda-mental change and the region adaptedcompletely to the exploitation of thisresource.

Geologically, the Ruhr is part of the north-west European coal belt which alsocomprises the mining districts in thesouth of Poland, in southern Belgium, innorthern France, in South Wales and inthe Midlands of England. It was in theCarboniferous, 300 million years ago,that coal came into being, the stratacontaining coal are addressed as seams.As already mentioned above, these seamscrop out in the Ruhr valley, i.e. at thenorthern fringe of the RheinischesSchiefergebirge, and dive down to thenorth under the overburden. If the seamsare followed further to the north a depthof more than 5,000 m would be reachedunder the North Sea.

With the depths of the coal seamsincreasing, both the pressure and thetemperatures are changing and thus doesthe quality of the coal.

• It was already in the 14th century Ruhrzone that coal could be excavated bysimple means from seams immediatelyunder the surface. Due to its high contentsof carbon the calorific value of this coal ishigh and it is has mainly been used fordomestic purposes. Because of its lowcontents of volatile components as waterand ashes (10-14 per cent) this coal iscalled lean coal.

1.1.7 Rhine zone: Angler on the banks of a

Rhine bayou, Bislicher Insel (Bislich Island)

near Xanten

1.2.1 Geological section

is used by the chemical industry and forwinter road gritting.

Building materials as sandstones andsands are to be found in the valleys of therivers Ruhr and Rhine. Devonian compactlimestone is quarried near Hagen as wellas dolomite which has been and still isused for the production fire-resistantmaterials required by the steel and con-crete industries. The Ruhr sandstonesexcavated near Witten and Herdecke areused for the production of paving stones,facing tiles, window sills and other con-struction materials. The clay, gravel andsand businesses find their basic materialsparticularly in the northwest of the Ruhr;the marl clays are used by local brick-works, and, due to their high contents ofquartz, the sands near Haltern are a rawmaterial much sought after by the glassindustry.

Another important natural potential thatinfluenced and favoured the developmentof the Ruhr is the water of the rivers Ruhr,Emscher, Lippe and Rhine. Connectingvarious functions, the rivers are used aslines of transport, they provide the popu-lation with water of high quality andthe industries with cooling waters and,

7

finally, the rivers are used to dispose ofused water.

The river Ruhr has once been so im -portant a transport line that the wholeregion as a whole has been named Ruhr -gebiet (The Ruhr) even if only 124 kilome-ters of its total length of 220 kilometersare situated in the region. Until the ad-vent of the railway the transportationof mass goods over long distances wasonly possible on rivers. But before theRuhr could achieve its importance in

1.2.2 The closed mine Nachtigall near

Witten/Ruhr

1.2.4 Water supply in the Rhenish-Westphalian industrial area

1.2.3 Groundwater replenishing basin in the

Ruhr valley near Fröndenberg


transport sluices had to be built. Since1780 the river was navigable betweenFröndenberg-Langschede and the mouthnear Duisburg-Ruhrort and was used totransport building materials, timber andcereals. Most of all, however, new marketareas along the rivers Ruhr and Rhinecould be reached by these measureswhich caused a remarkable increaseof the coal production of the Ruhr zonemines. Although great parts of massgoods transportation has been trans-ferred to the railway systems since

built at the mouths of its tributaries. More-over, some dams have been built in themiddle course of the river Ruhr that havethe effects of natural purification plantsas they decelerate the flow velocity ofthe river and allow the floating particlesto settle. From 1929 to 1979 the fivedammed lakes Lake Hengstey, LakeHarkort, Lake Baldeney, the lake nearKettwig and finally Lake Kemnade havebeen completed. In the meantime, boththe reservoirs and the dammed lakes havealso achieved an important recreationalpotential for the population in the south-ern parts of the Ruhr. In 1990, the Ruhr -talsperrenverband has been incorporatedinto the Ruhrverband which now formsthe basis of a reliable water supply forthe Metropolis Ruhr by operating a systemof reservoirs and lakes as well as 70 sew -age plants in the catchment area of theriver.

Of great importance for providing drink-ing water are the waterworks. The geo-logical situation in the Ruhr valley offersgood conditions for the production ofdrinking water as there is a gravel layer of15 meters on the rocky foundation. Onthe one hand, this layer of Ruhr gravelworks as groundwater storage, on theother, water is discharged from the riverinto this layer to let it percolate. An allu-vial clay layer of 2 meters in thicknesscovers the Ruhr gravel and protects itfrom any contamination.

Water provision from the river Ruhr isenlarged by the supplies from the riversRhine and Lippe. Waterworks use theriver Rhine to extract bank filtrates.Due to its salinity the water of the riverLippe can be used as drinking waterwith limitations only; as the water ofthe canals, it is provided as industrialwater. In the north of the Ruhr the water-works in Haltern provides the drinkingwater as it can rely on the Haltern sandsthat contain a large water storage; addi-tionally, the Stever, a little river in theMünsterland, contributes to the watersupply.

In total, the water economy has estab-lished a complex network to provide thesupply of the Ruhr. As far as the sewagewater disposal is concerned, the riverEmscher is of enormous importance.

By the end of the 19th century theEmscher was still a natural river mean-dering due to low gradients. The riverrises in Holzwickede southeast of Dort-

mid-19th century the ports at the Ruhrmouth extended to the world’s biggestinland port and its biggest inland con-tainer transshipment port.

A constant water supply for both indus-tries and population became an impor-tant precondition for the Ruhr to becomethe largest industrial conurbation of theworld. Despite of the massive de-indus-trialization in the recent decades theRuhr still exhibits a high consumption ofwater. In 2010, the Ruhr industries stilltook 49 per cent of the total water con-sumed; another 30 per cent were neededby shipping to compensate sluicing lossesand condensation; the remaining 21 perwere consumed by private household andother users.

Disregarding its size the river Ruhr is ofgreat importance for the water economy ofthe region.This is demonstrated by the wa terreservoirs in the Sauerland catchmentarea, by the midstream storage lakes andwater catchment plants and by the portfacilities at the mouth in the Lower Rhinearea. There are diverse relations betweenthe river and the cities, the industrial plantsand the population of the Ruhr, Hellwegand Emscher zones. To supply the regionwith water, 293 million cubic meters havebeen taken from the river Ruhr in 2010.

But it is only because of adjusted inter -ventions that the river Ruhr providesregular water levels and a high water qual-ity in order to cope with the massive waterdemands of the region. The Sauerland isnot only known for high amounts of annu-al precipitation but also for the variationsof these precipitations. It was already inthe 19th century that years of precipita-tion amounts below average caused watershortages in the downstream areas of theRuhr. That is why the Ruhrtalsperrenver-band has been founded in 1899 in orderquantitatively to guarantee the watersupply of an increasing industrial area. Atfirst some minor reservoirs have beenbuilt. But when these reservoirs were notsufficient the big Möhne Talsperre (MöhneReservoir) has been built which was thelargest one in Europe when put in opera-tion in 1913. The last big dam that hasbeen completed was the Bigge Talsperre in1965. In total, eight dammed reservoirssumming up to a capacity of 463 millioncubic meters today allow the small riverRuhr to cope with the big water demandsof the Metropolis Ruhr.

But to guarantee not only the amount ofthe water needed but also its qualitythe Ruhrverband has been founded in1913. To maintain the water quality ofthe river Ruhr sewage plants have been

8

1.2.6 Canoeists on the river Ruhr in front of the ruined Hardenstein castle

1.2.5 Water works Essen: Sectional view of the water catchment plant

mund and flows into the river Rhine nearDuisburg-Walsum. Since the beginningof the industrialization sewage water fromnumerous industrial units and privatehouseholds has been dumped into theriver Emscher without any control. The lowgradient and the meandering course aswell as the mining induced subsidenceregularly caused wide-spread flooding.This situation has been seen as harmfulto public health as the river was carryingheavy loads of excrements and toxicmaterials. To overcome this grievance theEmschergenossenschaft has been foundedin 1899 in order to regulate and to controlthe sewage water disposal and the dis-charge of the river.

As the regulation of the sewage waterdisposal was crucial to the economicdevelopment of the areas along theriver Emscher the Emschergenossenschaftimplemented a pragmatic but never -theless radical solution by transformingthe river Emscher into an open sewer linedby dykes and regulated from Dortmund toits confluence with the river Rhine. Tribu-tary creeks were also used as sewers andwere equipped with concrete sheathingsaccelerate the drainage. Had the sewagesystem been developed under ground asit is the standard in other conurbations itwould have constantly been affected bydamages caused by the on-going sub -sidence. An above ground sewage system,how ever, allowed easy control and main-tenance.

Nevertheless, mining induced subsidencethat in some places score 20 meters hadto be taken into consideration as well.On the one hand, more than 100 pump-ing stations are draining the area, on theother, the lower section of the riverEmscher has twice been transferred tothe north; in 1910 the conjunction ofthe Emscher and Rhine rivers has beentransferred from Duisburg-Alsum toDuisburg-Walsum and, in 1949, fromthere further north into the Dinslaken.The henceforth mainly disused lower sec-tions were maintained as “Alte Emscher”(old Emscher) and “Kleine Emscher”(small Emscher) and serve as sewersfor the northern parts of the cities ofDuisburg and Oberhausen. Dykes along-side Emscher, Alte Emscher and KleineEmscher protect the adjacent areas fromflooding.

To treat the sewage water running aboveground, next to a central wastewatertreatment plant mechanical sewage

works have been established in thelarger Emscher cities. In the 1980s and1990s high investments allowed fourcentral Emscher sewage works to be builtin Dortmund, Bottrop, Duisburg andDinslaken in which the sewage watersare purified both mechanically and bio-logically.

As active coal mining is now limitedto areas north of the river Lippe andwest of the river Rhine and subsidencehas ceased in the Emscher zone anopen sewage system is no longer indis-pensable.

Since the beginning of the 1990s mea -sures have therefore been taken to restore

9

1.2.8 Conjunction of the Emscher and Rhine

rivers near Dinslaken

1.2.9 Emscher sewage treatment plant with biogas towers in Bottrop

1.2.7 Former water mouths Alte Emscher and Kleine Emscher and the present course of the

river Emscher


industrialized regions in the world, thenatural conditions have been adjustedto the needs of the population living andworking in the region. The rivers Ruhrand Emscher that have been transformedvarious times are demonstrative examplesof this adjustment.

1.3 The historical development of settlements

The fertile soils of the Ruhr and Hellwegzones have favoured agricultural activitiessince pre-historical times. Archeologicalfindings have proved continuous populat-ing of the region for more than 5,000years, i.e. since the younger Stone Age.

Around the time of Christ’s birth, Ger-manic tribes settled in the areas along therivers Rhine, Ruhr and Lippe. The Romanshad founded large cities like Xanten andadvanced into the areas right of the Rhineby laying out military camps as e.g. nearHaltern and Bergkamen. But no ancientRoman cities had been founded in theRuhr before the Germanic tribes repulsedthe Roman back to the left side of theRhine.

In the following centuries the region wasmore and more occupied by the Franksand the Saxons, with the Ruhr separatingthe Franks in the south from the Saxonsin the north. In the 8th century, however,military actions began between the Chris-tian king Charlemagne and the paganSaxons. For the provisions of the armyFranconian royal courts and castles werefounded along the Hellweg. The earliestwritten documents on the cities of theRuhr can be traced back to this period;so a royal court of Duisburg has been men-tioned in 738. The royal courts served thetroops but were also places of administra-tion thus giving important impulses forthe development of settlements. Placeslike Duisburg, Dortmund, Recklinghausenand Werden abbey became importantboth locally and regionally; here country-men and craftsmen sold their products,travelling tradesmen came here for busi-ness.

The Hellweg was not only an importantmilitary road but even more a prime trad-ing route which extended from the mouthof the river Ruhr via the cities of Mülheim,Essen, Bochum, Castrop, Dortmund andUnna to the river Weser and finally to theriver Elbe and allowed an active West-Eastexchange of goods. The hamlets along thistrading route evolved into trading places,

the river Emscher and its tributaries to anatural state as well as to discharge thesewage waters into subsurface canals.In 2010, running parallel to the riverEmscher a subsurface sewage canal hasbeen put in operation between Holz -wickede and Dortmund-Deusen. Sectionby section the separation of natural waterwhich flows free above ground from thesewage waters that are canalized belowground is driven forward to the mouth inthe west. To convert the river Emscherwater system completely in this wayinvestments of 4.45 billion Euros havebeen calculated.

Simultaneously, areas for new land usesare regained along the river Emscher bythe Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR) in thecourse of the project Emscher Land-schaftspark (Emscher Landscape Park,ELP).

This section has shown that in the firstdevelopment phase of the Ruhr it wasman who had to adjust himself to thenatural potential of the region. When,however, industrialization and technicaldevelopment opened new possibilitiesthe man – environment relation beganto change. Since then, as in all highly

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1.2.10 Emscher mouth sewage treatment plant on the borders of the cities of Dinslaken,

Duisburg and Oberhausen

1.2.11 The renaturated Alte Emscher in the Landscape Park Duisburg North

Dinslaken

Duisburg

Ober-hausen

free imperial cities and in some cases intoHanseatic Cities.

In the 12th century the Hanseatic Leaguehad at first been established as a coopera-tion of tradesmen in the riparian areas ofthe North Sea and the Baltic Sea, but, bythe end of the 14th century, had turnedinto a union of cities that also comprisedcities like London, Bruges and Cologne.The prosperity of the Hanseatic Leagueperiod also influenced the development ofsettlements in the Ruhr; from the 14th tothe 16th century 18 hamlets and townsachieved the status of Hanseatic cities:Bochum, Breckerfeld, Dortmund, Dorsten,Duisburg, Essen, Haltern, Hamm, Hat-tingen, Kamen, Lünen, Recklinghausen,Schwerte, Unna, Wattenscheid, Werne,Wesel and Wetter.

As for all European regions, the followingcenturies were a period of decline in theRuhr as well. The collapse of the Han- seatic League, the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), the wars initiated by Louis XIV ofFrance, the Seven Years’ War initiated byPrussia (1756-1763) and the NapoleonicWars (1792-1813) changed the once im-portant economic cities to small agricul-turally based towns. Moreover, all Hellwegcities were severely impaired when thecoastal trade grew in importance. Andfinally, the administrative disruption ofthe 17th and 18th centuries GermanReich is reflected by the administrativefragmentation of the areas along therivers Rhine, Ruhr, Emscher and Lippe.Even if these towns had charters theydid not exhibit urban structures; thepopulation mainly relied on agricultureand the crafts were but slightly special-ized. Some economic impulses were sendout by the new transport routes that werelaid out from the Ruhr valley to the lowerRhine area and into the Netherlands inthe second half of the 18th century; re-gional crafts as e.g. rope making, tanning, weaving, paper making and others bene-fitted.

The period of depression had been passedthrough in 1815 when the region becamepart of the Kingdom of Prussia and thusgot access to the German Confederation.Now the way was open for a commonpolitical and economic development;starting points of industrial activitiesgradually came into being. Moreover, bypromoting the use of hard coal insteadof charcoal the Prussian governmentstrengthened the basis of the futureregional prosperity – the coal.

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1.3.1 The route of the Hellweg

1.3.2 The Funckenburg (Funckenburg castle) in the border area of the cities of Herdecke, Dortmund

and Hagen, c. 1900; the pedestrian bridge over the Ruhr connects the castle with the so-called mouse

tower the area around which became an island when the Lake Hengstey has been dammed up in 1929.

1.3.3 Modern times reflection of history: Dortmund old city-hall


region because the coking coal thatbecame accessible could be processed incoking plants to gain high quality coke.This coke was used by the emerging ironworks to produce pig iron in their blastfurnaces. Thus the new technology ofdeep shaft mining caused an interrelatedmomentum between the production ofcoal and the smelting of iron ore.

On the one hand, the technology of deepshaft mining rapidly spread towards the

1.4 The development of coal mining(up to the 1960s)

As mentioned above, the regional coalresources were the essential locationalfactor to change the Ruhr into Europe’smost important industrial conurbation,even if this development started laterthan in other European industrial areas.Coal mining in the Ruhr is impeded bythe fact that the most productive coalseams are located in great depths andthat they are affected by unfavourabletectonics. While the coal seams in Britaincan be reached in depths of 300 metersand Poland exhibits coal seams of 5 to15 meters in thickness and in depths of400 meters, the thickness of the Ruhr coalseams is but only 1 m and they are to befound in depths between 600 to 1,300meters. In addition, there are tectonicdislocations and unfavourable beddingsituations.

According to this, lean coal right belowthe surface could easily be grubbed inthe 14th century Ruhr zone. Since the16th century coal has been excavated bymeans of gallery mining. Closely abovethe bottom of the Ruhr valley a slightlyrising galleries were driven into the rocksto catch the seams in steep beddings.However, to produce pig iron in the smelt-ing works charcoal was used up to the

beginning of the 18th century, withdevastating effects on the forest stands(clear cuttings). In 1834 the Franz minein Essen became the first deep miningcolliery, as the industrial pioneer FranzHaniel succeeded in using the steamengine to pump the ground water, incutting off the marl layers that cover thecoal seams and finally in catching thedeep lying coking coal seams. This inci-dent can be regarded as the breakthroughin the Ruhr becoming a coal and steel

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1.4.2 The development of coal mining: shallow mining, near-surface mining and deep mining

1.4.1 Mouth of a mining gallery

north, at first since 1840 by new minesaround the Hellweg zone cities (Duis-burg, Essen, Bochum, and Dortmund).But because the demand for coking coalkept on increasing rapidly, coal miningreached the Emscher zone (Oberhausen,Bottrop, Herne, Castrop) already in the1860s. Consequently, the number ofmines and miners as well as the produc-tion of coal increased. On the otherhand, since the first coke-fired blastfurnace of the Ruhr had been blown inthe Friedrich Wilhelm smelting plant inMülheim smelting plants became oneof the major customers of the Ruhr coal(see 1.5).

Whereas the river Ruhr had yet been themain transport route in the early indus-trial phase from 1780 and 1870 (see 1.2)new modes of transport for the coal andother mass goods came into being inthe Hellweg and Emscher zones sincemid-19th century. The Cologne-Mindenrailway line (since 1847, connectingDuisburg, Oberhausen, Dortmund andHamm) and the Bergisch-Märkischerailway line (since 1862, connectingDuisburg, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen,Bochum and Dortmund) evolved into themajor railway lines of the region. Theyopened up new transport technologiesand markets, and were another maincustomer of coal.

13


The development of a canal system for thetransport of mass goods (coal, but mostlyiron ore) followed by the end of the 19thcentury. By the Dortmund-Ems Canal(1899) the eastern part of the Ruhr areagot access to the North Sea; the regionalcanal system was enlarged and refinedby the Rhine-Herne Canal (1914), theDatteln-Hamm Canal (1914) and theWesel-Datteln Canal (1931), the last twooften being summed up and addressed asLippe side Canal.

1.4.3. The historical routes of the Cologne-Minden and Bergisch-Märkische railway lines within the present-day railway network

Tab. 1: Coal production in the Ruhr, 1800-1960

Year Number of mines Number of miners Production (‘000 tons)

1800 158 1,546 2011810 177 3,117 3691820 161 3,556 4251830 172 4,457 5711840 221 8,945 8901850 196 12,741 1,9611860 277 28,487 4,2761870 215 50,499 11,5711880 193 78,240 22,3641890 175 127,534 35,5171900 170 228,693 60,1191910 164 342,249 89,0891920 196 469,781 88,0971930 155 314,973 107,1791940 151 293,830 129,1891950 143 358,077 103,3291960 125 313,462 115,441

Source: information provided by Gesamtverband Steinkohle

Economically, the decades from 1850 to1900 were influenced by a constantchange of prosperity and depression; inthe boom period from 1895 to WorldWar I the industrialization of the Ruhrreached its peak. According to the spatialdevelopment of coal mining specificstructural zones had been developed sofar. As the Ruhr zone had been developedin early industrial times it had alreadyreached its peak when the technologicaltake-off began. Both the Hellweg and the

the chemical industry, and of transportand it was yet of utmost importance fordomestic purposes. Following the na-tional economic interests, the pre-warindustrial structures were consolidated.Retrospectively, both the interwar andthe post-war years can be regarded as thelate industrial phase of the Ruhr in whichtried and tested old industrial structureswere held on thus preventing future ori-entated basic innovations from beingestablished.

When the coal crisis started in winter1957/58 it happened out of a sudden formost of the people. At first this crisis wasregarded as a temporary growth crisis ofthe coal mining industry; the variousstructural changes on the energy marketthat had also taken place quite suddenlywere widely disregarded.

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1.4.4. Herbede mine (city of Witten) in the 1920s/1930s

1.4.5 Unser Fritz mine (city of Herne), 1978

1.4.6 Cross-section of a coal mine

Emscher zones saw massive industrialimpacts in the high industrial periodfrom 1850 to 1900. At this time the Lippezone in the north as well as the LowerRhine area were development areas inwhich a massive invasion of coal miningwas yet to come; coal chemistry andpower generation became the newbranches of industry that made use ofthe gas-flame coal that is available here(see 1.2).

During the two World Wars the indus trialcapacities of the Ruhr have predominant-ly been used by the armaments indus-tries and the war economy. After WorldWar II the production of coal has quicklybeen resumed as coal became the basisof Germany’s economic reconstruction.Coal still was the energy basis of ironsmelting, of electricity generation, of

1.5.2 Charging a converter in a Duisburg

steel works

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When the crisis began coal was still themost important und nearly exclusivelyused energy source in Germany, and still in1957 new shafts were planned. But whenGermany had been integrated into thewestern alliance international marketshad been opened from which coal could beimported. The contrast between the un-favourable mining conditions in the Ruhrand low costs of imported coal increasedthe competition. Moreover, Germany hadto comply with long term contracts andhad to import cheap US coal. That is whymany customers changed to the cheap im-ported coal or to other energy sources asnatural gas and oil the price of which hadsunk rapidly when the Gulf States had en-tered the international oil market. In addi-tion, traditional customers as the shipping,the railway company, the iron and steelindustries and the chemical industrywere able to slash their consumptions ofdomestic coal in these years. Enormousamounts of coal had to be tipped andcould not be sold. The crisis continued intothe 1960s. Because the coal seams wereexhausted in many areas south of the riverEmscher the coal mining industry startedits retreat from these parts of the Ruhr byclosing down many mines; the coal pro-duction was concentrated on the minesnorth of the river Emscher. The 1968 coalact reorganized the regional coal miningindustry; all mining companies merged tothe newly founded Ruhrkohle AG thatsince then produced fixed amounts of coalwhich have been subsidized henceforth.

1.5 The development of the iron andsteel industries (up to the 1970s)

As mentioned above, there have also beeniron ore resources in the Ruhr. One of themwas the shallow bog iron deposit whichcould be excavated in the Emscher zone. In1758 the St Anthony Hütte was foundedin Osterfeld (later part of the city of Ober-hausen) to produce pig iron using bog ironand charcoal. Local iron resources allowedalso the foundations of the Hörder Berg -werks- und Hüttenverein in Hörde nearDortmund in 1852 and of the Henrichs -hütte in Hattingen in 1854. Whereas inEngland coke had been used in the ironsmelting process already in 1735, it was aslate as 1848 that it was applied in theFriedrich-Wilhelms-Hütte in Mülheim ander Ruhr.

Next to the coke-fired blast furnace therewere various basic technologies that hadalready successfully been applied in Eng-

land and that got importance in the Ruhrin the course of the 19th century. Themethod of puddling made it possible toeliminate from the pig iron the carbon andthe impurities with which, as it runs fromthe blast-furnace, it is charged. Othermethods that optimized the production ofsteel were the cast steel production (in theRuhr since 1845), the Bessemer converterwhich allowed an inexpensive mass pro-duction of steel from molten pig iron(since 1862), the Siemens-Martin open-hearth furnace (since 1864) in which theprocesses are slower and can much easierbe controlled than in the Bessemer con-verter, and finally, the Thomas converter(since 1879). The Thomas steel processwas of particular importance because itmade it possible to produce steel from thephosphor-rich minette ore. This new tech-nique gave a special push to the regionalcoal and iron industry of Ruhr as theseminette ores could be transported on theRhine from Alsace-Lorraine which waspart of the German Reich from 1871 to1919. Electricity was another new tech-nology that increasingly pushed thedevelopment. Thus the annual amount ofpig iron increased from 11,500 tons in1850 to 8.2 million tons in 1913.

In the 1850s the first coke-fired blastfurnace of the Ruhr still needed two tons ofcoke for the smelting of one ton of iron ore.That is why the Hellweg zone with its richsupply of coking coal (see 1.4) became theideal area for the ironworks because, dueto this coal-iron ore relationship, the trans-port of the iron ores to the coking plants ofthe Hellweg zone was cheaper than viceversa, particularly because the coke burntup completely in the smelting process.

1.5.1 Blast furnaces in Duisburg-Bruckhausen

1.5.3 Coilbox in the Bochum hot strip mill: The

Coilbox is located between the roughing mill

and the finishing stands. The transfer bars

from the roughing mill are rapidly coiled and

then subsequently uncoiled and fed at a lower

speed to the finishing stands. Forming a trans-

fer bar into a coil dramatically reduces radiant

heat loss and produces a virtually uniform

temperature in the uncoiled transfer bar as it

enters the finishing stands.


Due to these favourable locational factorsthe iron and steel industries had spreadextensively over the Hellweg zone up toWorld War I. The production of pig ironwas carried out in a wide range of blastfurnaces and its refinement took place invarious steel works. Rolling mills carriedout the further processing and producedrails, profiles, wires, steel straps and blanksheets.

Extensive industrial plants and a widerange of connections and interrelationsbetween the production units became thecharacteristic spatial pattern of the Hell-weg zone which was focused on the banksof the Rhine near Duisburg. Due to its re-markable investments in production sitesand infrastructure that were necessary tocope with the demands the iron and steelindustries did not follow the northwardmovement of the coal mining industrybut remained in the Hellweg zone. By theend of the 19th century many steel com-panies had secured themselves their own

coal and coke basis by acquiring coalmines and coking plants; in some casesthis entrepreneurial consolidation is re-flected by new integrated iron and steelworks.

In both World War I and World War II theiron and steel industries of the Ruhr wasthe center of the armaments and warindustry.

In the interwar years the inflation andthe ensuing economic crisis caused a con-centration process of the iron and steelcompanies and saw the formation oflarge-scale enterprises. After World War IIthe steel production was controlled by theallies (Ruhr Statute) whose interest it wasto deconcentrate the large steel compa-nies and to dismantle their productionsites. In the course of these measures theRuhr lost six blast furnaces, 47 Siemens-Martin converters and 60 electric steelfurnaces as well as rolling mills and othermanufacturing plants.

However, this dismantling of productionlines which were in parts outdated alsoallowed modern production structures tobe established after 1950 in order to meetthe increased demands on the nationaland on the world market. These new tech-nologies and structures allowed higherproduction capacities and improved pro -duct qualities. Due to this new strengthof the regional steel companies the pro-duction of crude steel increased from14 million tons in 1950 to 54 million tonsin 1974.

After this record year the steel crisis be-gan. But at first, as with the coal crisis(see 1.4), the steel crisis was regarded as afluctuation in business activity. There stillwas a high demand for steel on the worldmarket; but the structure of the inter -

national steel market had changed as thesteel companies were now in a world-wide competition. Japan in particular hadbuilt up a substantial steel industry.Next to the new competitive conditionson the world market two other trendswere to reduce the demand for steel fromthe Ruhr. On the one hand, steel waspartly replaced by new materials (parti -cularly products made from plastics andceramics), on the other, lightweight con-structions that saved material and energywere prevailing.

Unlike the competing companies inBritain, France, Italy and elsewhere, theiron and steel companies of the Ruhr hadto do without public aid in the 1970s and1980s. Even on the national level com -panies like Thyssen and Krupp becamedisadvantaged in comparison to othercompanies as e.g. PREUSSAG that wasdisencumbered by the government.

These fundamental changes on the globalsteel market caused a restructuring ofthe coal and steel industry of the Ruhr(for structural change see chap. 3).

It could be shown in this chapter that,based on favourable natural conditions, arapid process transformed the Ruhr intoEurope’s most important industrial con -urbation; yet widely rural in 1840, theareas along the rivers Ruhr, Emscher andLippe had reached the phase of highindustrialization already by 1900. Thisprocess was based on the coal resources,particularly the coking coal deposits thatwere the precondition of the developmentof the iron and steel industries that be-came the second column of the regionalindustrial structure.

Within only some decades an intenselyintertwined industrial complex based oncoal, iron and steel spread over the wholeregion, the rivers were the natural start-ing lines of its infrastructure. But theybecame not only the guiding lines ofdevelopment within the various struc turalzones (Ruhr zone, Emscher zone, Lippezone), but with industrialization progress-ing they were also adapted and to theneeds of the population living and work-ing in the region; so the natural system ofthe river Emscher was transformed into anopen sewage canal.

In the following chapter the focus is laidon the urban/suburban landscape as itdeveloped since the beginning of theindustrialization.

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Tab. 2: Production of pig iron and crudesteel in the Ruhr, 1920-1975

Year Pig iron Crude steel (‘000 tons) (‘000 tons)

1920 4,463 6,1621925 8,000 9,8961930 7,859 9,3241935 9,086 11,318…1950 - 9,7061955 13,291 16,6391960 17,807 23,2001965 18,330 24,6001970 21,300 28,5001975 19,300 24,300

Sources: Paul Wiel, Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Ruhrgebietes.

Essen 1970, S. 227f, S. 238f and RVR datafile after

Statistisches Jahrbuch der Nordrhein-Westfälischen IHK

1.5.4 Duisburg-Bruckhausen, 1992

2.1 Development of the administrativeboundaries

In chapter 1.3 the historical developmentof the region has been outlined until 1815.Since then the region has been affectednot only by the industrial impact but alsoby a variety of political and administrativechanges; eventually, the Ruhr has beendefined by the urban and rural districtscomprised by the Regionalverband Ruhrarea (RVR, Regional Association Ruhr).

On the 1815 Congress of Vienna new bor-derlines were fixed in Europe which alsochanged the territorial integration of theregion along the rivers Ruhr, Emscher andRhine. The up to then existing scatteredregionalism disappeared, ecclesiasticalterritories, e.g. the free abbeys of Essenand Werden, or territorial claims wereabandoned and what later was referredto as the Ruhr became part of the king-dom of Prussia which as a whole wasdivided in ten provinces (first tier) and

17

2. THE RUHR/METROPOLIS RUHR – SOCIO-SPATIAL AND URBAN DEVELOPMENTS

2.1.1 Territories in the Regionalverband Ruhr area (RVR), 1789

25 Regier ungsbezirke (administrativeregions, second tier). The western part ofthe present-day Ruhr was integrated inthe Rhine province (Rheinpreußen, Rhein-land) and the Regierungsbezirk Düssel-dorf respectively, whereas the larger partin the east was incorporated into theRegie rungsbezirke Münster and Arnsbergin the province of Westphalia. Hencethe present-day division of the Ruhr inthe three administrative regions Düssel-dorf, Münster and Arnsberg dates backto the 1815/16 Prussian administrative re-organization. The Regierungsbezirke weredivided in new (rural) districts (Landkreis)that often remarkably differed from theexisting ones. In the Rhine province thedistricts of Duisburg, Essen, Moers andRees and in Westphalia the districts ofBochum, Dortmund, Hagen, Hamm andRecklinghausen were established.

In both provinces the political authoritiesintended to declare the larger cities inde-pendent urban districts (kreisfreie Stadt);

thus, due to industrialization and theensuing increase of population in thesecond half of the 19th century, theRhenish cities of Essen (1873) and Duis-burg (1874) and the Westphalian citiesof Dortmund (1875), Bochum (1875)and Hagen (1887) became independenturban districts. When the rural district ofBochum reached a population of 249,000inhabitants in 1885 it was regarded astoo large, and, consequently, parts ofit were detached and established asthe new rural districts of Gelsenkirchenand Hattingen. In the following yearsnumerous incorporations, a constant flowof immigrants and the ensuing urbansprawl let the cities of the Ruhr growrapidly. The cities of Buer, Hörde, Osterfeldand Hamborn were excluded from theirformer rural districts and were establishedas new urban districts.

Between 1926 and 1929 the “reorganiza-tion of the administrative units in theRheinisch-Westfälisches Industriegebiet

2 . TH E R U H R /M E TRO PO L I S R U H R – S O C I O -S PATI A L A N D U R BA N D EV E LO PM E N TS

18

2.1.2 The urban development of Gladbeck (Map sections 1840, 1930, 1970, and 2010)

2.1.3 The growth of the larger cities in the Ruhr, 1875 to 1975: Dortmund as an example

19

2.1.4 Old Amtshaus/City Hall in Herten (1892 to 1957)

SVR, KVR, RVR

In 1920, the Siedlungsverband Ruhrkohlenbezirk (SVR), a special purpose regional association, has been founded in order to regulate and organize the

rapid development of Germany’s most important industrial conurbation by means of a regional planning body that was superordinate to the rural and

urban districts planning authorities. The SVR regional settlement planning coordinated the local land-use and zone planning, retained open and

green spaces for recreational purposes and conducted the regional traffic planning. The leading figure to conceptualize and enact this first regional

planning of the Ruhr was Robert Schmidt, the first SVR director (1920-1932).

In the post-war phases of re-construction and wirtschaftswunder (German Economic Miracle) the rapid development of the Ruhr was coordinated by

the SVR that enacted a mandatory regional planning by means of a comprehensive regional development plan.

This regional planning competence has been taken from the SVR in the course of the 1975 administrative reorganization. Regional planning has

henceforth been carried out by the planning councils of the three Regierungsbezirke Arnsberg, Düsseldorf and Münster.

In 1979, this loss in regional planning competence has been enshrined in the course of the reorganization of the SVR towards the Kommunalverband

Ruhrgebiet (KVR, Communal Association of the Ruhr). The tasks remaining with the KVR were the politically less relevant ones: public relation, open

space protection, leisure and tourism planning, survey and mapping, regional studies and services for the various affiliated districts.

The scope of tasks changed again in 2004 when the NRW government reformed the Regional Planning Act in the course of which the newly named

Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR, Regional Association Ruhr) regained planning functions as it has become its task to establish regional master plans. It is

also in its responsibility to promote the development of the Emscher Landscape Park and of other open spaces. Moreover, it has adopted the regional

economic development planning and the regional location marketing.

In 2007, the importance of the RVR increased as the regional planning of the Metropolis Ruhr has been assigned.

(Rhenish-Westphalian industrial area)”act was put into practice which causednumerous incorporations and boundarychanges; urban districts as Hörde andSteele lost independence and were incor-porated into the cities of Dortmund andEssen respectively. Since this comprehen-sive reorganization the administrativeunits of the Rhineland and Westphaliaprovinces remained unchanged until1946.

After World War II the former Prussianprovinces were dissolved. Since August 23,1946 the northern part of the Rhinelandprovince (Regierungsbezirke Aachen,Cologne and Düsseldorf), the province ofWestphalia (Regierungsbezirke Münsterand Arnsberg) as well as Lippe-Detmold(since 1947) formed the Land Northrhine-Westphalia (NRW) the capital of which isthe city of Düsseldorf.

The 1970s were a period of new adminis-trative revisions, with the 1975 restructur-ing initiative being the most significantone. As in other European countries,larger administrative units were createdas this was supposed to increase theefficiency of administration and publiclife. In the Ruhr some cities lost inde -pendence; Wattenscheid became part ofthe city of Bochum, Wanne-Eickel partof the city of Herne and Rheinhausenpart of the city of Duisburg, the up to thenindependent cities of Dinslaken andCastrop-Rauxel were incorporated intothe rearranged rural districts of Wesel

and Recklinghausen. Some of the admin-istrative changes were enacted againstthe will of the population involved.

In the course of this administrative reor-ganisation the Siedlungsverband Ruhr -gebiet, founded in 1920, lost its planningsovereignty which was transferred tothe planning councils of the Regierungs-bezirke in Arnsberg, Düsseldorf andMünster.

In the late 1990s the occasional proposalhas been made to reduce the number ofNRW-Regierungsbezirke from five to three

in the course of which a new Regierungs-bezirk Ruhrgebiet was be founded com-prising the area of the existing Regio -nalverband Ruhr; the remaining parts ofthe Land NRW were to be divided betweenthe new Regierungsbezirke Rheinlandand Westphalia. The Christian and FreeDemocrats 2005 government announcedthis administrative revision to be accom-plished by 2022 as this would increase theefficiency of the administrative bodies.However, the Social Democrats and theGreen Party 2010 government did notmention this topic anymore in its coalitiontreaty.


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2.2 Development of the settlements

The development of the Ruhr to Europe’smost important polycentric conurbationstarted late but rapidly. As mentioned in1.3, a series of locally and regionally im-portant Hellweg and Hanseatic cities haddeveloped, but up to the 19th century theregion was widely used by agriculture andconsequently sparsely populated. In 1840only some 240,000 people lived in thearea. Promoted by the upswing of coalmining and the iron and steel industriesthe built-up areas began to sprawl whenthe pre-industrial cities expanded andnew industrial housing quarters cameinto being. Today, it is primarily the corearea along the Hellweg and the riverEmscher that is extensively if not con -tinuously built up.

In the early industrial but still rural phasec. 1840 the settlement patterns based ondifferent natural conditions allow a zonaldifferentiation.

In the southern Ruhr zone the gallerymining of anthracite, lean and forge coalshad an early industrial impact. In thevicinity of the mines so called cottarsettlements housed the increasing popu-lation. By apportioning the marches (com-mons) small holdings were established(cots), they were run by the women,whereas the men worked as miners. Dueto these small holdings of the minersthe Ruhr zone was particularly denselysettled and intensively used by agricul-ture. Till today these miners’ holdingscause the characteristic dispersed settle-ment patterns of the Ruhr zone.

The Hellweg zone adjacent to the northwas a fertile boerde landscape and, interms of agriculture, the most importantpart of the region. Next to a varietyof nucleated villages there were the

medieval Hellweg towns Duisburg, Mül-heim, Essen, Bochum and Dortmund.After the seams of coking coal had beentapped by means of shaft mining theHellweg zone was affected by the earlyindustrialization that let the populationincrease rapidly.

To the north, the fertile boerdes of theHellweg zone descend to the Emscherlowlands where the low stream gradientof the river and the ponding layers ofEmscher marl prevented nearly any settle-ment. More favourable conditions foreconomy and settlement were to befound further north, particularly in thearea of the loess covered RecklinghäuserHöhenrücken that turned into the pre-ferred zone of agriculture and settlementin the northern Ruhr area. The Haardnorth of it, the sandy plates of theLower Rhine in the west as well as thenHohe Mark north of the river Lippe arecharacterized by poor sandy soils. But as

the conditions were even better than inthe Emscher lowlands the populationden sities of population and settlementswas higher than there.

The high industrial phase from 1850 to1900 changed the Ruhr from a rural areainto Europe’s largest industrial conur -bation. The pre-industrial landscape of1840 was transformed into a confusingindustrial region that comprised miningand industrial sites, railway tracks, streetsand housing quarters. This transformationwas promoted by coal mining that,depending on the natural conditionsand the technological options, spread inphases from the south to the north(“Northward movement”). That is why thec. 1900 settlement structure at the endof the high industrial phase can also bedescribed by using a model of more orless homogenous zones of economic andurban development. The differencesbetween the zones derive from the

2.2.1 Essen from Southeast, c. 1867

2.2.2 Typical cottar’s house built of Ruhr sandstone

21

2.2.3 The development of built-up areas in the Ruhr 1840, 1930, 1970 and 2010, the case of Dinslaken

differences of the industrial impacts theyhave been faced with.

The Ruhr zone is that part of the Ruhr areawhere industrialization began but whichwas affected only during the first phase;early coal mining caused the dispersedsettlements mentioned above. Thus theRuhr zone is that part of the region thathas least been changed by industrializa-tion. The collieries and smelting plantsestablished here were small in size and innumber of workers and, besides of thesmall towns of Witten and Hattingen,gave no impulses to the development ofsettlements.

In contrast, the Hellweg zone has mas-sively been transformed by industrialactivities in the high industrial phase.Mines and smelting works were thenuclei of comprehensive companies byensuing coking plants, steel works, rollingmills, foundries and engineering works.The demand for labour force caused there-by could only be satisfied by in-migration.The comprehensive growth converted themedieval towns along the Hellweg asDuisburg, Mülheim, Essen, Bochum and

Dortmund into major and compact indus-trial cities.

The advance of coal mining into theEmscher lowland was supported andaccelerated by the lay-out of the Cologne-Minden railway. This first railway line ofthe Ruhr area, opened in 1847, connectedDuisburg and Oberhausen and then, withbut a small incline, run through thesparsely populated southern Emscherzone towards Dortmund and Hamm. Therailway became a new mode of transportand an important customer of the pro -ducts of the basic industries (coke, iron,steel) as well.

Incited by this new locational advantagein the up to then only slightly developedand settled Emscher zone a great multi-tude of large mines and smelting workswere established. The demand for labourforce was so high that both the coal min-ing industry and the iron and steel indus-tries had to recruit workers from theprovinces in East Prussia. These workerswere housed in so called colonies thatwere erected in the immediate vicinity ofthe works (see side note on workers’ hous-

ing estates). Due to the rapid growth ofthe population the bewildering fabric ofmining sites, workers’ housing estates,villages and railway stations along theCologne-Minden railway line ended up inunplanned mining towns as e.g. the cityof Herne. Of even greater importancewere sites where coal mines and iron andsteel works developed in close proximityas in Gelsenkirchen that had been jumpedfrom a village with 500 inhabitants in1818 to a city of 220,000 inhabitants in1905. The relationship between a com-bined/integrated development of coalmining and the iron and steel industry andits effects on population could have beenshown in places like Oberhausen andHamborn (today incorporated in the cityof Duisburg) as well as it demonstratesthe enormous impact that industrializa-tion had all over the Emscher zone.

By 1900 the Hellweg and the Emscherzones had developed to the core area ofthe Ruhr. The Ruhr zone had already beenleft by coal mining and the Lippe zone inthe north and the Lower Rhine area in thewest were regarded as zones of for expan-sions that were yet to come.


22

Workers‘ housing estates

The housing estates that have been erectedin the Ruhr since the 1850s are the uniqueform of housing the regional miners andthe iron and steel workers. Due to its spatialcompactness and its homogeneity in builtforms and social structure this typicalfeature of the urban/suburban fabric of theRuhr is often referred to as “colony”. Oneof the oldest of these colonies – and theoldest still existing – is Eisenheim in the cityof Oberhausen, laid out for the workers ofthe Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH) between1844 and 1901; since 1973 this estate isprotected by strict conservation regulation.

The basic industries used these housingestates as an effective additional incentiveto recruit workers and make them to com-mit themselves to the company, for tocreate, develop and retain a permanentand qualified workforce was regarded as amajor objective by all great companies. Soworking contracts were directly coupledwith the lease contracts. If the job was lostor a worker changed to another companythe flat/house had to be left as well.Despite of this dependency to the com -

3. The garden colonies, the third type ofcolonies, tried to overcome the unifor-mity and sheer usefulness of their pre -decessors and were orientated to theEnglish Garden Town movement. Theircharacteristics are green areas, windedstreets and spacious places, the housesexhibit diversified designs, partly withloggias, elaborate roof forms and half-timbered walls.

Since the 1958 coal crisis and in thecourse of the process structural changethe demand for the flats in workers’housing estates decreased. They were nolonger able to fulfill the increased demandsfor the quality of housing. In some estatesthe houses were privatized, other estateswere dismantled completely.

Some estates of particular value andattraction have been renovated and pre-served as a whole, some are under theprotection the conservation law as e.g. theDahlhauser Heide estate.

2.2.6 Plan of the Dahlhauser Heide estate, Bochum-Hordel2.2.5 Dahlhauser Heide estate, Bochum-Hordel

panies these housing estates were verypopular places to live as they offered abetter and more affordable housing thanthe urban mass dwellings.

Retrospectively, three main types of colo -nies can be distinguished:

1. The earliest colonies were laid out byfollowing contemporary English pat-terns: small and simple houses, 1.5storeys high, were set in long rows of100 and 200 meters; they were com-monly referred to as “D-Zug” (compart-ment train).

2. Since about 1860 semi-detached houses,1 to 1.5 storeys high were erected along-side a street. Attached to each housewas an individual garden as working agarden and keeping small animals werewelcomed by the workers that hadmigrated in from rural regions. Moreover,having gardens been worked by theworkers’ wives was a bare necessity toguarantee the food supply of the popu-lation.

2.2.4 Workers’ housing estate Eisenheim, city

of Oberhausen

23

3 897

2 491

1 912

988

898

847

652

638

629

595

545

420

209

178

162

0 500 1000 1500 2 000 2 500 3 000 3 500 4 000 4 500

WES

RE

UN

EN

DO

HAM

E

BO

DU

OB

BOT

MH

HA

HER

GE

RVR-Database, Team 3-1

Urban districts / citiesGEHERHAMHBOTOBDUBOEHAMDO

GelsenkirchenHerneHagenMülheim a. d. RuhrBottropOberhausenDuisburgBochumEssenHammDortmund

Rural districtsENUNREWES

Ennepe-RuhrUnnaRecklinghausenWesel

2.2.7 Decrease of open space, 1990 to 2010 (hectares)

Tab. 3: Development of population and built-up areas in the Ruhr

Year Population Built-up areamillions index hectares index

1950 4.6 100 84,000 100

1961 5.7 124 104,000 124

1970 5.6 122 123,000 146

1981 5.4 117 142,000 169

1993 5.4 117 157,000 187

1998 5.4 117 162,000 193

2000 5.4 117 164,000 195

2005 5.3 115 168,000 200

2010 5.2 113 171,000 204

Source: RVR data file

Whereas the 1900 suburban/urban struc-ture of the unplanned industrial districtwas centered on the area between therivers Ruhr and Emscher the urban fabricof the present day conurbation extendsfrom the river Ruhr in the south to theriver Lippe in the north. This is to indicatethat the suburban/urban sprawl of theRuhr continued in the 20th century, evenif it was accompanied by a comprehensivestructural change in the course of whichcoal mining has been confined to twosites in the north and one on the westernside of the Rhine and the iron and steelindustries have reduced the number oftheir sites remarkably.

The dominant aspects of the economicchange will be dealt with in chapter 3, thevarious phases of the urban growth areexplicated in the following.

In the first half of the 20th century thisgrowth can be divided into various pha -ses that are separated from each otherby phases of stagnation and regressiondue to global political and economicin fluences (World War I and II, Globaleconomic crisis).

As in the late 1920s and early 1930s thebasic industries achieved a culmination interms of technology and efficiency, theirthirst for land ceased; correspondingly,both the SVR and the urban planningdepartments were able to widen theirinfluence on the land market; they ini -tiated early stages of urban and regionalplanning and promoted an urban non-industrial development of the cities. Thegeneral development plans of some Hell-weg cities established a functional land-use zoning and divided the city areas intosouthern perimeters that were less effect-ed by industry and could therefore be usedfor middle-class housing and recreationpurposes and into northern perimetersthat were subject to massive industrialimpacts; the present-day north-southdivide of the Ruhr can be traced back tothese 1920s planning concepts. The cen-tral urban structures were highlighted bysome prominent buildings, as e.g. theDeutschlandhaus in Essen, the city halland the adjacent quarter in Oberhausenand the “Glückaufhaus” and other expres-sionistic buildings in Gelsenkirchen.

World War II aerial bombardments causedsweeping destructions, particularly in theHellweg cities and on the iron and steelsites. From the early 1950s onwardsthe national reconstruction required an


efficient industrial region, politics andeconomy were eager to restore the pre-war situation as soon as possible. That iswhy not only the industrial structures butalso the spatial structures developinguntil 1960 are a reproduction of the 1930sstructures. Gradually and fuelled by anincreasing in-migration the larger cities ofthe Hellweg zone were extended andamalgamated with the smaller townssouth of the river Emscher. Due to thenorthward movement of coal mininganother focus of suburban/urban growthlay in the northern Emscher zone. Settle-ment activities were also intensified in theLippe zone, particularly in the area aroundthe city of Marl, as well as west of theriver Rhine.

In the second half of the 20th centuryurban development continued despitethe decline of the traditional heavy indus-tries. In this phase the development wascharacterized by factors and processesthat could also be recognized in otherurban conurbations in the developedcountries, i.e. an increase of traffic spaces,open and semi-open settlement forms,larger flats for smaller households, exten-sive sites for trade and industries.

Moreover, several initiatives have beenlaunched since the 1970s to alleviate theeffects of the economic decrease of the

24

heavy industries. To modernize the urbanpatterns and the infrastructure trafficnetworks, (higher) education facilities,recreation sites and urban centers wereestablished and expanded.

After an industrial and a postindustrialsuburban/urban development the Ruhrhas become Europe’s largest polycentricmetropolitan region and has now enteredthe international locational competition.In comparison to competing metropolitanregion it is the special urban fabric of theRuhr, particularly the relation betweenbuilt-up areas and open spaces that isregarded as an important soft locational

factor considering the quality of the livingconditions.

Already in the 1920s it has been regardedas beneficial to protect the open spaces.To cope with the unabated suburban/urban growth in the high industrial phaseand in the years after World War I the Sied-lungsverband Ruhrkohlenbezirk (SVR) hasbeen founded (see above). The SVR deter-mined the protection of seven regionalgreen belts that were to become recre-ational areas of ecological compensationfor the regional population as well asstructuring elements of the urban devel-opment. In the Hellweg and Emscher

2.2.8 Emscher Landscape Park

2.2.9 Land use in the Ruhr area 2010

25

zones these belts were to prevent afurther uncontrolled expansion of thecities. In the west of Ruhr, however, thisaim could not be achieved; the present-day built-up areas of the cities of Duis-burg, Oberhausen and Mülheim are con-nected in many ways. Nevertheless, theconcept of protecting the open spaces ismaintained and has been embedded inthe “Regionales Freiraumsystem Ruhrge-biet” (Regional Open Space System Ruhr).With former industrial estates becomingbrownfields the green belts can be ex-panded; in addition, extensive landscapesoutside the core area – Regional Park Lippevalley - Hohe Mark, Landscape Park LowerRhine, and Regional Park Ruhr valley –have been protected and developed. Thecore element of the Regional Open SpaceSystem, i.e. the Emscher Landscape Park,will be discussed in details in 4.3.

2.3 Population development

The population development of the Ruhrreflects the economic and industrialdevelopment. Due to the massive increaseof the industries and their demand forlabour force the 220,000 inhabitants ofthe 1816 rural region increased to nearly5.7 million in 1961 when the regionreached its industrial peak. This popula-tion growth was mainly fuelled by fivemajor immigration waves:

1. immigration of a mainly rural populationfrom the West Prussian provinces West-phalia, Rhineland and Hesse since 1840,

2. immigration of miners from the miningdistricts in Upper Silesia and Moraviasince 1865,

3. immigration from East and West Prus-sia, Galicia and Slovenia since 1880,

4. immigration of expellees and refugeessince 1945,

5. immigration of guest-workers from theMediterranean since 1959

By these processes the cities of the highindustrial Hellweg and Emscher zonesachieved the highest density values ofabove 2000 inhabitants per squarekilometer; the city of Herne achieves thehighest density value of 3,247 inhabitantsper square kilometer (2010).

Since the 1960s, however, the populationhas been decreasing to 5.15 million in-

2.3.1 Population densities in the districts of the Ruhr, 2011

2.3.2 Population development in the Ruhr, 1871 to 2011

habitants (31.12.2010). There are manycauses and trends to explain this decrease.Since the 1960s there has been an out-migration of workforce into the develop-ing industrial areas in southern Germany.Due to the crises of the heavy industriesand the massive job losses caused therebya continuous negative migration balance,with the number of people leaving theregion surpassing the number of in-migrants, influenced the population de-velopment. Because the losses of Germanworkforce exceeded the rationalizationeffects in the period from 1960 to 1973,the coal mining and iron and steel indus-tries welcomed the immigration of foreignworkers, at first from the member statesof the newly founded European EconomicCommunity (EEC), later particularly fromTurkey. Due to the 1973 ban of recruit-ment and the 1983 repatriation grant pro-gram the general immigration of foreignworkers ceased temporarily. Immigration

from Turkey increased again in the follow-ing decades but was mainly restricted toimmigrants that were embraced by thefamily reunification programs. In total, itwas the last of the immigration wavesmentioned above that has sustainablyimprinted the structure of the regionalpopulation and its development potential.

The more the Ruhr changed from a regio nalindustrial complex into a post-industrialconurbation the more it has been affectedby demographic trends that generallyaffect highly developed societies. Due to ageneral social change individualization in-creases and the wish for children decreases.Since the 1980 the negative migrationbalance is accompanied by a natural popu-lation decrease with the number of deathssurpassing the number of births.

The natural population decrease and theout-migration, particularly of younger


26

persons in their working ages, producedan unfavourable age structure. The shareof pensioners is above, that of youngerpersons below the average of the LandNRW. As a variety of negative demographictrends coincide the Ruhr happens to see aparticularly strong demographic change.Prognoses predict ongoing processes ofdemographic shrinking and aging. Thisshall be answered by a selective in-migra-tion of younger persons of the working ageand their successful integration.

In 2010, there were 585,000 foreignersliving in the Ruhr, i.e. 10.8 percent of thetotal population; the about 225,000 Turksform the largest group (40 %). In the cityof Duisburg there live 39,000 Turks, i.e.the highest proportion in the Ruhr. Theopening of Germany’ largest mosque inDuisburg-Marxloh (incl. an interreligious

and intercultural community center) in2008 is regarded as evidence of a success-ful integration. On the other hand itshould not be ignored that it is the groupof the foreigners and particularly thatof (former) Turkish nationality that is par-ticularly affected by the negative conse-quences of the industrial decline; thisgroup shows high unemployment ratesand a low participation in education.Moreover, these problems are concentrat-ed in heavily deprived quarters of theHellweg and Emscher zones cities (see2.4). According to the general demo-graphic prognoses, it will last another 25years that the rest of the Land North -rhine-Westphalia and Germany as awhole will be confronted with demo-graphic processes similar to that the Ruhris facing at present. Insofar, the Ruhr canbe regarded as a demographic laboratory

that allows corresponding experiencesand insights to be gathered in order tohandle a shrinking population.

Next to the general demographic trends,the actual regional population structureexhibits some specific trends the mostprominent of which is the core-peripherydivide. From 1961 to 2010 the cities of theHellweg and Emscher zones had to accepta population loss of 750,000 whereas theperipheral rural districts gained 225,000new inhabitants; the city of Gelsenkirchenlost 125,000 (-33 per cent) of its popula-tion in this period whereas in the ruraldistrict of Wesel the population increasedby 140,000 (42 per cent). The regionaldecrease of population is thus differen -tiated by distinct intra-regional demo-graphic processes and contrasts. Remark-able population losses in the core areasgo along with a population increase in theless densely populated areas on the fringeof the Ruhr.

However, the process of core-peripherymigration is very complex and has to beregarded in a differentiated way. Somecore cities as well some cities in the ruraldistricts are differently affected. In 2003 aRVR study could show that the largercities of Duisburg, Essen and Bochum hadto take high losses. They lost populationto smaller core cities like Mülheim an derRuhr, Bottrop, Oberhausen and Herne, tothe districts with intermediate popu -lation densities in the direct umland,e.g. the rural districts of Wesel, Reckling-hausen and Unna and, finally, to ruralareas farer away like Olfen, Möhnesee orKalkar.

Personal motives, e.g. the change of thehousehold composition, the wish tobuy/build a house, individual life-stylesand life plans, are generally the most im-portant ones; singles and couples mainlyshow a tendency towards the core cities,whereas families prefer the urban andrural umland districts. Next to thesepersonal motives and to the quality of theactual dwelling/flat, the main factor thatinfluences this kind of mobility is thequality of the living environment withparticular reference to the degree ofnoise, the lack of open space, the socialstructure and others. The long lastingefforts to improve the quality of the hous-ing quarters in the cities of the Ruhr thathave – highlighted by key words like“urban development”, “urban renewal”and “urban reconstruction” – broughtforward a complex development.

2.3.3 Foreigners in the Ruhr by nationality, 2010

2.3.4 Main mosque in Duisburg-Marxloh

27

2.4 Urban development/Urban renewal/Urban reconstruction

In their development since 1945 the citiesof the Ruhr very clearly document theirorientation to the concepts and guidingprinciples prevailing in West Germany. Inthe immediate postwar years it was themain aim to rebuild the severely damagedcities as soon as possible. With the citycenters and the adjacent densely settledhousing quarters being widely destroyedand an increasing number of expellees andrefugees it was of utmost priority to erecthousing quarters. In the 1950s urbandevelopment was guided by the conceptof the structured und deconcentrated city.In accordance to that the historical city-center of Dortmund has remarkably beenrearranged by increasing the plot sizes andgenerously extending the traffic areas,including the widening of ring roads andthe lay-out of new parking places. Theplanning activities of those years wereinspired by an atmosphere of optimismand by the ideas of renewal and growth.

As in all larger cities in West Germany theurban planning of the 1960s followedthree guiding principles. The demands oftraffic and of the private motorizationwere prioritized and urban developmentfollowed the idea of a city adapted tocars. Numerous national roads, ring roadsand motorways have been laid out andwidened; the “Ruhrschnellweg” (Federalstreet B1/motorway A40, the “Emscher-schnellweg” (motorway A42) and thecity motorway in Duisburg (A59) becamethe spinal cords of the new network ofregional streets.

In that period of a nearly unlimited eco-nomic prosperity the idea of “urbanity bydensity” was another guiding principle ofurban development. In all cities of theRuhr new large housing quarters, somewith several thousand units, were erectedand emphasized the new idea of urbanity

by their mere dense compactness. Be-cause these large housing quarters havemostly been erected outside the existingurban patterns they initiated an outwardgrowing of the cities by suburbanization.In the vicinity of the village Wulfen-Barkenberg (near Dorsten) where a newcoal mine was to be deepened even a newtown for 50,000 inhabitants was plannedand housing quarters for some 15,000inhabitants were built there in the1960s and 1970s. Influenced by thearchitectural design of the British NewTowns, the “Neue Stadt Wulfen” becamean architectural laboratory in which manyconcepts of condensed housing weretested (e.g. Finnstadt, Metastadt, Habi-flex); only few of them have been success-ful, most of them could not keep thepromises and ended in dismantling orredevelopment projects.

These processes were based on the newindividual mobility, on new techniques inarchitecture and on the need for a newhousing because the concept of “urbanityby density” was closely connected to the1960s concept of “urban renewal bylarge-scale redevelopment”. The generalidea of growth had its effects on the citycenters because the old housing quarterserected around them c. 1900 were dis-mantled in the course of “clean sweep”redevelopments. Small businesses have

2.4.1 The Dortmund city-center before … 2.4.2 … and after the re-organization of the plots

2.4.3 The Metacity with flexible inner walls in

the New Town Wulfen near Dorsten

2.4.4 Residential area improvement in the

city of Dortmund: Westerbleichstraße in the

Nordstadt suburb, 1980

2.4.5 Residential area improvement in the

city of Dortmund: Westerbleichstraße in the

Nordstadt suburb, 1993

been expelled and inhabitants have beensettled in the large suburban housingquarters in order to allow retailing, ad-ministration, banks, insurances and othercity center floor uses to expand into theareas adjacent to the city-center.

In the 1970s, particularly in the Ruhr thebelief in growth was abruptly ended bythe energy and steel crises. Moreover andunexpectedly, the large housing estatesdid not meet the expectations of thepopulation. The ambition to renew and tomodernize the cities was increasingly beanswered by the alternative draft ofconserving the traditional architecturalqualities. Backed by new laws and the1975 European conservation year the“conserving urban renewal and carefulrebuilding” concept became the newguiding principle of urban development.In the cities of the Ruhr demolition andmodernization was replaced by the main-tenance of the stock (modernization ofsingle objects), by urban preservation andthe improvement of the residential areas.

These improvements were to protect theexisting cheap housing stock, the inhabi-tants were involved into the renewalprocess and to private investments werelaunched. When e.g. the “clean sweep”redevelopments in the Nordstadt suburbof Dortmund were not able to give enough


incentives to stop the decay of the remain-ing c. 1900 housing stock, measures weretaken to improve the environment of thehousing quarters. These actions succeededin maintaining the given social structure.Measures of urban improvement helped toenhance the quality of the street areas andnew open spaces and playgrounds werelaid out by means of public investments.Private investments to modernize residen-tial buildings ensued particularly as theywere promoted by public subsidies andreasonable loans.

In the city-centers measures of urban con-servation were connected with projectsto enhance the functional importance. Inthe city of Herne the Bahnhofstraße was

redesigned as a shopping street, the trafficwas diverted by a ring road and the formertram line was replaced by an underground.By increasing their formal and functionalattractiveness medium-sized city-centerstried to compete with the non-integratedshopping-centers that were established onthe periphery. In 1964 the Ruhr-Park inBochum-Harpen was the first regionalshopping-center to be opened in the Ruhr,the Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum on the easternfringe of the city of Mülheim was second in1974 (the recent interrelations betweenurban development and retailing will bedealt with in 3.5).

The foundation of shopping-centers onnon-integrated peripheral sites was part

28

2.4.6 Bahnhofstraße in Herne before

pedestrianisation, c. 1960

2.4.7 Bahnhofstraße in Herne remodelled,

2000/2001

2.4.8 Shopping-center Ruhr Park in Bochum

2.4.9 Housing quarter and industrial park on the Holland mine site in Bochum-Wattenscheid

of the overall process spatially to separateresidential, industrial, retailing and leisureareas. This process is still going on and isaccompanied by an increase of individualand goods traffic as well as by an expan-sion of the built-up areas despite theshrinking population. Since the 1980surban planning in the Ruhr has tried torespond to these space consuming devel-opments by means of an ecological andsustainable urban development.

In the course of the International BuildingExhibition (IBA) Emscher Park from 1989to 1999 some 30 housing quarters havebeen established that realize the newideas of sustainable housing:

On the one hand, the structure of existinggarden suburbs and traditional workers’settlements was taken up, retained andpromoted as e.g. in the Teutoburgia estatein Herne-Börnig. It had been developed asa garden suburb between 1909 and 1923,its preserving renovation in the 1990s con-sidered the newest ecological standards.

On the other hand, new compact housingquarters were built on industrial brown-fields as e.g. the inclusive quarter of 113units for families and seniors on the siteof the former Holland mine in Bochum-Wattenscheid. Following the ideas of eco-logical architecture rainwater is retainedon the whole site and feeds a lake.

Furthermore, planners developed modelsof housing for particular groups or spe -cific purposes. In Bergkamen the project“Women plan and build” was realizedwhich is a housing project orientated towomens’ needs in different situations oflife.

Finally, the project “Built simply and byyourself” laid the basis for various self-constructed settlements the houses ofwhich are impressive because of their com-pactness and the ensuing good energybalance; and have been erected by a greatdeal of personal contribution by the newhouse owners. Because of the comprehen-sive negative effects ensuing from thede-industrialization since the 1990s mostwelcome in the Ruhr are urban develop-ments that give support to particularlydeprived urban quarters. Structural change,an international competition increased byglobalization as well as the reduction ofwelfare state subsidies caused segregationprocesses which brought forward urbandistricts in which self-supporting socio-economic problems concentrated.

Particularly affected are old housingquarters in the vicinity of the city-centers(e.g. Dortmund-Nordstadt, Gelsenkir chen-Südost, Duisburg-Hochfeld) and largehigh-rise mono-functional housing es-tates on the periphery (e.g. Dortmund-Scharnhorst-Ost, Castrop-Rauxel-Deining-hausen). These deprived quarters arecharacterized by high rates of (longtime)unemployment, a high share of house-holds living on public benefits, a low pur-chasing power, high shares of migrants,deficiencies in infrastructure and urbanfabric, high environmental burdens, anegative image and much more. Due tothese negative factors these deprivedurban quarters risk a constant downwarddevelopment and degradation if this trendis not detained by joint efforts.

Consequently, in the northern parts ofthe cities of Essen, Duisburg and Hammearly concepts of urban renewal havebeen developed and tested. Based on theexperiences gained by these projects, the

NRW government launched the inte -grated action program “Urban districtswith special needs of renewal – Social CityNRW” in 1993. By initiating this program,NRW was the first German Land that triedto overcome the downward trends of ur-ban districts in the fields of labour market,housing, traffic, environment, educationand social affairs by an integrated pro-gram. Integration means that – for a giventime and for a limited area – the built,social, economic and cultural resourcesare bundled and coordinated in order toimprove the effectivity of the total project.Since then an integrated approach has be-come the standard procedure in Germanyand in Europe (e.g. since 1994 by the EU-initiative URBAN and since 1999 by thefederal government-federal states pro-gram “Social City”).

The distribution of the areas in which thisprogram has been or is being appliedshows a clear concentration in the citiesof the Ruhr in which urban districts that

29

2.4.10 Housing project “Women plan and

build” in Bergkamen

2.4.11 “Build simply and by yourself”

settlement in Duisburg-Neumühl

Rhein

Wupper

Ruhr

Lippe

Sieg

Weser

Project area with current aid

Project area in the continuity process

Number of project areas531

Cologne

Münster

Essen

Velbert

Gelsen-kirchen

C.-R.

OberhausenHamm

Bielefeld

Dortmund

Bonn

Brakel

Duisburg Mülheim

Hagen

Dorsten Reckling-hausenGladbeck

BottropDinslaken

Ahlen

Marl

Herten

Herne

Aachen

Düsseldorf

HeiligenhausKrefeld

Ratingen

Iserlohn

Wuppertal

Siegen

Detmold

Lemgo

Düren

Witten

Euskirchen

Viersen

Moers

SolingenMonheim

Lünen

Bergheim

Brühl

MönchengladbachDormagen

Espelkamp

Eschweiler

Stolberg

Baesweiler

Leverkusen

Remscheid

Rheine

2.4.12 Distribution of the “Social City NRW” areas, 1993

have been developed by the old industrieshave to struggle with multiple problems.Stressed urban districts between Moersin the west and Hamm in the east andbetween Dorsten in the north and Hagenin the south could benefit from theintegrated urban renewal in the fields ofeconomy, built environment, ecology andsocial affairs. In the massively distressedlarge district of Dortmund-Nordstadtwith its 55,000 inhabitants the integratedaction program URBAN II has been exe-cuted from 2000 to 2006 and 29 millionEuros of EU, Federal Government and theNRW Government subsidies have beenspent. These means helped to improvethe living conditions of the local popu -lation. However, it has to be stated aswell that those limited und terminatedprogram means cannot dissolve the con-sequences of social disparities and socio-spatial divides. The deprived areas of theRuhr require a continuous support inorder to make them worth living in social,economic and environmental perspec-tives; they are important sites of integra-tion within the major cities of the Ruhr.Their important social function justifiesthe support of the development of theurban districts.

As has already been shown in 2.3, thecities of the Ruhr are affected by a loss ofpopulation. An adjusted renewal of thecities is an indispensable necessity as itis in the East German cities where sucha renewal has already been executedfor some years due to the massivedemographic change taking place there.With the same intention the FederalMinistry for Traffic, Building and UrbanDevelopment has launched the pro -gram “Stadt umbau – West” (UrbanRebuilding – West) in Western Germany.In North rhine-Westphalia the spatialfocus of this program is the Ruhr areawhere, except of Mülheim, each city isinvolved. A pilot project has been startedin the city of Gelsenkirchen already in2001 in the course of which the city-center has been strengthened in its hous-ing, retailing and service functions.Moreover, the housing conditions in thegreat housing estate Tossehof in Gelsen -kirchen-Bulmke, built for 1,400 house-holds in the 1970s, have been improvedby architectural and socio-economic up-gradings as well as by dismantling proce-dures and partial demolitions (reducingthe number of floors). Similarly reducedwas the New Town Wulfen that had beenbuilt with great enthusiasm in the 1960sand 1970s.


30

This overview shall be concluded withsome recent projects that required biggerinvestments. Since 2000 the city councilof Dortmund is executing the strategicdevelopment planning “dortmund-pro -ject”. Some sites have been developedsince then the largest of which is LakePhoenix in Dortmund-Hörde. Up to itsfinal shut-down in 2001 this area of 200hectares has been used by the iron andsteel plant Phoenix. Since then the area isbeing revitalized and developed for futurepurposes. Some 110 hectares in the west-ern part (Phoenix-West: former smeltingplant) are provided for a technology parkand are already used by some modern ITand MST companies. Some blast furnacesand halls of the former smelting planthave been retained as a legacy of theindustrial past and are used for leisure andcultural purposes.

The 96 hectares of the eastern part(Phoenix-East: former steel works) arebeing re-used for housing, administration,services, culture, recreation and leisure.In the center of this area there is theLake Phoenix, with 24 hectares largerthan the Binnenalster in Hamburg. Thisnewly designed water landscape will beintegrated into the regional open spacesystem Emscher Landscape Park extend-ing from Duisburg to Bergkamen.

The actual urban planning in the city ofEssen is to strengthen the city’s regionalfunction as a center of services and of theheadquarters of internationally operatingcompanies.

For more than hundred years the produc-tion site of the Krupp works, one kilometerwide and about three kilometers long, hasseparated the city-center of Essen from theadjacent quarters in the west and thusbeen an obstacle to urban development.In World War II the Allied forces regardedthe Krupp works as the major forge ofGermany’s military production, and thesite became the target of massive bom-bardments that destroyed about 30 per-cent of the buildings. The destruction wascompleted when the post-war Allieddismantling measures destroyed another50 percent. Parts of the giant site remainedderelict; other parts have been occupied bysome Krupp R&D and administrative de-partments as well as by various follow-upland-uses. Since the 1990s the central partof the site has been regarded as an area forpotential city-center extensions. Directlyadjacent to the city-center are the listedbuildings of the former Mechanical Work-

shop VIII (1899) and the squeezer andhammering department (1906). The havebeen re-used as the Colosseum musicaltheatre and as a multi-storey car park of afurniture department store that has beenlocated on the site as well. To the south anarea of about 10 hectares has been con-verted into Weststadt, a stylish quartercomprising flats, offices, shops and restau-rants. Further to the west a “prestigiousplace” for quality-orientated car dealershas been established. But what started awide ranging conversion and landscapingof the former production site was theThyssenKrupp management decision totransfer the Head Quarters of the mergedcompany from Düsseldorf to Essen. TheBerthold-Beitz-Boulevard is the main axisof the area and part of a new ring roadaround the city-center as well. West of it,the Krupp Park, 220,000 square meter insize, enhances the recreation spaces in theinner-city area and is to provide an attrac-tive environment for new high-qualityhousing estates. To join these new urbandevelopments on the former Krupp pro-duction site and the traditional city-center

in the east the Limbecker Platz shoppingcenter has been completed in 2009; with70,000 square meters it is Germany’slargest integrated shopping center. To thenorth, the university quarter (housingestates and offices grouped along a parkand a lake) connect the shopping centerand the northern fringe of the city-centerwith the university campus.

In both Dortmund and Essen the structur-al change from an industrial to a know -ledge-based society not only heaped upburdens but also opened the chance tore-use large old industrial sites in the cen-ter of the city for new purposes and devel-opments. Since 2000 the local planningauthority and the ThyssenKrupp companyrealize the re-use of the former Kruppindustrial site thus continuing the west-wards trends of the city-center initiated bythe Weststadt. The 230 hectares of theKrupp belt will comprise the Thyssen -Krupp Quarter, i.e. the new headquarterof the company, a variety of other officesand services and, as a green lung, theKrupp Park of approx. 20 hectares.

2.4.14 … to Lake Phoenix in Dortmund-Hoerde

2.4.13 From the dismantled steel works Phoenix-East …

31

2.5 Regionalisation/Regional awareness

Globalization causes a shift of the eco-nomic and political scales. On the onehand, the supra-national European levelgains importance. In a global perspectivethe various European nations can main-tain and extend their importance and wel-fare only if they are organized as a union.On the other hand, this integration shouldbe fulfilled on the small-scale regionallevel as well to become acceptable forthe population. The concept “Europe ofregions” intends to promote the regionsand to support their individualities. Thispolicy which is executed complementarilyby the European Union, the Federal Govern - ment and the various states does not onlypromote the development potentials ofthe individual regions but also supportsstrained regions. Thus the structuralchange of the old industrial region Ruhrhas been co-financed by the EuropeanUnion, the Federal Government and thestate North Rhine-Westphalia.

Considering the increasing importance ofEuropean regionalization and the parti -cular development of the Ruhr it has tobe asked: what is a region, and then, isthe Ruhr a region? Both questions cannoteasily be answered because with differentcontexts of regionalization a variety ofregional types can be distinguished, as e.g.economic regions or a region as it is per-ceived. The Ruhr reveals multifold region-al types and forms of regional awareness.

Compared to other regions the Ruhr hasbeen formed late and slowly, as it is

2.5.2 Motives of some image campaigns

neither a historical nor a natural land-scape. It has been initialized only by theexploitation of the coal resources andthe developments ensuing from it sincethe first half of the 19th century. Thisdevelopment disregarded the historicalcultural and administrative areas (pro -vinces, Regierungsbezirke, districts). Thusthe first regional organisations, i.e. theindustrial associations, syndicates or theregional water boards, have been basedon economic expediencies only. It is typicalof this process of creating a conurbationthat this industrial area has not beenreferred to by a definite name up to the1920s. Officially there were the terms“Rheinisch-Westfälisches Industriegebiet”(Rhenish-Westphalian Industrial Area),“Ruhrkohlenbezirk” (Ruhr coal district) and“Ruhrrevier” (Ruhr district). The term“Ruhrgebiet”, already existing at that time,was only used to define the catchmentarea of the river Ruhr.

As it became necessary after World War Ito practice a housing policy and to planthe urban development in an area thatgrew in space and importance, no inde-pendent Ruhr province authority has beenestablished but the “SiedlungsverbandRuhrkohlenbezirk” (Settlement Associa-tion Ruhr coal district) has been foundedin Essen in 1920. It was by this regionalplanning board that for the first time theurban and rural districts along the riversRhine, Ruhr and Lippe were merged andthat this area could operate as a regionand was recognized as a region. But twohindrances became apparent in these in-terwar years of the Weimar Republic that

2.5.1 Hercules sculpture on the extended

winding tower of the Nordstern mine in

Gelsenkirchen

still today impede the forceful formationof a region. On the one there is the com-petition between the large cities of Essen,Dortmund, Duisburg and Bochum, on theother, the middle classes are more orien-tated to the high-rank centers of servicesand culture in the Rhineland (Düsseldorf,Cologne) and Westphalia (Münster, Arns-berg). Since the 1930s, however, the term“Ruhrgebiet” was used to address theeconomic and urban conurbation as it istoday. The Third Reich period had ambiva-lent effects on the regionalization of theRuhr. The Nazi ideology was critical of the


32

2.5.6 View from the once largest coking plant

in Europe on the UNESCO World Heritage site

Zollverein in Essen

2.5.5 From a 15th century horse market to

one of the greatest fairs in Germany: Cranger

Kirmes in Herne

development plan in cooperation with theurban and rural districts. The regionaldecline that ensued from the late 1950scrises of coal mining and the iron and steelindustry may even have produced acertain kind of homogeneity. But as thenorthern part of the Ruhr was moreaffected than the southern one, even thesituation of crises were more influencedby the idea of competition than by thespirit of cooperation (e.g. Duisburg vs.Dortmund as locations of the iron andsteel production).

2.5.3 One of the LWL-industrial museum sites (Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe):

Henrichshütte in Hattingen

Lyrics of the song “Oberhausen” by the

comedy duo Missfits

Die Wurst aufm Grill am Rhein Herne Kanal,

oder Pommes rot-weiß aufer Hand, ganz egal

Kannse Samstags Abend nen Bierchen trinken

zwischendurch mal nem Schiffchen winken.

Wer is schon so blöde spazieren zu gehen

wenn bei Ebbe anner Emscher die Windeln wehen.

Stehse auf´m Gasometer im Sturmesbrausen

und alles watte siehs is

Oberhausen

Die Neue Mitte der Stadt ist ein Kaufparadies

aber wat willste Dir holen mit so wenig Kies

Früher fuhrse nach Venlo um Kaffee zu kriegen

heute siehse im Centro die Holländer fliegen

Wat soll dat, dat macht nix, dat stecken wir weg,

genau wie die Zechen, die Kohle, den Dreck.

Lieber auf´m Gasometer im Sturmesbrausen

und alles wasse siehst ist

Oberhausen... Oberhausen

10.000 Plätze um Bier zu konsumieren

und jede Menge Büsche sein Herz zu verlieren

Am Sonntag im Kaisergarten sich küssen

bei den Hängebauchschweinen

Tiger vermissen

Andere Städte haben auch ihren Zoo

doch so wie bei uns is dat nirgendwo...


und alles watte siehst ist


Wenn die Sonne versinkt über der A3,

ist der Rest der Welt Dir total einerlei

Alle spielen se Fußball, aber keiner kommt weiter

als bis kurz vor de Liga als ewiger zweiter...

Und dann stehst Du anner Ecke anner Bude mit ner Fluppe,

München und Hamburg sind Dir völlig schnuppe...


und alles wasse siehst is


Und wennse mich fragst, wat soll ich noch hier,

dann komm doch mal gucken dann zeig ich et Dir....

Kommse auf´n Gasometer im Sturmesbrausen

und alles watte willst ist Oberhausen... Oberhausen

Oberhausen...Oberhausen...Oberhausen...Oberhausen

Stehse auf´m Gasometer im Sturmesbrausen

und alles watte wills is

Oberhausen.... 2.5.4 Music rehearsal room on the Consolidati-

on mine, Gelsenkirchen

large city and the industry, even if the Ruhrregion was the national energy center andthe main location of the arms industry.Moreover, the social culture that haddeveloped in the Ruhr in the Weimarperiod (Social Democrats, political Catho -licism, and Communism) was broken upby the Nazi ideology.

After World War II the company-relatedcooperative local thinking was recon -stituted. On the regional level the SVR suc-ceeded in 1966 to establish the regional

33

2.5.8 Moon palace in Wanne-Eickel – one of Germany’s most popular comedy theaters

2.5.9 Still an institution in the Ruhr: The Bude, Kiosk, Büdchen … a place to exchange news

2.5.7 Curry wurst, a typical meal of the Ruhr

Based on a short but eventful history sincethe mid-19th century the Ruhr developedinto a polycentric region the specificfeature of which is its variety. Due to thisvariety that comprises all social fields inall sub-regions of the Ruhr the spatialawareness of the population is morelocally than regionally orientated. Besidesthe variety and the size of the region – theRuhr is twice as large as the Saarland – thefact that there is no undisputed regionalcenter impedes regional thinking andregional action. Important regional mediaare missing as well. The newspapers of theRuhr are not of supra-regional importance

ordinariness. There are lots of excellentdevelopments in the Ruhr in the fields ofeconomy, culture, research, sports andothers but internationally they are hardlyrecognized individually.

Within the region various initiatives andinstitutions as the Regional AssociationRuhr (RVR) and its subsidiaries Wirt -schafts förderung metropoleruhr (wmr,Economic Development metropoleruhr)and Ruhrgebiet Tourismus GmbH (RTG,Ruhr Tourism Ltd), the “pro Ruhrgebiet”society, the “Initiativkreis Ruhr” as wellas the city councils of the regions try to


distribute their regional interests bystrategic regionalizations. To pursue thisaim various image campaigns have beenlaunched as “Das Ruhrgebiet – Ein starkesStück Deutschland” (The Ruhr – a strongpiece of Germany) or “Der Pott kocht”(The pot is boiling) as well as regional pro -jects as “RUHR.2010 – KulturhauptstadtEuropas (RUHR.2010 – Europe’s Capitalof Culture). The region is presented andmarketed as Metropolis Ruhr the strengthof which is the variety of potentials that isgenerated by its polycentrality. A new cul-tural landscape is staged on old industrialsites. This is an innovative and successful

as each of them covers only a sub-region.Likewise the regionalized radio and TVprograms of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk(WDR, West German Broadcasting) areorientated to the sub-regions (western,central and eastern Ruhr).

There is a regional awareness of the Ruhrpopulation, but it is a latent one. It is thesensation to belong to a particular regionthat has received its consistent imprint bythe coal and iron industries and also bythe structural change. It is this imprintthat delimits the Ruhr from the adjacentregions. This regional awareness mani-fests itself by a consolidated perceptionfrom outside and by the political andstrategic regionalizations carried out bythe institutions of the Ruhr. However,typical regional stereotypes as “Grafter,miner and dove father” are no longerknown to the younger generation as theyare irrelevant to them.

From the external perspective, particular-ly from the international one “The Ruhr” isstill recognized as the core region of thestrong and export-orientated German in-dustry. This evaluation is so strong thatthe structural crises and the structuralchanges are often not recognized. More-over, from the international perspectivethe Ruhr is more recognized for its size andits variety than for its specifics and extra-

34

strategy as could be proved by the IBA Em-scher Park and the follow-up outstandinginitiatives of industrial culture that culmi-nate in the World Heritage Zollverein sitein Essen-Katernberg. Thus, the industrialpast that has left its imprints on theregion is not negated but is included inthe new regional developments.

This cultural approach can be regarded asa symptom of the changed attitude of theRuhr towards its past. Still in the 1980s, toovercome and to supersede the past wasthe predominant action, ending up in thedemolition of buildings and the greeningof sites. Since then the remains of theindustrial past are proudly accepted be-cause they have the potential to attractthe views from outside on and into theregion.

But even if it can be accepted that somehighlighted and aesthetically idealizedremains of the industrial past which canbe made use of in the present day leisuresociety constitute a retrospectively basedcultural regional awareness, it is incom -parably more difficult to create a politicalregional awareness. The debate on anindependent regional unit “Ruhrstadt”,flaming up now and then, might haveproduced a discussion about the efficien-cy of the regional public transport systembut it did not have the potential to be atopic that moves the regional society.This and other experiences in the lastdecades as well as recent surveys showthat the population of the region dealwith the region in a pragmatic way. They

2.5.12 A world star from the Ruhr: Herbert Grönemeyer performing in the Capital of Culture

Year 2010 opening show at the Zollverein mine in Essen

2.5.11 There is not a dry eye left in the house: Herbert Knebel’s Monkey Theater

2.5.10 The cabaret artist Jürgen von Manger

(1923-1994) performing the character Adolf

Tegtmeier

assess regional and local developmentspositive if they are of personal benefit.The cities react in a similar way. Whereasthe city of Essen pushes the regionalcooperation of the Ruhr with Essen beingthe center-point, the city of Duisburgregards itself as a hinge between theRuhr and the Rhine axis. The city of Dort-mund is engaged in the Metropolis Ruhr(RVR, Masterplan Ruhr) but also takes itsstand as a Westphalian metropolis. Sothe post-industrial Ruhr still exhibits adiffuse regional awareness. But common

successes as e.g. the Capital of Culture2010 show, that by creating a regionalexcess value the region can gain appre -ciation by both the politicians and thepopulation. And eventually and withreference to “structural change”, if andwhen promising and supporting answersto the economic, social and urban prob-lems that are comprised by that the termwill have been found, this might berecognized as another proud impulse tostrengthen the regional identity andawareness.

35

3 . M E TRO PO L I S R U H R – E CO N OMY

3.1 Structural change

Due to the fact that regions are in a con-tinuous world-wide economic competitionthey constantly have to adapt themselvesto changed conditions. Consequently, theyhave to change their socio-economicstructures in a flexible way in order toachieve a positive economic developmentas a region. Insofar, the structural changeof a region is not a final incident but acontinuous process.

Sometimes non-economic causes andconditions are of importance. So, unpre -cedented ecological changes might causeparticular effects, as e.g. in tourist regions.Political decisions can cause a structuralchange as well. When the Federal Republicof Germany has been founded in 1949Bonn was chosen as the capital, thefunction has been taken over by Berlinafter the reunification. The catalyst of theregional structural change of the Ruhr wasdefinitely an economic one.

With its old industrial mono-structurethe late 1950s Ruhr exhibited economicdeficits if compared to other regions. Inthe following years an increasing substi-tution (other energy sources or materialssuch as oil, nuclear power, synthetics),overproduction and price recession, amore cost-effective production abroad(e.g. open-cast coal mining), increasinglylower transport costs, reduced inputs ofcoal, iron and steel due to technical inno-vations and increased productivity causedthe crises of the regional coal mining andthe iron and steel industries, then induceda general structural crisis and ended up inthe regional structural change.

The superior connections of these eco-nomic causes of the structural change canbe explained by the theory of sectorialchange based on the classical subdivisioninto a primary, secondary and tertiarysector (primary sector = gaining yields inagriculture and forestry, secondary sec-tor = mining and product processing byindustries and handicrafts, tertiary sector =services; some authors detach a quater-nary from the tertiary sector which com-prises modern human capital intensiveservices). According to the theory of secto-rial change there is a general trend froman agricultural society to an industrial oneand eventually to a service-orientatedsociety; the development dynamics be-

hind therefore lead from a focus on theprimary sector to a focus on the secondaryone and finally to a dominant tertiarysector. Indeed, this sectorial change tookplace in Germany and in the Ruhr aswell,at present there is a prevailing service-orientated society. According to the theo-ry, an increase of productivity is one of themain causes of this structural change.Up to the last third of the 20th centurymechanization, automation and ratio -nalization have primarily affected theprimary and secondary sectors; quite re-cently mechanization has also remarkablychanged many parts of the service sector.On the other hand, the structural changeis explained by demand. The demandincreased in the tertiary sector whereasan increase of the demands for primaryand secondary sectors goods is limited.

Beside these theory-based superior struc-tural changes it has to be mentioned thatGermany, economically and technicallyhighly developed as it is, is still basedon a strong secondary sector, and thatrationalization is still changing the tertiarysector. Moreover, services have to be dif-ferentiated into traditional more labour-intensive services that show low growthpotentials (trade, distribution orientatedservices or consumptive services as retail-ing and gastronomy) and modern know -ledge and human capital based serviceswith the potential of a strong increase(education, health industry, finance, in -surances, advertising, consulting, dataprocessing, culture/entertainment etc.).

In general, the development of the Ruhrcorresponds to the theory of sectorialchange. Up to the second half of the 19thcentury a rural landscape characterizedthe sparsely settled region; since thenindustrial production dominated andchanged the Ruhr into Germany’s eco-

3 . M E TRO P O L I S R U H R – E CO N OMY

nomically most important region. Sincethe 1958 coal crisis a structural change ofthe Ruhr takes place towards a metropolischaracterized by distribution, consump-tion and knowledge-based services.

At first, the coal, iron and steel industriescrisis of the 1960s was regarded as achange of economic trends, but eventuallyit has to be recognized as a structural crisis,when the Ruhr, for decades depending onthe interrelated coal and iron complex,lost its economic basis by this crisis. Thede-industrialisation and rationalizationmeasures applied caused a massive de-cline of jobs. But even if these develop-ments clearly pinpointed a tendency awayfrom the classical productions of coalmining and the iron and steel industries,companies, politicians and the populationmisjudged the situation. Too big wasthe dominance and relevance of thetraditional economic basis to accept astraight forward structural change to-wards promis ing new industries. Compa-nies of the next technological generation,particularly those of the electrical andautomotive industries and in parts ofthe chemical industry as well, had beensettled outside the Ruhr for a variety ofreasons.

The iron and steel companies and parti -cularly the coal mining industry heldextensive property scattered all over theRuhr (production sites, extension areas,workers’ settlements) that was used as aproperty blockade against the allocationof follow-up industries. For a long timecompanies inclined to migrate into theRuhr did not find appropriate sites andinstead moved to the southern Rhinelandor to other German states; the only projectthat could be realized was the allocationof the Opel works in Bochum on thebrownfields of two coal mines in 1962; in

Tab. 4: Development of the workforce in the Ruhr 1960 to 2010, by sector (percentages)

Ruhr Ruhr Ruhr Ruhr Ruhr Ruhr GermanyYear 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2010

Primary sector 2.4 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.2 ca. 0.5 1.6

Secondary sector 61.0 58.4 51.6 44.4 33.3 26.9 28.2

Tertiary sector 36.6 40.0 46.9 54.4 65.4 72.6 70.1


36

1966 a third production line was opened.Still in the 1990s the three Opel workscomprised a workforce of some 20,000persons. Since then the number has beendeclining, and the Opel site in Bochumbecame the victim of the General Motorsconcentration process in Europe and willbe closed in 2014.

In the 1960s, the old industries opposednew allocations particularly because thecompanies of the new branches wereregarded as unwanted competitors on thequalified labour market. Moreover, formermining sites were retained as the ownerswere anxious that future subsidencemight cause claims for compensation.Consequently, sites no longer used bymining became long-time brownfields.

Another cause of the delayed structuralchange was the fact that the economicbasis of the region was dominated by bigmining and steel companies whereasmedium and small sized companies that

would have been able to influence thestructural change by their flexibility andrisk propensity were missing.

Moreover, up to the 1960s the Ruhr wassuffering from an education blockade asthere was no university in the region (from1655 to 1818 there had been a universityin Duisburg), even studies in mining andmetallurgy could only be pursued outsidethe region, particularly in Aachen and inClausthal. Since the 19th century thepolitical authorities had feared that anuncontrollable cooperation between theintellectual elite, the armed forces and theworkers might develop. In addition, thedemands on the miners’ and the iron andsteel workers’ education had deliberatelybeen kept low to be able to fulfill theenormous demand of workforce also withunskilled workers in-migrating from EastGermany.

In total, the structural change that be-came indispensable after the coal andsteel crises has been impeded by thedominating coal, iron and steel complexand only little steps towards change havebeen admitted since 1960.

Coal mining

As mentioned above, in winter 1957/58the coal crisis began. It was caused bythe opening of the international marketsand the competition of cheaper importedcoal, by increasing tendencies towardsoil and gas and by a drastically reducedconsumption of coal by traditional cus -tomers (shipping, railways, steel andchemical industries). The 1960s reactions

on the crisis were the fusion of miningcompanies, modes of rationalization and,fostered by national subsidies, shut-downs. But all these measures could notend the crisis so that in 1968 the wholeof Germany’s coal mining industry wasre-organized by the national coal act.Politics had to accept that the coal crisiscould not be overcome by piecemeal reac-tions and that the crisis was a structuralone that was going to continue.

After the foundation of the Ruhrkohle AG(1969) that merged the majority of themining companies, the amounts of out-put were fixed. The difference betweenthe world market price for coking coaland its cost-effective inlands price wassubsidized.

Coal mining has been the driving forceof the industrialization of the Ruhr; itsnorthward movement and the differentimpacts going along with it allowed thedevelopment zones to be distinguished.The decline of coal mining triggered thede-industrialisation of the Ruhr; the shut-downs, however, did not follow a constantspatial pattern. Before the foundation ofthe Ruhrkohle AG most of the individualmines that had been closed had beenold ones, situated in the Ruhr zone and inthe southern part of the Hellweg zone.After most of the remaining mines hadmerged to the Ruhrkohle AG a more effi-cient and coordinated process of closingdown shafts became possible, consideringthe subsurface connections of the mines.Consequently, the closing down processsince then did no longer meet the histo -rical zonal model but followed other

0

000

000

000

000

000

Workforce

Coal production(million tons)

201120001990198019701957

100

milliontons200

400

500

300

200

100

3.1.1 Development of coal production and

number of miners in the Ruhr

3.1.2 Northward movement of coal mining in the Ruhr

37

patterns. In the 1980s mine closuresmainly occurred in the Dortmund areaand in the eastern parts of the Ruhr; inEssen, Zollverein was the last mine to beclosed in 1986.

Since the first coal crisis this controlledretreat of mining and the reduced coalproduction respectively required 130thousand million Euros of public sub si -dies; in 1997 alone, coal mining has beensubsidized by 4.55 thousand millionEuros. In 2007, the Federal Government,the governments of the state North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland as well as thetrade union for mining, chemistry andenergy agreed to end the public subsidiesfor coal mining; according to the regula-tions, the amount of subsidies will bereduced with the decreasing amount ofcoal production until 2018.

The retreat of coal mining is nearlyfinished so far and is precisely planned toits absolute end. By the end of 2012, the1957 number of 141 mining sites hasbeen reduced to only two active coalmines (Prosper-Haniel mine in Bottropand the Auguste Victoria mine in Marl).During this period the number of jobs incoal mining sank from 494,986 to 16,073,the annual amount of produced coal from

123.2 million tons to 8.6 million tons. Inthe years 2008 and 2009 the Walsummine in Duisburg and the Lippe mine inGelsenkirchen were shut down, the Ostmine in Hamm followed in 2010 and theWest/Kamp-Lintfort mine and the totalSaarland district were given up in 2012. In2018 the Prosper-Haniel mine in Bottropand the anthracite mining in Ibbenbürenwill remain the last coal producing sites inGermany.

Eventually, depending on a variety ofpossible national, continental and globaltendencies on the energy market thiscomplex economic topic might still takesome unprecedented changes. There aresome arguments that have been broughtforward in the course of the discussionwhether to continue or to stop coalmining in Germany and in the Ruhr inparticular.

With a basic coal mining retained beyond2018 the national energy supply wouldbe guaranteed. Not to be depending onsuppliers is regarded as indispensablefacing the incalculable development ofthe fossil energy prices.

An argument of equal importance is tostrengthen the export-orientated Germanmining technology for which the resourceboom in the growing economies of China,India and Russia produces a constantdemand. In order to be able further todevelop this technology at least a mini-mum regional coal mining is regarded asnecessary.

Supporters of the coal mining industryalso stress that a socially acceptable end-ing of coal mining is unrealistic. In the pastonly a small number of miners could havebeen transferred to other industries. Con-

sequently, a shortfall of taxes and in-creased expenses for social benefits willcharge the public budgets. With thede-industrialisation proceeding, also themining supply companies suffer from joblosses as from each job in mining someothers depend in other industries. Mineclosures comprehensively affect the citiesand the urban districts involved andconsequently a restructuring of all socialfields is required.

To end the policy of subsidizing the coalis mainly discussed cost-oriented. Onthe one hand, supporting the nationalcoal is remarkably more expensivethan importing coal, and it can onlybe marketed with the support of publicsubsidies; on the other hand, there arethe follow-up costs (subsidence etc.). Andfinally, burning the fossil resource coaland facing a remarkable carbon dioxideburden is no longer acceptable for envi-ronmental reasons.

Iron and steel industries

As mentioned above, the crisis affectedthe iron and steel production of the Ruhrin 1974, i.e. later than the coal mining


Tab. 5: Development of the work force inthe iron and steel industry

Year The Ruhr North Rhine-Westphalia1960 263,632 456,6721970 226,762 427,7581980 184,484 342,1201990 123,181 287,8512000 51,167 97,9992006 44,279 87,502


3.1.3 Coking plant Duisburg-Schwelgern

3.1.4 Sticker (Duisburg-) “Rheinhausen

must live!”

38

3.1.5 Blast furnace sites in the Ruhr

3.1.6 Duisburg-Schwelgern harbour

crisis. Although the worldwide demandfor steel was very strong the raised oilprice became a burden of the globaleconomy. Moreover, Japan and other plaincarbon steel producing countries hadgrown to cost-effective competitors. From1974 to 1988 the amount of crude steelproduced in the Ruhr decreased by onethird, ensuing drastic jobs losses in theiron and steel industries.

As in coal mining, attempts were madeto answer the steel crisis by means ofrationalization. At first, only unproductivesegments of the steel works were closed,later, sites had to be closed completely toadjust the competitiveness of the compa-nies to the changed market conditions. Inaddition, steel companies merged to largetrusts.

The August Thyssen-Hütte AG that hadinstalled its first large blast furnacenext to the works dock in Duisburg-Schwelgern in 1973 gradually transferredits total pig iron production to this site(second large blast furnace blown in1993) and to Duisburg-Bruckhausen.After the production of pig iron hadbeen given up in Oberhausen (1979), inGelsenkirchen (1982) and in Duisburg-Meiderich (1986) the Thyssen Company

also closed the traditional smelting plantHenrichshütte in Hattingen in 1987;the site was turned into an industrialmuseum. The large smelting plantFriedrich-Alfred Hütte in Duisburg-Rhein-hausen (Krupp-Stahl AG) was scheduledto be shut down in a similar way; thisannouncement, however, provoked mas-sive protests and Rheinhausen becamea symbolic place of the steel crisis ofthe Ruhr. The shut-down was postponeduntil 1993 when the Rheinhausen steelsite has been given up completely andtransformed into a logistic site. Theprocesses of rationalization and closing-downs were accompanied by the mergerof large companies. In 1991, the KruppCompany in Essen bought the HoeschCompany in Dortmund, and in 1999 theKrupp and Thyssen Companies merged tothe new ThyssenKrupp Company whichbecame a global steel and technologycompany.

Since April 2001, blast furnaces havebeen operating in Duisburg only. Asmentioned, the steel works in Rhein-hausen had been closed in the 1990swhereas the steel site in Dortmund re-mained in operation. But due to variouslocational advantages the Duisburg sitegradually prevailed over other steelsites in the Ruhr. The prime locationalad vantages of the Duisburg site are itsdirect location at the river Rhine and itsport and logistics infrastructure. Con-cerning the supply of the materialsneeded for the iron and steel production(ore, coal, oil, mainly from abroad) aswell as the marketing of the products theDuisburg site exhibits remarkably bettertransport costs so that both the ironand the steel production is concentratedhere. The iron and steel processing takesplace on other sites inside and outsidethe Ruhr that are excellently connectedto Duisburg by canals, roads and railwaylines; e.g. for the automobile industrysteel from Duisburg is processed andrefined by means of modern technologyon the Westfalenhütte site in the northof Dortmund, 60 kilometers away. How -ever, two old blast furnaces, a steel worksand a rolling mill have been dismantledin Dortmund, they have been rebuilt inChina and keep on producing iron andsteel.

Producing iron and steel takes place ona global growth market the demandof which is influenced by the buildingand production demands in China andin other rapidly developing national

Tab. 6: Crude steel production 2011 (million tons)

The Ruhr Germany European Union WorldCrude steel production 2011 18 Mio. t 44 Mio. t 177 Mio. t 1,527 Mio. t

Source: Federal statistical office Wiesbaden, WV Stahl

39

3.1.7 Rolling mill in Dortmund

3.1.9 Smelting plant Westfalenhütte in Dortmund in 2002, being dismantled to be transported to China

3.1.8 Colourful design of blast furnace 8 in

Duisburg-Hamborn

economies. Due to the overall economiccrisis the German crude steel productiondecreased to 32.7 million tons in 2009,but already on 2010 it recovered to some44 million tons; the Ruhr holds a share of44 per cent.

It has to be stated that the decades ofa dominant coal, iron and steel sectorhave left behind a variety of burdens.First of all, there are the soils that havebeen contaminated because industrialpollutants and waste materials haveusually been deposited and tipped. Themassive industrial land-use of the Ruhrsince the beginning of industrialisationhas left behind soil and water contamina-tions. If an industrial brownfield shall bere-used an evaluation of the contamina-tion is necessary at first.

The re-use of old coal mining or ironand steel sites is also impeded by theremaining industrial plants and build -ings as e.g. blast furnaces, shaft buildings,gasometers etc. that could be conta -minated as well. Both a complete dis-mantling and the new use are rathercost-intensive. One of the ways out ofthis dilemma is the concept of industrialculture which has become a uniquefeature of the Ruhr.

But not only real but also mental burdensplayed their role in the process of struc-tural change. Since the 1960s the regionis perceived by dirt, noise, contamination,job losses and other problems andthe negative image was constituent

both inside and outside the region. From1960 to 1990, the population of theRuhr perceived the burdens of the regionas so overwhelming that the chancesand potentials were often overseen andhad nearly no impact on the self-percep-tion.

To complicate the situation even more,the various cities of the Ruhr, althoughconfronted with similar problems, toa wide extent tried to solve these prob-lems by themselves. Instead of concen-trating the efforts and developing com-mon complementary strategies a policyof communal egotisms prevailed (paro -chialism).

With all these aspects, the series of riseand fall, of vitalization and resurrectionreflects the changing economic develop-ment of the Ruhr. Consequently, thisregion is always taken as a strikingexample for the lasting economic struc-tural change: “Half still kept by rust andcinder, half on the jump to the day aftertomorrow – there is no other region inGermany that undergoes such a radicalchange as the Ruhr. In the midst of theruins of the old industries high techfirms and research labs flourish” (quoted

from the journal Wirtschaftswoche in1989).

The many efforts and developments thathave caused the economic status quo ofthe Metropolis Ruhr shall be considered inthe following sub-chapters.


40

3.2 Structural policy and economicpromotion

In the course of a long-lasting processof structural change the Ruhr had to re-arrange itself anew. To support the effortsto overcome the dwindling dominanceof coal mining and the iron and steel in-dustries a series of political measures havebeen launched. Financially supported bythe European Union, the Federal Govern-ment and the state North Rhine-West-phalia, it was the aim of the public pro-grams of the last decades to create acoalescent diversified and socio-economi-cally thriving Metropolis Ruhr betweenSonsbeck in the west, Hamm in the east,Hamminkeln in the north and Breckerfeldin the south.

Since the mid-1960s the state North Rhine-Westphalia and the Federal Government,later the European Union as well, startedto alleviate the social consequences of thestructural change by measures of structur-al policy; new economic structures were tobe established. For years these economicdevelopment schemes created the newstrengths of the region, as e.g. the widerange of research activities, comprising atpresent some 30 sites. Retrospectivelyit can be said that these first programslay the basic shaping of the Ruhr asa metropolitan region. More and morethe industrial conurbation turned into aconcentration of the service economywhich is already able today to fulfill somemetropolitan functions in the global com-petition.

Four phases of regional development policyand programs can be distinguished. In thefirst phase (1966-1974) the concept of anintegrated structural policy brought for-ward the Entwicklungsprogramm Ruhr(EPR, Development Program Ruhr) whichintended a rationalization of the spatialstructures and a new industrialization, ase.g. by the allocation of the Opel car pro-duction in Bochum. It was also by this

program that new universities were estab-lished, e.g. Ruhr University Bochum in1965 and University of Dortmund in 1968.Infrastructural deficiencies were overcomeby the extensions of the motorway and thepublic transport systems. Following theidea of the car-adjusted city constructingnew motorways and other arterial roadswas preferred to the public transport net-work. The EPR has widely been successfulin removing fundamental deficits in the in-frastructure, but, at the same time, forcedan urban sprawl. It has not been successfulin allocating new industries and in reduc-ing the unemployment rates.

The following Aktionsprogramm Ruhr(APR, Action Program Ruhr), launched in1979, conceptualized the centralized struc-tural policy of the second phase (1975-1986) and aimed at allocating innovativecompanies of the technology orientatedindustries, as e.g. information and com-munication technologies and bio/medicaltechnologies. To promote these intentionsvarious technology centers have beenfounded in the cities of the Ruhr. Particu-larly successful has been the technologycenter Dortmund (est. 1985) which, in2011, comprised 280 firms with more than8,500 persons employed. In cooperationwith the Technical University Dortmund ithas been developing to an important R&Dsite.

Gradually it became apparent that next tothe allocation of new technology basedcompanies the endogenous potential ofthe existing economic structure had tobe strengthened. By launching programsto promote the coal, steel and energytechnologies it was intended to transformNorth Rhine-Westphalia and the Ruhr intoGermany’s energy center; thus the mo -dernization of the existing industrialstructures initiated a re-industrialisation.

In contrast to the second phase, the ap-proach of a regionalized structural policyhas been pursued in the third phase (1987-

1999); it started with the Zukunftsinitia-tive Montanregionen (ZIM, InnovativeInitiative Coal and Steel Regions). Moretechnology centers as e.g. the Duisburg-Neudorf technology park (1989) were es-tablished to promote the new technolo-gies; to use and enlarge the endogenouspotentials the existing companies andother players were more integrated inthe structural policy. Because, however, aregional networking or at least a regionalcoordination of the various planning ini-tiatives was missing a new profile of theregional economy could not be achieved.

In 1989, the International Building Exhibi-tion Emscher Park (IBA) was opened in thearea alongside the river Emscher for a pe-riod of ten years. As the Emscher zone hadexperienced the severest industrial im-pact of all historical development zones,the IBA initiative pursued a comprehen-sive ecological, economic and social revi-talization of the Emscher zone; and itforced the cities of the Emscher zone intoa cooperation thus creating some form ofregional spirit. Concentrated on six guid-ing themes (restoration of the landscape,ecological restructuring of the Emschersystem, working in the park, new forms ofhousing and urban development, industri-al culture and tourism, social initiativesand qualification) many development im-pulses could be achieved, and the percep-tion of the Emscher zone from inside andfrom outside could positively be changed.

In 2000, the last phase of regional devel-opment policy that can be described by“self-organised structural policy” startedwhen the NRW government initiated theProjekt Ruhr GmbH program. Again theexisting potentials were to strengthen(“strengthening the strengths”). For itsstructural policy the Project Ruhr selecteda cluster approach by defining 12 existingfields of competence that shall locallybe strengthened. A competence field isdefined as the regional concentration ofloosely connected enterprises and institu-

1960 Time 2007

1979Action Program

Ruhr

1968DevelopmentProgram Ruhr

1986Coal and Steel

Regions Initiativefor the Future

1989-1999International

Building ExhibitionEmscher Park

2000-2006Project

Ruhr

2007Economic Promotionmetropoleruhr GmbH

3.2.1 Programs of regional structural policy in the Ruhr

41

3.2.2 At first agricultural land-use (1964) …

3.2.4 … and finally, its extension by the Technology Center (center of photo) and the Technology Park (2009)

3.2.3 … then the foundation of the University of Dortmund (1980) …


42

tions of a specific economic field; it ex-hibits particular economic strengths thatcontribute to regional growth, innovationand employment.

• There shall exist innovative networksand co-operations between research in-stitutions, development units and enter-prises,

• New application shall jointly be testedand experiences shall be exchanged,

• Technologies and products shall be de-veloped and marketed.

In total, structural support shall be con-centrated on economic fields that in themedium term promise a self-supportinggrowth and that can rely on a considerablenumber of enterprises and expertise in theregion. As the activities and projects in theselected competence fields are widely

spread over the region and no sub-regionhas been excluded, a broad consensuscould be achieved. Figure 3.2.5 shows theregional distribution of the competencefields: Energy and energy techno logy,information technology, logistics, newchemistry, medical technology and healtheconomy, micro structure techno logy andmicroelectronics, new materials incl. thesteel industry, water and sewage tech-nologies, mining technology, me cha nicalengineering, design as well as tourism andleisure.

In the meantime the importance of clus-ters and networks as part of structural de-velopment aid has decreased and is beingsubstituted by a new system of an indus-trial core with flanking corporate serviceswhich still comprises 17.8 per cent of theregional employees liable to taxes (2009)and eight lead markets (health, urban con-struction and housing, mobility, sustain-

able consumption, efficient use of re-sources, leisure and events, education andresearch, digital communication). Follow-ing the supply and/or production chains,each of these leads market is divided in acore area of production or services and insections that provide the materials andprocesses, the necessary engineering, theauxiliary industries and the auxiliaryservices. But whatever the approach, thefollowing competence fields/lead marketsare of particular importance.

Energy

Due to its mining history the Ruhr hasalways been one of Germany’s most im-portant energy extraction regions. As faras energy conversion, energy supply andenergy technology are concerned the re-gion holds the leading position in Europe.In 2010, a range of 295 companies, some52,000 jobs and an annual turnover of

3.2.5 Spatial distribution of the competence fields in the Ruhr

3.2.6 Pumped storage hydro power station

“Koepchenwerk” on Lake Hengstey in Herdecke 3.2.7 Chemical Park Marl

43

47 billion Euros characterized this leadmarket. Leading international energy com-panies have their headquarters in theregion. So the competence field of energyand energy technology is represented bythe complete value added chain, from theproduction of the energy via the produc-tion of plants, the use of regenerativeresources and the production of electricity,heat und fuels to the efficient energyinput. Within this strong energy sectorrenewable energies and solar energy havebecome a particular focus. In 1994 theInstitut für angewandte Photovoltaik(INAP, Institute for the application of pho-tovoltaics) has been founded in Gelsen -kirchen; since 2002, an overall develop-ment towards a solar city is the guiding de-velopment principle of Gelsenkirchen. Avariety of public and private houses havebeen equipped with solar panels, in 2007the Fraunhofer-Institut für Solar-Energiehas been opened, and in 2008 Germany’slargest solar energy housing estate hasbeen built.

Despite this overall variety of potentialplayers, however, this competence fieldstill lacks a closer cooperation in form of acluster management.

Logistics

The global transport of goods requires amodern and efficient organization. In theMetropolis Ruhr the logistics competencefield has two locational advantages asthere is an extraordinarily equipped infra-structure and the region is situated at thecross-point of the two main corridors ofEuropean development, the Blue Bananaand the Yellow Banana; within a distanceof 250 kilometers from the Ruhr, some60 million people live in Europe’s densestmarket. Consequently, Project Ruhr statesthat the Metropolis Ruhr has alreadyachieved the position of a European hubof logistic expertise. In 2010, there weremore than 90,000 jobs in nearly 6,000transport and logistics enterprises andtheir value supply chain; in total they gen-erated an annual turnover of 10.6 billionEuros. Quite obviously, the central site ofthis competence field is Europe’s largestdomestic port in Duisburg and its trimodalinterface of ship, railway and road traffic.In the last years a cluster managementcould be established in the region.

Chemistry

For a long time the chemical industry hasbeen one of Germany’s most important

industries. The state North Rhine-West-phalia with the Metropolis Ruhr is thelargest chemical industry region, achiev-ing more than one third of the turnover ofGermany’s chemical industry. There is along and diversified value added chainfrom the development and the productionof chemical substances to the applicationof synthetics. Chemical companies ofnational and international importance arelocated in the Ruhr as e.g. Evonik andDeutsche BP. In 2010, 225 chemical enter-prises with 23,000 persons employed gen-erated an annual turnover of more than15 million Euros, the 230 synthetic andsurface processing enterprises, providingsome 8,000 jobs, achieved an annualturnover of two million Euros. It has alsoto be highlighted that there is a largeamount of internationally renowned re-search and development institutions aswell as numerous scientific institutionsthat provide research and teaching in thefield of chemistry.

The ChemSite initiative, established in1997, provides a professional competencefield management. By a successful part-nership between the chemical industry,the state North Rhine-Westphalia and thelocal authorities a lot of sites have beenmodernized or newly created in the lastyears. Because many larger companies re-quire less space due to shrinking processesand the outsourcing of capacities so calledchemistry parks could be developed usingvacant plots; various enterprises are nowgrouped there along the material flows;one of largest integrated site in Europe isthe Chemiepark Marl.

Health economy

In all regions the health economy is animportant basis but not necessarily a

competence field worth mentioning inparticular. In the Ruhr, however, there isa very close network of hospitals andclinics. Considering the demographicalstructure, the progress in medical technol-ogy and the increasing awareness healthassociated products and services are wide-ly requested. To develop an intelligenturban supply structure for this growthmarket under the conditions of demo-graphic change the state North Rhine-Westphalian government has chosen theMetropolis Ruhr as a model region.

Labour-intensive as it is, the health indus-try has given impulses to the regionalstructural change. In 2010, the MetropolisRuhr provided 120 hospitals, 1,100 nurseryhomes, 9,000 general practitioners andmedical specialists, 1,350 pharmacies,720 medical technology companiesand three medical faculties (Essen, Bo -chum, Witten/Herdecke). 240,000 personsworked in the health and generated anannual turnover of 10,7 billion Euros. Topromote a professional cluster manage-ment some medical institutions merged toMedEconRuhr.

Cross-sectional technologies

In economic development planning, nano -technology, microsystems technology andmaterial technology are regarded as cross-sectional technologies and as 21st cen turykey technologies. Their progress gives im-pulses to all fields which they are appliedin. They fuel the development of newproducts and processes in the appliedfields of mechanical and plant engineer-ing, communication technology, automo-bile industry, logistics, chemistry and thehealth economy. The city of Dortmund hasbecome a regional focus of these cross-sectional technologies.

3.2.8 The West German Proton Radiation Center in the University Clinic Essen


Next to strengthening the strengths, theProject Ruhr and the cities of the Ruhr tryto initiate regional co-operations withinthe Metropolis Ruhr.

From 2000 to 2003, the eight cities Duis-burg, Oberhausen, Mülheim an der Ruhr,Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Bochum andDortmund have been cooperating in theproject „Städteregion Ruhr 2030“ (UrbanRegion Ruhr 2030) and elaborated fieldsof future cooperation. The project wasconcluded by a regional contract which,among others, determined to establish acommon Master Plan Ruhr.

The highlight of regional cooperation sofar was the year of the European Capital ofCulture which took place in 2010; theurban and rural districts of the Ruhr hadjointly applied for the title which had thenrepresentatively been bestowed on thecity of Essen.

As far as the regional co-operation is con-cerned, the Regionalverband Ruhr (Regio -nal Authority Ruhr) that comprises allurban and rural districts of the Ruhr playsa special role. Its influence on the Metro -polis Ruhr has been increased by the 2007RVR Act according to which the followingcompulsory duties have to be fulfilled:

• regional planning,

• establishing master plans as well asplanning and development concepts,

44

• continuing and developing the EmscherLandscape Park, the Route of IndustrialCulture and other forms of regional pa-tronages,

• protection of areas (green spaces, waterareas, forests) for recreation and tomaintain a balanced natural household,

• Regional economic development, sitemarketing, tourism promotion and pub-lic relations,

• Analysis and evaluation of data andstructural development.

It must be stated that up to now regionalco-operation within the Metropolis Ruhris confined to soft fields as the planning oflandscape and culture which is widelybare of conflicts. The effects of the com-monly established master plans remain tobe seen.

To fulfill the relevant economic tasks,the RVR has founded the subsidiary com-pany wirtschaftsförderung metropole-ruhr GmbH (wmr, Economic promotionmetropoleruhr) in 2007 which deals withthe economic promotion and the location-al marketing by merging the local interestsin a regional context. The wmr representsthe Ruhr on international estate fairs asthe ExpoReal in Munich and the MIPIM inCannes. Thus the Ruhr is presented as a re-gional entity instead of the former compe-tition between and single performances of

the cities and rural districts on occasionslike these.

The central tasks of the wmr are to pro-mote the Metropolis Ruhr on the nationaland international levels, to create and tomanage regional networks and compe-tence centers, to acquire and to consultenterprises in locational affairs, to providerelevant information about the regionaleconomy, to create networks, to provideon the site contacts as well as coordina-tion and professional communal supportwhen applying for economic and regionalfunds. The regional economic promotionas it is executed by the wmr, is orientatedto a comprehensive development of theregion. That is why the wmr changed fromthe competence field strategy to the con-cept of lead markets in order to mobilizethe potentials and to open up innovativeregional milieus by networking.

This wmr strategy marks the actual end ofa long history of economic promotion inthe Ruhr that has been accompanyingthe process of structural change in thelast decades. Whereas the traditional eco-nomic promotion of the local communitieshas been focused on offering new sites andon consulting enterprises without adjust-ing the activities to superior concepts,modern forms of economic promotionsupport the enterprises by providing acomprehensive site management and arange of services. Innovative companiesand starters are particularly supported as

Xanten

Witten

Wetter

WeselWerne

WaltropVoerde

Unna

Sprockhövel

Sonsbeck

Selm

Schwerte

Schwelm

Schermbeck

Rheinberg

Reckling-hausen

ErkenschwickOer-

hausenOber-

VluynNeukirchen-

upon RuhrMülheim

Moers

Marl

Lünen

Kamp-Lintfort

Kamen

Hünxe

wickedeHolz-

Herten

Herne

Herdecke

Hattingen

Hamminkeln

Hamm

Haltern am See

Hagen

Gladbeck

Gevelsberg

kirchenGelsen-

Fröndenberg

Essen

Ennepetal

Duisburg

Dortmund

Dorsten

Dinslaken

Datteln

RauxelCastrop-

Breckerfeld

Bottrop Bönen

Bochum

Bergkamen

Alpen

WESELWESEL

RURALRURAL

ENNEPE-ENNEPE-

RECKLINGHAUSEN RECKLINGHAUSEN

RURAL DISTRICTRURAL DISTRICT

RUHRRUHR

RURALRURAL

UNNAUNNA

Technology and start-up centers

RURALRURAL

DISTRICTDISTRICT

DISTRICTDISTRICT

DISTRICTDISTRICT

3.2.9 Technology and start-up centers in the Ruhr

45

3.2.12 Industrial and technology park Dieprahm in Kamp-Lintfort

3.2.10 Metropolis Ruhr stand on the Interna-

tional Estate Fair MIPIM (Marché International

des Professionnels de l’immobilier) in Cannes,

France

3.2.11 The “Colani Egg” on the headframe of

the former coal mine “Minister Achenbach”

in the technology and start-up center Lünen

(LÜNTEC)

well as local developments that fit into thelead markets of the region. Thus in the cityof Herne the innovation and start-up cen-ter comprises various sites with innovativemedium-sized enterprises. The allocationof innovative companies started in the1980s with the foundation of the technol-ogy center in Dortmund which has becomea successful cluster of information tech-nology companies. In the meantime therehave some 30 technology centers beenestablished in the Metropolis Ruhr. Not allof them are orientated to one specific com-petence field, most of them are to rely ona wider range of technological servicesas e.g. the two technology and start-upcenters in Bottrop.

In addition, since the 1990s some local“light tower projects” were to change thestructure and the image of the region.However, some other major projects as“UFO” in Dortmund, “Passarea” in Essenand “Multi Casa” in Duisburg proved tobe too ambitious and failed for differentreasons. On other sites larger investmentssucceeded, as the CentrO on the site of aformer steelworks in Oberhausen, theKrupp green belt in the immediate vicini-ty of the city-center of Essen and theextensive Phoenix area in Dortmund.

What an interim balance can be drawnafter decades of structural policy and eco-nomic subsidies? The region succeededin changing from a mono-functional in-dustrial region of coal, iron and steelto a metropolis with a new and multi-fold economic basis. By means of struc -tural policy and economic developmentschemes the Metropolis Ruhr has changedinto a globally orientated region and, as inall European metropolitan regions, itscompetitiveness is going to be developedby continuous innovations in the know -ledge economy. As in other regions, thischange produces sub-regions with twodifferent development speeds; there arepreferred sub-regions that positively de-velop according the global needs, but thereare also others in which the quality of lifeis deteriorating quickly as well.

By strengthening the strengths and thestrong the weaknesses and the weakare left behind. To overcome this contra-dictory development an integrated urbanrenewal has been applied because theresults of the international and inter -dis ciplinary urban research show that thequality of life in deprived quarters canbest be improved by integrated actionprograms. To reinforce the effects, the

financial resources are coordinated in anurban quarter program for a clearlydefined area and for a given time. Indoing so, the integrated urban renewalprograms „Soziale Stadt“ (e.g.in Essen-Katernberg, Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck/Schalke-Nord, Dinslaken-Lohberg or Cas-trop-Rauxel-Deininghausen) and URBAN(Duisburg-Marxloh, Dortmund-Nordstadt)have been executed; financial resourceshave been provided by the state, theFederal Government and the EuropeanUnion. By these measures severe forms ofdeprivation could be stopped in thesequarters, the given potentials were coor-dinated and a positive development couldbe initiated.

In the last years, however, a new orienta-tion of the national and European urbanpolicies could be recognized, as the prob-lem-orientated approach is substituted bya competitive one. According to the Lisbonstrategy of the European Union, competi-tiveness on the international market is theprimary qualification the regions in West-ern Europe have to be adjusted to, massiveproblems in some urban quarters are butof minor importance. The political aim toestablish equal living conditions is onlyapplied to the deprived regions of thenew member states. The west Europeanregions including the Metropolis Ruhr areset back to a policy that only guaranteesminimum standards for the cities andtheir population (“competition orientatedurban policy with a social touch”). It istherefore important to complement thisgeneral political approach by particularregional development strategies.


46

3.3 Restructuring the major companies

Metropolitan regions send out importantsteering impulses, decision-making andcontrolling are important functions of theauthorities and institutions located inthem. The economic steering function ismainly concentrated in the headquartersof national and international companies.

The headquarters of a remarkable numberof important global players are locatedin the Metropolis Ruhr, mainly in Essen(ThyssenKrupp, RWE, RAG, E.ON Ruhrgas),but also in Duisburg (Haniel, Thyssen -Krupp Steel), Mülheim an der Ruhr (Ten-gelmann, Aldi) and Dortmund (Signal-Iduna). It is striking that the major compa-nies allocated in the Metropolis Ruhr canbe assigned to two fields. On the onehand, there are the energy concerns or thecompanies with an old industrial legacy,on the other, there are important tradeand service companies. These global play-ers have to undergo a constant change byapplying strategic adjustments to theglobal market; the allocation of sites isfluctuating as well. After the Arcandor AG(former Karstadt-Quelle) insolvency in2011 the headquarters of two DAX com-panies are left in the Metropolis Ruhr:RWE and ThyssenKrupp.

Companies with a coal and steel legacyhave undergone a complete re-structuringin the last years even if they did not leavetheir sites in the Metropolis Ruhr.

The re-structuring of mining: RAG andEvonik Industries

As mentioned above, the federal govern-ment, the states North Rhine-Westphaliaand Saarland and the trade union for min-ing, chemistry and energy in 2007 agreedto end coal mining in Germany and to letexpire the public subsidies for the pro-duction of coal until 2018. In response tothis development, Ruhrkohle AG (RAG)that had been founded in 1968 andhad incorporated the chemical companyDegussa in 2003 has been divided intotwo sections. The “black” section whichcontinued to be RAG is still focused oncoal mining; with 29,000 persons em-ployed a turnover of 3.2 billion Euros hasbeen generated in 2009. Next to coal min-ing the “black” RAG has opened someother fields of activity allocated in affili-ated companies. RAG Mining Solutionsavails itself of the rich technological ex-pertise of German coal mining, miningmachinery is being exported worldwide.

Tab. 7: Top ten of the Ruhr companies

No. Turnover 2010 Company Place National (million Euros) rank

1 53,320 RWE AG Essen 102 46,621 ThyssenKrupp Essen 183 40,026 BP Europa SE Bochum 19

(former Deutsche BP AG)4 32,570 Aldi Süd Group Mülheim a.d. Ruhr 235 27,432 Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH Duisburg 256 27,430 Aldi Nord Essen 267 20,896 E.ON Ruhrgas AG Essen 338 20,159 HOCHTIEF AG Essen 359 14,287 Schenker AG Essen 4810 13,300 Evonik Industries AG Essen 49

(former RAG Aktiengesellschaft)


3.3.1 Skyline of Essen with the Evonik and RWE towers

3.3.2 Skyline of Dortmund with RWE tower, public library and Stadtsparkasse

47

The resource boom in Russia, China andIndia has opened large markets. Next tomining technology RAG Mining Solutionsoffers tailor-made services for deep-shaft mining (engineering, consultingand training services).

RAG Montan Immobilien is concentratedon the estate management and on thedevelopment and management of sites.In particular, new land-use concepts forformer industrial areas (approx. 13,000hectares) are developed and marketed.

The affiliated company RAG Ruhranalytikis an independent test laboratory in Hernespecialized on the analysis of solid fuelsand other environmental substances.

For the “white” section of the former RAGwhich comprises chemistry, estate man-agement and energy Evonik Industries AGhas been founded in 2007. With 39,000persons employed Evonik has generated aturnover of 13.1 billion Euros in 2009. Inthe field of special chemistry Evonik holdsa strong market position by developingnew substances for future technologiesin the fields “consumer, health and nutri-tion”, “resource efficiency” and “specialmaterials”.

In the field of estate management Evonikis one the largest private housing compa-nies in North Rhine-Westphalia managingsome 60,000 own units and 70,000 unitsof THS GmbH which Evonik Immobilienholds a 50 per cent share in.

The energy action field is dominated byoperating fossil fuels power stations.Evonik operates eight coal power stations,two refinery power stations and a varietyof energy generating plants on the basisof renewable energies. Including otherpower stations in Columbia, in Turkey andin the Philippines Evonik produces 9,400Megawatt.

For the superordinate control of RAG andEvonik Industries the RAG Foundation thathas been founded in 2007 fulfills centraltasks:

• to pilot the socially acceptable processof changing German coal mining until2018,

• to lead Evonik Industries AG to thecapital market and foster its successfuldevelopment. After its stock exchangequotation analysts regard the companyas a potent DAX claimant.

• to use these revenues and furtherearnings to accumulate a foundationfortune until 2009 that allow the “eter-nal burdens” of German coal miningto be paid from 2019 onwards. Theseburdens include the costs for perma-nently pumping the ground water inareas of extensive mining-induced sub -sidence, for the reconstruction of oldshafts and for the decontamination ofpolluted soils. For these purposes theRAG Foundation will need several billionEuros.

The re-structuring of the iron and steelindustry: ThyssenKrupp

Since the fusion in 1999 ThyssenKrupphas become a global steel and technologycompany the new headquarter of whichhas been built in the vicinity of the oldKrupp house. Duisburg, home town ofThyssen, retained the last integratedsmelting plant including coking plants,blast furnaces, steel works and rollingmill.

Next to the transnational steel companyArcelorMittal the ThyssenKrupp Companyproduces more than one third of allthe steel produced in Germany. Thereare 1,200 jobs on the ThyssenKrupp sitein Duisburg, and another 3,600 in thesupplying companies. With 15 milliontons of flat rolled steel produced in 2008ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG wasamong Europe’s leading steel producers.


3.3.3 Disk shearer produced by the mining

supply company Eickhoff Maschinenfabrik in

Bochum

3.3.4 Coal power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven

Focused on high quality flat steel TKS triesto remain profitable on the contestedglobal steel market by applying modernmaterials, products and processes. A newblast furnace has been built at a price of250 million Euros; some other ones havebeen modernized for more than 100 mil-lion Euros. Another 800 million Euros havebeen invested in a coking plant in 2003that produces 2.5 million tons of coke per

48

year and thus guarantees the demandsof the ThyssenKrupp blast furnaces. By allthese measures TKS succeeded in increas-ing productivity and steel quality andwas able to reduce the consumption ofmaterial and energy at the same time:the amount of steel annually producedper worker increased from 315 t (1990) to650 t (2007). Instead of once 800 kilo-grams of coke needed to produce one tonof steel the new blast furnace requiresonly 480 kilograms of coke.

The steel boom has been initiated bythe emerging Asian economies and hascaused incessantly increasing prices foriron and steel; this development hasbeen answered by ThyssenKrupp by newinvestments abroad. After the globaleconomic crisis had been overcome andthe demands for steel had recoverednew TKS steel producing sites wereestablished in Brazil and in the UnitedStates. In the new steel works in SantaCruz (Federal state Rio de Janeiro) 5 mil-lion tons of high quality steel slabs arecost-efficiently produced annually. Thesite near to the Atlantic Ocean waschosen because of its vicinity to the ironores and the cost-efficient modes oftransport to the processing works. Threemillion tons of these steel slabs areto be transported to the new works inAlabama/USA where they are processedto quality flat steel; the remaining 2million tons shall be transported fromSanta Cruz to the site in Duisburg to beprocessed to quality flat steel as well.However, both these enterprises havenot been successful and the businessarea Steel Americas is classified as a dis-continued operation as of September 30,2012.

ThyssenKrupp is also promoting R&D inorder to enlarge the potentials of steel; incooperation with industrial, political andacademic partners the InterdisciplinaryCentre of Advanced Materials Simulation(ICAMS) has been established at the RuhrUniversity in Bochum. Here new materialsare developed that are adjusted to theproperties of the final product.

Next to steel production (some 50,000employees), industrial commodities andservices (more than 140,000 employees)have become major fields of Thyssen -Krupp engagements; here more than50 per cent of the total turnover aregenerated which, in 2008, summed up to53.4 billion Euros. ThyssenKrupp is amajor car supplier, has sold the Transrapidto China and is an important producer ofpassenger transportation systems (esca-lators, elevators etc.). In office or residen-tial buildings, hotels, shopping malls, atairports and in railway stations the Eleva-tor Technology Business Area increasesmobility by innovative and reliable tech-nologies that are energy-efficient andeco-friendly. The Industrial SolutionsBusiness Area provides end-to-end engi-neering services for the design and con-struction of chemical plants, refineriesand other industrial facilities, equipmentfor the cement and minerals industries aswell as machinery and systems for themining, processing, handling and trans-portation of raw materials and minerals.Material and industrial services, as e.g.logistics, warehouse management aresuccessful as well.

Components Technology Business Areais the world's leading manufacturer oflarge slewing bearings for conveying,

mining and extraction systems, for har-bour, ship and construction cranes, andfor earthmoving machinery; other appli-cations are solar and wind energy plants,offshore engineering, and industrial ro-bots. The Business Area also includes theproduction of crawlers and crawler com-ponents for mining, forestry and agricul-tural machines, excavators, bulldozers,and track-mounted tractors; finally, steer-ing shafts, steering columns and steeringgears for vehicles are produced.

Until 2009 the various business fields hadbeen organized in the segments Steel,Stainless, Technologies, Elevator and Ser -vices. Due to the global economic crisiscosts had to be reduced and the segmentsmerged into the two divisions Materials(Steel, Stainless, Services) and Technolo-gies (Technologies, Elevator).

But ThyssenKrupp not only changed theorganization of the company, but by trans-ferring the headquarters from Düsseldorfto Essen the company gave a clear com-mitment to the Metropolis Ruhr. This newheadquarter is embedded into the Kruppbelt which, in the vicinity of the city-cen-ter, re-uses the mainly unused brownfieldof the former Krupp works that had notbeen reconstructed after World War II.In co-operation with the city of Essen,ThyssenKrupp is going to change this areaof 230 hectares into a modern urban quar-ter themed “Center, Variety and Change”which will comprise the functions hous-ing, economy and recreation.

In terms of size and architecture, theKrupp belt is focused on the ThyssenKruppheadquarters. Close to Friedrich Krupp’sworkshop more than 2,500 employeeswork in this headquarters which compris-es 100,000 square meters of floor spacewith the corporate headquarters, themain offices of the different action fields,a management education and trainingcenter and a hotel.

Adjacent to the headquarters, in 2011 theKrupp Park has been realized on a sitethat had not been open to the public fordecades but had been a barrier betweenthe city-center of Essen and the localdistrict Essen-Altendorf. Landscaped andenriched by a lake this area of 22 hectaresis planned to become an attractive areafor local recreation. In addition to that andadjacent to the Krupp belt, plots are beinglaid out that are regarded as attractive toallocate service enterprises. The revenueoffice with 850 persons employed, some

3.3.5 ThyssenKrupp production sites (October 2012)

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3.3.6 The new Krupp belt in Essen with – from left to right – Krupp Park, Berthold-Beitz-Boulevard and ThyssenKrupp headquarters

car dealers and an industrial estate havealready been allocated. Both the centralposition and the large regional potentialof customers are the advantages whichthis site is marketed with in order toattract new companies in a business park.The Berthold-Beitz-Boulevard is the arte -r ial road that connects this new area toboth the city-center and the adjacentdistricts.

This chapter shows that the structuralchange of the region had to go alongwith the re-organization of the largecompanies of coal mining and iron andsteel. Even if it might be argued thatthis re-organization has come to a success-ful end RAG, Evonik and ThyssenKrupp willhave to undergo a continuous change alsoin the future to be able to operate onglobal markets. Thus the given analysis ofthe status-quo situation has necessarily tobe regarded as a snap-shot. The funda-mental changes of RAG and Evonik in thefollowing years have already been deter-mined by law. Future trends on the globalresource and steel markets will influencethe Metropolis Ruhr and its companies, asdid e.g. the fusion of the steel giantsArcelor and Mittal in 2006.

3.4 Development of the small and medium-sized businesses

According to the definition of the Institutfür Mittelstandsforschung in Bonn (Insti-tute for the research of middle-classenterprises) small businesses compriseup to 9 persons employed and generatean annual turnover of less than one mil-lion Euro, medium-sized businesses com-prise 10 to 499 employees, the annualturnover is below 50 million Euros. Thuscompanies with less than 500 employeesand an annual turnover of less than 50million Euros are summarized as smalland medium-sized businesses (SMBs)whereas businesses with more than 500employees and more than 50 millionEuros of annual turnover are large com-panies. EU definitions, however, regardbusinesses with 250 employees and anannual turnover of more than 50 millionEuros already as large businesses.

These quantitative definitions reveal thestrengths and weaknesses of SMBs incomparison to large ones. Due to theirflexibility SMBs are often regarded asthe hope and the driving forces on thelabour market. In North Rhine-Westphalia

they are of great importance, as theygenerate 42 percent of the turnover andprovide 80 percent of the jobs; in contrary,only 0.5 percent of the North Rhine-West-phalian enterprises are large ones. SMBsare also appraised for their local relations,their close proximity to market and cus-tomers and consequently for their higherlocational persistence. In the MetropolisRuhr this is particularly be true becausemany SMBs have been the suppliers ofthe large coal, iron and steel companies.That is why there have been only limitedpos sibilities to let an independent rangeof innovative SMBs develop. Moreover,there is only a limited readiness in theMetropolis Ruhr to found an own busi-ness. So, quite many of the existing SMBshave come to age as far as the technicalequipment and the management is con-cerned.

Because of their economic importanceand because of their specific problemsthe North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry ofEconomic Affairs and local economicdepartments have launched a variety ofinitiatives in the recent years to supportthe existing SMBs and to foster the foun-dation of new ones, often accompanied

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Tab. 8: SMBs and their employees subject to social insurance contribution 2009, by size classes

Number of enterprises, by size classes

City/Rural District Total with 0 to 9 10 to 49 50 to 249 250 and moreemployees employees employees employees employees

Bochum 13,183 11,977 (90.85 %) 946 (7.18 %) 209 (1.59 %) 51 (0.39 %)

Bottrop 4,093 3,763 (91.94 %) 280 (6.84 %) 41 (1.00 %) 9 (0.22 %)

Dortmund 21,498 19,442 (90.44 %) 1,645 (7.65 %) 335 (1.56 %) 76 (0.35 %)

Duisburg 15,113 13,706 (90.69 %) 1,087 (7.19 %) 256 (1.69 %) 64 (0.01 %)

Essen 22,932 20,778 (90.61 %) 1,607 (7.01 %) 402 (1.75 %) 145 (0.63 %)

Gelsenkirchen 7,779 7,031 (90.38 %) 580 (7.46 %) 134 (1.72 %) 34 (0.44 %)

Hagen 6,946 6,229 (89.68 %) 555 (7.99 %) 116 (1.67 %) 46 (0.66 %)

Hamm 5,623 5,004 (88.99 %) 500 (8.89 %) 102 (1.81 %) 17 (0.30 %)

Herne 4,557 4,144 (90.94 %) 317 (6.96 %) 77 (1.69 %) 19 (0.42 %)

Mülheim an der Ruhr 7,237 6,640 (91.75 %) 462 (6.38 %) 107 (1.48 %) 28 (0.39 %)

Oberhausen 7,234 6,542 (90.43 %) 538 (7.44 %) 124 (1.71 %) 30 (0.41 %)

Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis 13,884 12,661 (91.19 %) 945 (6.81 %) 230 (1.66 %) 48 (0.35 %)

Kreis Recklinghausen 20,617 18,834 (91.35 %) 1,461 (7.09 %) 282 (1.37 %) 40 (0.19 %)

Kreis Unna 14,005 12,668 (90.45 %) 1,049 (7.49 %) 241 (1.72 %) 47 (0.34 %)

Kreis Wesel 17,735 16,243 (91.59 %) 1,207 (6.81 %) 235 (1.33 %) 50 (0.28 %)

Enterprise register of 30.04.2011 for 2009

Source: it.nrw

Tab. 9: Employees subject to social insurance contribution in SMBs, by size classes

Number of employees, by size classes

City/Rural District Total with 0 to 9 10 to 49 50 to 249 250 and moreemployees employees employees employees employees

Bochum 90,316 15,428 18,552 21,993 34,343

Bottrop 19,609 4,749 5,312 4,580 4,968

Dortmund 167,965 25,616 32,061 35,244 75,044

Duisburg 134,393 17,563 21,447 25,846 69,537

Essen 271,500 25,822 31,888 41,812 171,978

Gelsenkirchen 64,135 9,659 11,749 14,111 28,616

Hagen 69,297 8,437 10,950 12,225 37,685

Hamm 38,076 7,065 9,784 9,901 11,326

Herne 54,840 5,511 6,342 7,407 35,580

Mülheim an der Ruhr 55,581 7,799 9,121 11,407 27,254

Oberhausen 48,933 8,712 10,526 12,087 17,608

Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis 87,360 15,958 18,919 23,026 29,457

Kreis Recklinghausen 110,511 24,962 28,850 26,455 30,244

Kreis Unna 104,098 17,075 21,014 24,992 41,017

Kreis Wesel 101,636 20,720 23,965 23,067 33,884

Enterprise register of 30.04.2011 for 2009

Source: it.nrw

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with the creation of technology and start-up centers that are attractive for newenterprises and new jobs.

Particularly successful has become theTechnology Center Dortmund that initi-ated the IT and High Tech cluster inDortmund. Since its foundation in 1985next to the university, the universityof applied sciences, some Fraunhoferinstitutes and other research institutesand IT and technology SMBs have beenallocated with the concerted supportgiven by politics, economy and academ-ics (“Dortmund consensus”). Incited bythis success, the Technology Park hasbeen added to the Technology Center.Since then, the Technical University, theTechnology Center and the TechnologyPark are co-operating and develop newproducts, test them and bring them tomarketability, with the university provid-ing the academic expertise for innovativedevelopments and the Technology Centertransferring them into practice. When aproduct has achieved a certain degree ofmarketability it is transferred to the Tech-nology Park that is engaged in its actualproduction. Since 1985 more than 240high tech enterprises with more than8,000 persons employed could have beenallocated.

Another initiative to transform the econ-omy of the city of Dortmund towardssmall and medium-sized IT and technol -ogy businesses – instead of large coal,iron and steel enterprises – was the“dortmund-project”. This project resultsfrom the 1997 negotiations of theNorth Rhine-Westphalian government,the steel companies Krupp-Hoesch andThyssen, the city councils of Dortmundand Duisburg as well as the trade unions.As mentioned above, the ThyssenKruppfusion included the abandonment of thepig iron production in Dortmund and thetransfer of this process to the company’sDuisburg site. To compensate the loss ofjobs ThyssenKrupp committed to creat-ing a strategic concept and a vision forthe future economic development ofDortmund. It has been the objective ofthe “dortmund-project” to allocate newclusters of software, IT and e-commerce,microsystems technology (MST), biotech-nology and logistics enterprises and toexpand existing enterprises of thesebranches, thereby creating some 70,000jobs in SMBs which are to substituteapprox. 80,000 jobs that have got lostin coal mining and in the iron and steelindustries. This economic development

3.4.1 Eurotec Technology Park in Moers on the site of the former Rheinpreussen coal mine

3.4.3 Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems (IMS) in Duisburg

3.4.2 Laboratory in the Center for Nanointegration at the University Duisburg-Essen


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3.4.4 Technology Center Dortmund situated between the Technology Park (foreground) and the

Technical University

Tab. 10: The Dortmund IT cluster

Specialized staffmore than 6,200 students in Dortmund IT studies50,000 students in natural sciences and technologies within a distance of 100 kilometers

ExpertiseTechnical University Dortmund – Faculty of InformaticsUniversity of Applied Studies – Faculty of InformaticsDortmund IT CenterFraunhofer Institute for the flow of materials and logisticsFraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems TechnologyResearch institute for telecommunication

Networks720 IT enterprises in DortmundNetwork of experts for start-up and young enterprises

Local supportTechnology Center Dortmund and Technology Park DortmundSectoral sites as Stadtkrone East and Phoenix WestLocate IT: support for foreign enterprises inclined to allocateStart2grow competition and growth initiative

Source: City of Dortmund data

3.4.5 Information panel at the Technology

Center Dortmund

program has been backed by approx.200 million Euros of European, national,federal and local subsidies.

In the course of “dortmund-project”and in accordance with the inte -grated urban development old industrialand military sites have been convertedinto new industrial sites. To enlarge the Technology Park more than 200hectares of the Phoenix site have beenrevitalized, with 110 hectares of theformer smelting plant site changinginto the technology site Phoenix-Westcomprising innovative IT and MST busi-nesses. On the 96 hectares of theformer Phoenix steel works site (Phoenix-East) housing quarters, services as wellas administrative, culture, recreation andleisure facilities will be allocated. Thetwo parts of the Phoenix area arecentered on the Lake Phoenix (24 hec -tares).

A former barracks site of 50 hectaressituated close to the city-center andwell connected to motorways, to publictransport and to the airport has beenconverted into a technology park(Stadtkrone East) in which companiesof the electronic and mobile businesseshave been allocated. By 2010, a totalof 800 IT enterprises, 831 logistics

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3.4.7 Hidden champion CCS Challenge Card

Systems GmbH developing and producing

magnet and chip card systems in Bochum

3.4.8 Materna GmbH in Dortmund, one of the leading independent European service companies

in information and communication technology

3.4.6 Schwing concrete pumps in Herne – the day before yesterday a family business, yesterday a hidden champion, today a worldwide player,

bought by a Chinese enterprise

companies, 100 e-commerce enterprisesand 45 micro technology and nano -technology businesses had been allocat-ed in Dortmund. With only 41,000 newjobs in these new branches the employ-ment aim of the “dortmund-project”has been missed but the share of jobsin future branches is increasing quickerthan in other German cities. Dortmundhas been established as a cluster ofhigh tech enterprises and is going togrow further, even without public sub -sidies.

Many successful small and medium-sized businesses of the MetropolisRuhr, inside and outside of the tech -nology parks, can be regarded as hid-den champions that successfully haveunlocked the international markets andare thus of great importance to theeconomic perspectives of the MetropolisRuhr.

The Essen-based company cph is a worldmarket leader regarding a special labelglue suited to PET bottles and in theproduction of other special adhesives;based in Essen as well is the companyista, one of the world’s leading com -panies in the field of measurements. Forover 50 years the Ferdinand ErlmannWerkzeugbau GmbH & Co in Herten has

been a leading manufacturer of multi-spindle drills and grinders for the brakepad and clutch disk industry. Bioni CSGmbH in Oberhausen is a leading com-pany in developing “intelligent” paintswhich can eliminate microbial infesta-tions caused by mildew, germs and bac-teria. ABUS, based in Wetter, has beenproviding security systems since 1924.With its security products ABUS is one ofthe best and best-known companies inits field.


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3.5 Tertiarisation

The structural change of the Ruhr from anindustry-based society to a service-basedsociety is often documented by highshares of jobs in services. When the oldindustrial Ruhr had been dominated bythe secondary sector in the 1950s theservice sector share in employment was aslow as 32 per cent. Since then the struc-ture of the labour force changed to adegree that the regional service sectorachieves higher values than the NRW andGerman averages.

In Essen, the most important service cityof the region, it was already in 1978 that55 percent of all employees have beenworking in the service sector; as in Dort-mund, today this share has increasedto nearly 80 percent. Even in cities ofold industrial origin a change towardsthe service sector has taken place, inOberhausen the Neue Mitte Oberhausen(CentrO shopping center etc.) on the siteof a former smelting plant moved thelocal statistics into this direction.

However, it has to be stated that theincrease of the service sector has not pri-marily been caused by an above-averagegrowth of the services. To a great extentit was by the job losses in the secondarysector that the relative share of theservice sector has increased remarkably.To take the city of Duisburg as an ex -ample, the relative share of the servicesector raised from 38 per cent in 1978 to67 per cent in 2007, the absolute numberof employees in the service sector, how-ever, increased only from 87,359 to101,676. The relative skyrocketing of theservice sector is only due to the fact thatDuisburg lost 90,285 jobs in secondarysector during this period. This tremen-dous job losses couldn’t by far been com-pensated by only 14,317 new jobs inservices. This shows that the relativeincrease of the service sector also resultsfrom the decrease of the secondary sec-tor.

This example also shows that the ex-planatory power of the relative sectorshares as indicators of the economicdevelopment is limited. However, therelation between the numbers of personsemployed in the different sectors bythe number of inhabitants is a better indi-cator. By means of these relations it canbe shown that at no time during the 1980to 2005 period the service sector of theMetropolis Ruhr has reached the German

Tab. 11: Shares of service sector employment (percentages)

1970 1987 1991* 1995 2000 2005 2009The Ruhr 43.5 59.4 61.2 66.8 72.4 76.2 77.4NRW (excluding The Ruhr) 45.3 60.0 60.0 64.4 69.0 72.4 73.9NRW 44.7 59.8 60.3 65.1 69.9 73.4 74.8Germany beforeRe-unification k. A. k. A. 59.5 64.6 68.7 71.9 73.0

*since 1991 figures have been recorded by place of work, before 1991 they have been recorded by enterprises


3.5.1 Neue Mitte Oberhausen (CentrO shopping center in the middle)

3.5.2 Shopping centers in the Ruhr

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3.5.3 Before the construction of the shopping center: Limbecker Platz in Essen, 1992

3.5.4 Shopping Center Limbecker Platz in Essen, 2008

3.5.5 Promenade of the CentrO in Oberhausen

average even if it has increased from 144to 194 by 1,000 inhabitants. The specialconditions of the region cause anotherproblem of gathering and interpretingdata. All enterprises of the secondary sec-tor also comprise higher and lower formsof services and employees working inthese services, but as these enterprises arepart of the secondary sector the servicejobs in them are counted in the secondarysector as well.

Despite of the difficulties of recordingthe numbers and shares of service jobsproperly it can be stated that the Metro -

polis Ruhr is a retailing region of highdemands due to the high populationdensity, the good transport infrastructureand the central location. So, next to thehealth industry and the business serviceproviders retailing accounts for thelargest share of service sector employ-ment. As in other densely populatedconurbations there is a wide range offorms of retailing; shopping centers, spe-cialized retail markets and discount mar-kets are distributed over the MetropolisRuhr. With their high demands of space,these retail units are often to be foundoutside the city-centers alongside arterial

roads and, due to the polycentric struc-ture of the Metropolis Ruhr, between thecities. In the Metropolis Ruhr there are 33shopping centers with more than 10,000square meters retailing floor space. Thismultitude is headed by the Ruhr Park inBochum, the CentrO in Oberhausen, theRhein-Ruhr Zentrum in Mülheim an derRuhr and the Limbecker Platz shoppingcenter in Essen.

Ruhr Park has been the first shopping cen-ter of the Ruhr, opened in 1964; it is basedon the American mall concept with anchorstores at the ends of the axes and, as it isorientated to customers with car-owner-ship, with a direct motorway exit and am-ple parking spaces. The acceptance of theRuhr Park was so sweeping that the storespace has been doubled to 50,000 squaremeters already in 1969; in 2001 a multi-plex cinema and leisure facilities havebeen added. In 2011, the total area com-prised 126,000 square meters, including7,500 parking places free of charge.

The CentrO, opened in the Neue MitteOberhausen in 1996, is explicitly orien -tated to the concept of “shopping asan event”. It can thus be regarded as anUrban Entertainment Center (UEC) oras a post-modern lifestyle orientatedhyperspace that follows the customers’demands for a connection between shop-ping, event, entertainment and leisure.The Neue Mitte Oberhausen not onlycomprises the CentrO (more than 220shops, some 119,000 square meters retail-ing floor space), but also a Food Court, arestaurant promenade, a multiplex cine-ma, a large hall for international events, amusical theater, a leisure park, the AQUA-park, a hotel and the Sea World waterpark. This site, unique in Germany by itssize, attracts regional, national and inter-national attention and is regarded as asuccessful realization of a multi-dimen-sional leisure space (25 million visitorsper year). Nevertheless, there are somecritical side-effects. Although the nearby


56

gasometer has been and still is successfulas part of the regional industrial heritageand as an exhibition venue it has not beenintegrated into the new center concept.Great projects like the CentrO may at leastcause the fear that their success is at theexpenses of the inner city shopping areas.

After the success of the CentrO anothertype of shopping mall came into being,the shopping center Limbecker Platz. Ithas been completed in 2010 and is one ofEurope’s largest city-center integratedshopping centers. Limbecker Platz com-prises some 200 shops, approx. 2,000 jobsand a retailing floor space of 75,000square meters. As the shopping centerhas been developed on the site of thehistorical Karstadt department store it islocated on the immediate Northwes-tern fringe of the city-center of Essen.An integrated concept is being pursuedto strengthen the historical function ofEssen as the largest and most importantshopping location of the Metropolis Ruhr.Simultaneously to the construction of theLimbecker Platz shopping center, the areaaround the main railway station, startingpoint of many city customers, has beentransformed into a modern service centerin 2011; the pedestrianized areas havebeen re-designed and extended. Firstobservations and assessments by theshop keepers show that the retailingfunction of the city-center of Essen hasgained attraction by the allocation of theLimbecker Platz shopping center. It is wellaccepted and the turnovers of the adja-cent shops have decreased less thanexpected. As far as urban development onthe fringe of the city-center is concerned,the Limbecker Platz site has to be seen inconnection with the new developmentsin Weststadt, with the university quarterand with the Krupp belt. In general, allthese projects are parts of a modern stra -tegy that pursues the development of acompact and sustainable city by applyingparticipative methods.

The inner harbor in Duisburg is anotherexample to demonstrate the connectionbetween urban development and tertiari-sation. Here as well, a post-modern worldof events has been constructed that com-bines the functions of housing, working,culture and leisure. As in Oslo, Vancouver,Stockholm, London and Hamburg, the wa-terfront has been integrated into the newcity-center structure. Following the planpresented by the British architect NormanFoster the derelict inner harbor, once agrain harbor (“breadbasket of the Ruhr”),

3.5.6 City-center of Essen and Krupp area, 1976

3.5.7 City center of Essen and Krupp belt, 2012

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has been re-developed for new land-uses.With the beginning of the IBA EmscherPark in the 1990s, still existing harborbuildings, as e.g. granaries and mills, wereretained, if possible, were modernized, ifnecessary, and were combined with newbuildings. Many prominent sites havebeen developed as e.g. the Museum Küp-persmühle, the synagogue with a Jewishcommunity center or the office building

“Five Boats”. Both a wide range of restau-rants and bars and numerous offices couldbe created and permanently be estab-lished. Administrations offices of Alltoursand Hitachi as well as numerous insur-ances, media companies and other enter-prises have been allocated that providemore than 4,000 jobs. To enable housingalong the waterfront some 500 housingunits for different household types (fami-

3.5.8 Land-use in the Inner Harbour of Duisburg, 2011

3.5.9 Inner Harbour Duisburg

lies, younger singles, elderly people) havebeen built, another 200 units are planned.As all these measures consider the idea ofan ecological city, the inner harbor devel-opment succeeded in upgrading the softlocational factors of Duisburg and con-tributes to a new positive image that is nolonger characterized by coal, iron and steelbut by services.

Despite of the difficulties to calculateservice jobs statistically, it could be shownthat the population of the MetropolisRuhr is increasingly living in a servicesociety. As in other regions this tertiarisa-tion of the Metropolis Ruhr is accom -panied by fundamental changes on thelabour market. This market is character-ized by unemployment rates that are alsocaused by those that are not able tochange from an industrial job to a job inthe services. In most cases the qualifica-tions needed have increasingly becomedemanding both in services and in indus-tries. Finally it has to be said that no newphase of deindustrialization is pursued inthe region. All chambers of commerce inthe region incessantly stress the impor-tance of the secondary sector because itis the indispensable basis of a modernconurbation.


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3.6 Sports, tourism and culture

The processes of structural change andof tertiarisation do not only become ap-parent in the technology orientated fieldsof competence, but sports, culture andtourism prove to be new economic fieldsof the region as well. When the ProjektRuhr GmbH developed the competencefield “leisure and tourism” in the 1990smany observers regarded it as the mereattempt to improve the image of theRuhr, but there was no confidence inthe economic relevance of this field. Inthe meantime, however, this field hasrevealed its growth potential in the nolonger mono-structural but diversifiedeconomic region Ruhr. As in other metro-politan regions, the economic signifi-cance of sports, culture and tourism hasincreased remarkably.

Sports

Since the industrial development and thein-migration of masses of workers theimage of the Ruhr has been connectedwith the tradition of football, and withhorse and dove races. But it was as late asin the 1920s that football turned into thesports of the working classes becauseuntil then exercising that sport had beenreserved to the middle classes which,however, were less represented in theindustrial region Ruhr. But when the foot-ball clubs of the Ruhr were extremely suc-cessful in the Upper League West from1947 onwards the image was formed bythe fruitful connection between workers,football club and company (coal or steel).Supported by the companies, manyclubs of region were very successful inthose days, next to Borussia Dortmundand Schalke 04 clubs as Meidericher SV,Schwarz-Weiß Essen, Rot-Weiß Essen,Westfalia Herne, Hamborn 07, Spielver -einigung Erkenschwick.

Actually, most of these clubs are of minorimportance, but the myth of the workers’clubs that reached the goal by “hardlabour” remained. A glorious year topetrify this myth was 1997 when BorussiaDortmund won the Champions Leagueand Schalke 04 became UEFA Cup winner.Of course, there were no longer industrialworkers of the region playing in theseclubs but only professionals, and the clubsof the region had turned into professionalclubs that are commercialized, are ob-served by the media and have to followeconomic rules. But nevertheless, theirsuccesses supported the self-esteem and

corporate feeling that graduately ad-vanced in the changing region of the1990s. Also the year 2011 saw a successfulfootball in the region: Borussia Dortmundand Schalke 04 the modern arenas ofwhich are generally sold out were GermanMaster or advanced as far as the Champi-ons League semi-final; Schalke 04 becameGerman Cup winner.

But it is not only football as a professionalor a mass sport that moves the populationof the Metropolis Ruhr but a variety ofother sports as well. There are some 5,400clubs with 1.4 million members, for morethan 80 sports disciplines there are 10,000sports facilities. Since the 1920s thesesports grounds are embedded in regionalconcepts that have been developed and

3.6.1 Major leisure venues in the Ruhr

3.6.2 Fans in the South curve of the Dortmund arena

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implemented at first by the Siedlungs -verband Ruhrkohlenbezirk, since 1975 bythe Kommunalverband Ruhrgebiet andtoday by the Regionalverband Ruhr (Re-gional Association Ruhr) in order to im-prove the living conditions in the region.

There are many football stadiums inthe Metropolis Ruhr, some of them are

known world-wide. The earliest oneshave either been built by the cities(Wedaustadion in Duisburg, 1921;Kampfbahn Rote Erde in Dortmund,1928) or by the football clubs themselves(Glückauf-Kampfbahn by FC Schalke 04,1928; Stadion am Uhlenkrug/Georg-Melches-Stadion by Rot-Weiss Essen,1922/1939). The 1970s saw the next

“stadium boom” with the Parkstadion(FC Schalke 04, 1973/1998, capacity:70,600/62,004 spectators) and the West-falenstadion (Borussia Dortmund, 1974/1992, capacity: 54,000/80,645 specta-tors) being the most prominent ones. Themost recent of the large football sta -diums is the ArenaAufSchalke/Veltins-Arena (since 2005) (FC Schalke 04, 2001,capacity: 61,373 spectators) which theUEFA has classified as a 5* elite stadiumthus being allowed to host UEFA Cham-pions League and UEFA Europe Leaguefinals. This arena is a most spectacular

3.6.4 Schwelgern Stadium in Duisburg

3.6.3 Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, with the” lawn drawer” moved out and the roof closed

3.6.5 Football region Ruhr


STV Horst-Emscher

60

building; the roof can completely beclosed and the football pitch can bemoved out in a “drawer”.

Taking into account the sports enthu -siasm in the sports region Ruhr, theeconomic importance of sports has beenanalyzed and promoted by the RegionalAssociation Ruhr since the 1990s. Head-lined “Sports economy in the Ruhr”,all services are summarized that areconnected with sports, i.e. the variousbranches of the sports business (runningsports grounds, executing sports events,providing sports courses, sports adminis-tration etc.), the preceding branches (pro-ducing sports articles, construction ofsports infrastructure etc.) and the follow-ing branches (sports tourism, media,health care etc.). From the perspectiveof sports there is a variety of relationsto other branches: The spectators of aBorussia Dortmund match might usethe local restaurants and pubs, might goshopping in Dortmund and might makeuse of the local hotels; next to theSchalke arena health management andsports medicine services have been allo-cated that can be used by professionaland amateur sportsmen as well as bynon-sportsmen; located on a waste tip inBottrop between the motorways A2 andA42 the alpincenter has been established

in 2001 providing an indoor racing trackwhich allows all-year-skiing; ski trainingcourses, après-ski events and accommo-dation are offered as well. In 2011, a pho-tovoltaic installation, with 13,499 squaremeters the largest in NRW, has been putinto operation on the roof of the skiinghall.

A Gelsenkirchen university of appliedsciences study on the 2004 KarstadtMarathon delivered insights in the eco-nomic effects of sports events. There weresome 19,000 participants in the racewhich was seen by more than 500,000spectators; the participants spent nearly5 million Euros (preparation, travel to theevent, accommodation and costs on theday of competition), the spectators spentmore than 8 million Euros.

To use and to strengthen the great eco-nomic potential of sports the region hastwice applied for the Summer Olympics(in 1996 and, as Rhine-Ruhr-Region,in 2012). It has been argued that thereare sports venues for nearly all Olympicsports and a great sports enthusiasm inthe region. Even if both these applicationsdid not assert themselves, a new applica-tion is not unrealistic for the future.Another Gelsenkirchen university of ap-plied studies study has shown in 2009

3.6.6 Selected cultural venues in the Ruhr

that the majority of major sports eventscarried out in Germany are carried out inthe Ruhr, by far more than in Hamburg,Berlin or Munich.

The “Master plan Sports” is the actiontool to strengthen sports and the sportseconomy in the region. It is the mainobjective to establish the Metropolis Ruhras a prominent European sports region.Recommendations for the interlocal co-operation in the field of sports are givenand the sports infrastructure is docu-mented and evaluated. Furthermore, aregional bath and spa concept is beingdeveloped and the impacts of new sporttrends are analyzed.

Culture economy

Culture economy in general and in theMetropolis Ruhr is an emerging economicbranch. Its growth is fuelled by the factthat the people dispose of more timeand money for their leisure: increasinglysports, leisure services and cultural activi-ties are asked for. As in other metropoli-tan regions, there is a cultural milieu in theMetropolis Ruhr that allows a culturaleconomy to develop on both the supplyand the demand side thus giving birthto cultural networks and clusters. This

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Tab. 13: Number of enterprises liable to taxes and their turnovers in selected branches in the Ruhr, 2003

Enterprises Turnover liable toSelected branches of the literature and book market liable to taxes taxes (‘000 Euros) Self-employed writers 139 11,157Translation agencies, interpreters 284 29,333Publishing books 82 172,959Publishing professional journals, general and other journals 73 1,060,355Publishing daily, weekly and Sunday newspapers 40 1,006,616Printing 640 854,486Retailing of books and professional journals 224 330,418Newspaper agents 99 37,290

Selected branches of the music marketSelf-employed composers, music arrangers 88 6,654Discotheques and dancing locale 75 33,903Publishing of recorded sound carriers 14 1,685Publishing of music supplies 52 15,879Production of recorded sound carriers 25 3,989Production of music instruments 19 6,084Retailing of consumer electronics devices 565 251,016Retailing of music instruments and music supplies 115 46,147

Selected branches of the arts and design marketSelf-employed visual artists 220 19,186Self-employed conservators 18 2,176Design studios (industrial, textile etc.) 489 92,451Advertising agency, distribution of promotion material 2,068 805,343Architects, interior designers 1,222 231,583Retailing of objects of art, applied arts, coins etc. 590 157,678Museums and exhibitions 25 14,493

Selected branches of the performing arts and the entertainment businessSelf-employed actors (theater, film, TV, broadcast) 199 15,312Self-employed performers 20 1,925Vaudeville shows and cabarets 11 2,417Theater and concert agents 39 45,213Opera houses, theaters, concert halls 11 8,598Other services and technical support 127 15,441

Source: Wandel durch Kultur(Wirtschaft) im Ruhrgebiet. Kultur(Wirtschaft) durch Wandel. Ein Beitrag zur Bewerbung „Essen für das Ruhrgebiet – Kulturhauptstadt Europas 2010“


Tab. 12: Development of enterprises liable to taxes and their turnovers in the cultural markets in the Ruhr 1996 to 2003

Enterprises Turnover Enterprises Turnover Changeliable to liable to taxes liable to liable to taxes 1996-2003 (percentages)

taxes (‘000 Euros) taxes (‘000 Euros)Cultural markets 1996 1996 2003 2003 Enterprises Turnover

Literature and books 1,800 3.538,632 1,714 3,852,905 – 4.7 + 8.0Music 1,251 592,001 1,123 403,944 – 10.2 – 31.0Arts and design 5,915 1,638,106 5,581 1,620,829 – 5.6 – 1.0Film and TV 1,118 923,325 1,209 601,806 + 8.1 – 34.8Performance andEntertainment 222 51,321 407 107,189 + 45.0 + 108.8Culture economy, total 10,306 6,743,385 10,034 6,586,673 – 2.6 – 2.3thereof “Creatives” 3,780 2,740,041 4,329 3,071,055 + 14.5 + 12.1Branches of industry in the Ruhr, total 131,080 279,606,003 133,625 254,092,409 + 1.9 – 9.1thereof, culture economy 7.80 % 2.40 % 7.50 % 2.50 %

Source: Wandel durch Kultur(Wirtschaft) im Ruhrgebiet. Kultur(Wirtschaft) durch Wandel. Ein Beitrag zur Bewerbung „Essen für das Ruhrgebiet – Kulturhauptstadt Europas 2010“

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creative milieu started in the 1980s whenthe creatives became the pioneers ofmany other institutional developmentsand were the first to initiate culturalactivities in old and closed down indus -trial plants. By this form of re-evaluationthey attracted a new and still relevantattention on the region.

But it was not only in the Metropolis Ruhrthat the economic importance of culturehas been recognized. In 1995 the “Arbeits-gemeinschaft (working group) Kultur-wirtschaft des Landes Nordrhein-West-falen” defined culture economy as “all eco-nomic enterprises and profit orientatedactivities that are engaged in the prepara-tion, creation, maintenance und protec-tion of cultural production, in the media-tion of culture and/or the distribution bythe media and that produce and sellproducts for these purposes.”

The culture economy is divided in sixmarkets. The music market comprises pro-fessions like musicians, composers, audioengineers and others and businesses asthe production of music instruments,music shops and concert promoters. The

market for literature, books and pressmedia comprises authors and journalistsas well as publishers and newspapersagents. Of increasing importance are themultimedia and the film and TV business-es with actors and digital media designersthat work for an increasing number ofproduction firms.

Artists, dancers and performers employedat theaters and vaudeville shows are partof the performing arts and the entertain-ment business. The last markets of theculture economy are the arts and designmarkets comprising visual artists andtheir businesses as well as the designbusinesses as design, advertising andarchitecture.

Since the “Zeche Bochum” has beenopened in 1981 – it saw concerts by RogerChapman, BAP, Nena, Herbert Gröne -meyer and others – a variety of culturalprocesses have taken place in the region,often supported by the Land and thecities. The Fifth Report on Culture Econo-my edited by the North Rhine-WestphalianMinistry of Economy in 2007 refers to theparticular development and the record-

able success of the culture economy inthe Metropolis Ruhr. The number of enter-prises and the turnovers are shown inthe tables; in 2005 the average turnoverwas 627,000 Euros per business. Cultureeconomy is widely established in theRuhr. In the region there are 200 museums,100 cultural centers, 120 theaters, 100 con -cert halls, 250 festivals and fairs as wellas 1,000 industrial monuments. Thesefigures reflect both the grassroots initia-tives that launched many alternative andsocial forms of cultural activities, eventsand sites (e.g. Carl mine in Essen-Alten -essen, Langendreer railway station inBochum) and the flagships of culturalpolicy with their impacts on the culturalregion as a whole, as e.g. the worldwiderenowned Museum Folkwang in Essen,the Ruhr Triennial theater festival with aglobal impact or the World Heritage Zoll -verein in Essen-Katernberg which hasbeen converted into a center of cultureand design. Within the structures of in-dustrial architecture there is a museumfor excellent contemporary design and,since 2008, the RuhrMuseum which, nextto changing exhibitions of differentthemes, presents the natural and culturalhistory of the region in a permanent exhi-bition. The cultural landscape is continu-ously enlarged and upgraded; recentlythere have been the opening of the EmilSchumacher Museum in Hagen in 2009and the re-opening of Museum Folkwangin Essen in 2010 in a new complex of exhi-bition halls designed by David Chipper-field Architects.

But the Report on Cultural Economy alsostates that this economy has to facenumerous challenges due to changingcustomer demands, shorter product cyclesand technical innovations as e.g. newforms of distribution in the internet.Competition is getting intense as there isnot only the film and TV center Cologneand the media and design center Düssel-dorf but there are also additional com-petitors in the enlarged European Union.Thus awarding the region the Capital ofCulture 2010 title (Ruhr.2010) helpedto strengthen the competitiveness ofthe regional culture economy. Ruhr.2010also helped to recognize the MetropolisRuhr as a changing region of (industrial)culture.

Tourism

Tourism is closely connected to the re-gional potentials in sports and culture.In these times of post-modern demands

3.6.7 The Cube constructed by the Japanese

architect company SANAA on the World

Heritage Zollverein site in Essen 3.6.8 Harenberg City Center (HCC) in Dortmund

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for events and leisure the metropolitanregions of the world compete for thebig economic potential tourism is goingto promise. In this field the structuralchange turned the region by 180 degrees;in the industrial periods no tourist wasinterested in the region, of course, butnowadays the offers of events and leisurein an old industrial environment are pro-moted as unique in the tourist business.

And the region did quite well, as thenumber of nights spent in the region hasincreased in the last 20 years, unlike theoverall trends in the Land. In Bochum, Bott -rop and Gelsenkirchen the figures couldbe doubled, and Essen and Dortmund, thebiggest and most important cities of theRuhr, recorded an increase similar to thosein Düsseldorf and Cologne. In Oberhausenthe figures were even tripled from 1990 to

2009 due to the attraction of the UrbanEntertainment Center around the CentrO.Even if these relative figures reveal re-markable increases, a total of 5.78 millionnights spent in the Metropolis Ruhr in2009 is still behind the total of 7.35 mil-lion in the major urban tourist destina-tions Cologne and Düsseldorf.

The different trends in the overnight staysreflect the particular economic orienta-tions of the cities, e.g. high amounts ofbusiness travels in the fair and headquar-ter cities Essen and Dortmund. Moreover,there are new leisure attractions that havebecome the magnets of urban tourism inthe region; in Oberhausen there is theCentrO, in Bottrop there are the MoviePark and the alpincenter for indoor skiing,Gelsenkirchen provides the Arena for ma-jor sports and culture events and Bochum

3.6.9 Entrance of the RuhrMuseum on the

Zollverein World Heritage site in Essen

3.6.10 “Route of Industrial Culture” sign pointing out to the German Mining Museum

3.6.11 Promoting the Ruhr.Topcard

Tab. 14: Overnight stays in selected cities of the region, 1990 to 2009

Overnight stays Average Share of 4* hotels 5* hotelsincrease duration of stay foreign guests

1990 2000 2009 1990-2009 2009 (days) 2009

Bottrop 37,900 66,000 73,300 93.4 % 1.7 29.4 % 1 0Dortmund 445,800 597,000 749,300 68.1 % 1.5 20.2 % 9 0Duisburg 261,400 322,300 361,600 38.3 % 2.0 16.5 % 3 0Essen 674,100 910,600 1,067,800 58.4 % 2.1 16.9 % 12 1Hamm 104,300 113,300 123,200 18.1 % 1.7 17.5 % 2 0The Ruhr 3,598,300 4,677,700 5,777,500 60.6 % 1.9 16.1 %compared to:Düsseldorf 2,091,900 2,434,800 3,222,000 53.9 % 1.7 37.6 % 26 2Köln 2,589,200 3,066,400 4,133,244 59.6 % 1.8 32.3 % 25 3

Source: Diercke 360° 02/2010, S. 16

64

3.6.14 Knirps mine in Bochum

3.6.13 Entertainment quarter “Bermuda3Eck”

in Bochum: Opening party of the U20 Women’s

Soccer World Championship in 2010

3.6.12 Night of culture in the whole

Metropolis Ruhr: Extra Schicht

offers a long-lasting musical site. Theregion as a whole provides the uniquefeature of the industrial culture, not theleast concentrated on the Landscape ParkNorth in Duisburg, a favourite amongNorth Rhine-Westphalian tourists, andthe mine and coking plant ZollvereinWorld Heritage site.

The actual positive trends in tourism arethe results of a strategic tourism planningthat has been initiated by the Noth Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Economic Affairsin the 1990s. It has been the main objec-tive of the 1996 “Masterplan Travellinginto the Ruhr” to create a unique andasked for profile of the Metropolis Ruhr.Such a special and surprising profile hasbeen created by re-using industrial brown-fields and industrial buildings. A virtuehas been made out of necessity, as themany old industrial sites, buildings andplants gained new value by being changedinto places and objects of industrial con -ser vation and historical culture; theynow serve as leisure areas and sites forthe regional population, but also attractvisitors from outside the region. TheMasterplan also intended to give the scattered sites of industrial culture an

organizational and infrastructural frame-work. Nowadays, the “Route of IndustrialCulture” connects the major anchorpoints, important workers’ housingestates and amazing panoramas. Theupgrading of many formerly unused siteswas to strengthen the soft locationalfactors of the region.

The Masterplan is being implemented byRuhr Tourismus GmbH which gives specialattention to a coordinated marketing ofthe various attractions; products of theseintentions are the visitor card “Ruhr.Top-card” and the “Extra Schicht” by which inone night various events at differentplaces in the Ruhr are connected.

The Masterplan also intended to open theregion towards an event orientated enter-tainment. The sites of industrial culture,sports and leisure may have this potentialbut the postindustrial leisure society alsorequires new and artificial spheres ofgreat experiences and consumption.Among them is the CentrO area and theMovie Park. But there are also the variousmusical theaters, first of all the hall of theworld’s most successful musical “StarlightExpress” in Bochum. In the vicinity of theCentrO another musical hall has beenbuilt in 1999 which has now turned intothe “Metronom Theater”. In Essen, themusical hall Colosseum has been openedin an old Krupp workshop in 1995; how -ever, the period of long-running musicalsended here in 2010, as did the musical“Les Misérables” in a purposely builttheater in Duisburg. Both halls are nowused for changing musical and concertevents.

In terms of tourism, the 2006 FootballWorld Championship has been constant-ly marketed around the stadiums of Dort-mund and Gelsenkirchen. The tourismdevelopment of the Metropolis Ruhr hasbeen highlighted so far by the events ofthe Capital of Culture 2010 campaign.The variety of the regional culture indus-try is well known for its networks ofplayers and venues that have been usedin the course of the Capital of Culture2010 year. From a touristic point of viewthis major event has been a tremendoussuccess. From 2009 to 2010 the numberof over night stays increased by 13.4 percent to 6.5 million, with the largest shareever of visitors from abroad, particularlyfrom the Netherlands and the UnitedKingdom. According to further data pro-vided by Ruhr Tourismus GmbH the city ofEssen took particular profit; the overnight

stays increased by 27 percent and the topattraction, the Zollverein World Heritagesite, doubled the 2009 number of visitorsto 2.2 million. On average, visitors stayedfor four nights in the region instead oftwo nights and spent 28 Euro per dayexcluding the costs for accommodation;on weekends, all hotels had been betterbooked than in the years before. Attract-ed by industrial culture and events onethird of the 2010 visitors had been in theregion for the first time.

The 2010 campaign has established theMetropolis Ruhr as a European touristdestination. In the future an increase ofthe tourist figures above the pre-2010average will have to be achieved withoutbig events. There is, however, a lack ofluxury hotels as there is only one 5-starhotel compared to five in Cologne andDüsseldorf. On the other hand thequestion remains whether high prices

65


(e.g. entrance fees) can generate a de-mand in the region. In general, there areambivalent perspectives. The structuresthat have been developed in the last yearsand that have been expanded and con -solidated in 2010 provide the basis fora booming urban tourism region. Buttourist experts warn that leisure facilitiesthat are orientated to consumption andevents are quite fast moving. Further-more it should be questioned whetherthe Metropolis Ruhr tourism is adjustedto the chances and demands an ageingsociety might express.

Regarding the musical development in theregion, a pensive outlook seems to be ap-propriate as it has shown that success andfailure are very close together in the eventbusinesses. The risks that occur in devel-oping events according to the zeitgeistbecame apparent by the Love Parade. In2007, this biggest dancing and musicevent in the world had been transferredfrom Berlin to the Metropolis Ruhr for fiveyears; since then it has been a great suc-cess for the organizers, the participantsand the cities of Essen (August 2007,1.2 million visitors) and Dortmund (July2008, 1.6 million visitors) but ended in adisaster in Duisburg in 2010.

This chapter has shown that many aspectshad influence on the economic develop-

Tab. 16: Development of the persons employed subject to social insurance contribution(percentages; indexed 1980 = 100)

The Ruhr Rest of NRW

1980 100 100

1985 92.1 97

1991 93 100.5

1993 93.7 103.8

1996 98.7 112.9

1998 k. A. 109.1

1999 92 k. A.

2000 k. A. 107.9

2001 89.2 k. A.

2002 k. A. 107.6

2003 88.9 k. A.

2005 89.4 112.1

2007 86.2 108.5

2009 83.3 105.2

2011 84.3 107.6

Source: RVR

(http://www.metropoleruhr.de/typo3temp/pics/

SVB_Index_2011_fb2fde09d6.jpg)

Tab. 15: Gross domestic product per capita

Gross domestic productper capita, 2009 (Euro)

Bochum 29,987Bottrop 18,322Dortmund 31,149Duisburg 27,565Essen 42,939Gelsenkirchen 26,074Hagen 29,774Hamm 23,371Herne 19,998Mülheim an der Ruhr 31,706Oberhausen 21,572Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis 23,395Kreis Recklinghausen 20,642Kreis Unna 21,182Kreis Wesel 20,446

NRW average 27,733

Source: it.nrw

(http://www.it.nrw.de/statistik/querschnitts -

veroeffentlichungen/Statistik_kompakt/ausgabe 2_2012/

ausgabe2_2012_tab1.html)

ment of the region in the last decades andthat the dominance of coal, iron and steelhas been overcome. However, if these de-velopments are integrated into an overallevaluation of the structural change of theRuhr and its economic status quo theresult is ambivalent.

On the one hand, there is a positive result.The spirit of the region has improved interms of self-assessment and perceptionfrom outside. After the bank crisis hasbeen overcome the regional economykeeps on growing. The economic climateindex published by the Chamber of Com-merce in 2011 is the second highest since1990. The enterprises expect a positivedevelopment of business activities; singleproblems as rising prices for resourcesand energy are no longer referred to theregion alone but are related to the na-tional economy. The numerous cultural,sportive and tourism events and thepositive spirit of the regional economy arerecognized in North Rhine-Westphaliaand in Germany as a whole, even if re-markably less abroad; to sum up, theold image of a region in crisis has beensubstituted by the image of region that isin progress again.

On the other hand, there are also figuresthat prove the economic lag of the regionif compared to the average of the Land.The per capita income is well below theaverage, the number of employees subjectto social insurance contribution has beendecreasing for years in the Ruhr whereasit has been increasing in the rest of theLand; employment not only decreased inthe industrial cities of the Emscher zonebut also in the service-orientated centersof the Hellweg zone. The rate of unem-ployment is considerably higher than theNRW average.

Thus very likely the Ruhr will never achieveagain the outstanding position it had inindustrial times when being Europe’smost important industrial region. Inno -vative segments of the economy havebeen allocated too late so that otherregions find themselves at an advantage.Compared with competing regions theMetropolis Ruhr is unique as it is a serviceregion with industrial culture that stillexhibits many locational advantages as itssize, its location in Europe, the good trans-port infrastructure, the high populationdensity which causes a high purchasingpower etc. From an economic perspectiveas well, the Metropolis Ruhr is more thanan average region.

Tab. 17: Unemployment rate June 2012

Urban and Rural Unemploymentdistrict of the Ruhr rate 6/2012

(percentages)*

Bochum 9.8

Bottrop 8.6

Dortmund 13.0

Duisburg 12.8

Essen 12.4

Gelsenkirchen 14.4

Hagen 10.1

Hamm 10.5

Herne 13.2

Mülheim an der Ruhr 7.8

Oberhausen 11.6

Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis 7.2

Kreis Recklinghausen 10.5

Kreis Unna 9.4

Kreis Wesel 7.1

NRW, total 8.0

*percent of all civil workforce (depending civil workforce,

self-employed and helping household members)

Source: RVR

(http://www.metro pole ruhr.de/regionalverband-ruhr/

analysenstatistik/regionalstatistik/arbeitsmarkt/

arbeitsmarkt-monatlich.html); Statistik der Bundesagentur

für Arbeit (http://statistik. arbeitsagentur.de/Navigation/

Statistik/ Statistik-nach-Regionen/Politische-

Gebietsstruktur/Nordrhein-Westfalen- ab-01-2010-

Nav.html?year_month=201206)

66

4 . M E TRO P O L I S R U H R – D EV E LO PM E NT P RO C E S S E S

4.1 Housing, traffic and logistics

Housing

It has already been mentioned that theRuhr has developed from a sparsely po -pulated agrarian landscape to an urban-industrial region of high density. It hasalso been mentioned that various post-war urban guidelines (the car orientatedcity etc.) left their imprints on the regionand its housing quarters. Life in theMetropolis Ruhr has in the last years alsobeen influenced by programs that accom-panied the post-industrial urban develop-ment by means of public subsidies (Sozia leStadt NRW, URBAN I and II, StadtumbauWest). It remains to be stated that thehousing situations in the Metropolis Ruhrare affected by the special economic andsocial circumstances of the region, i.e. theextensive supply of brownfields, thedemographic change and the precarioussituation of the local budgets; in addition,the decline of public housing has deregu-lated the housing market and stressedthe lower segment. Recent examplesshall now be presented that explain theheterogeneity of housing in the regionand that show that the actual housingsituation is increasingly implementedinto social and ecological trends.

The recent trend “back into the city” canalso be recognized in the Metropolis Ruhr.After decades of suburban expansion anew urbanity is being assigned to the corecities. Well educated young people andwell-off old persons with a consumptivelife-style move back into the centers andprefer new and old luxurious houses. Thistrend cannot (yet) be proved empirically.But the cities promote this developmentby campaigning for these new citizenswhose in-migration has become a norma-tive goal of the development policy, not

the least for monetary reasons. In Dort-mund on a former barracks area close tothe arterial road B1 and the city-center theStadtkrone East project has been started.More than 2,000 new jobs (IT businesses,insurances, services) have been allocatedand a housing quarter for sophisticateddemands has been realized. The housingarea is still being extended as the easilyaccessible location, the attractive land-scape and the select architecture meet anincreasing demand. In the meantime akindergarten has been built and a privatesecondary school been opened.

The large housing estate Clarenberg hasbeen built in the steel workers’ districtDortmund-Hörde in 1973. More than3,000 persons live in 25 blocks with 4 to 17floors; 25 percent of them have a migra-tion background. Unlike other large hous-ing estates there are no vacant flats. Onthe contrary, there is a long waiting listbecause since 1997 severe damages havebeen removed by means of some 20 mil-lion Euros of public and private invest-ments. The building fabric has fundamen-tally been renovated, the facades havebeen given an artistic make-up and newopen spaces have been laid out. A houseservice (concierge) and video surveillancehave been installed; the participation ofthe tenants has been improved. Unlikethe New Town Wulfen (s.a.), no buildingshave been dismantled or demolished, butthe costly modernization has changedClarenberg into an asked for housingquarter in the lower price segment.

Duisburg-Marxloh has been affected bythe steel industry as well. Unlike Dort-mund-Hörde there is still a workingThyssenKrupp steel works in the immedi-ate vicinity to the housing quarters of thedistrict. Since the early 1960s this workers’quarter has been the main destination of

migrants, particularly from Turkey. TheThyssenKrupp works area encloses Marx -loh on two sides, the 15 percent share ofgreen space is clearly below average, andThyssenKrupp is still the biggest employer.The motorway A59 divides the district notonly geographically but also ethnically;east of it there is middle class and uppermiddle class quarter with predominantGerman population and in parts a highhousing standard. The area west of themotorway, however, is adjacent to theindustrial site and the living quality isclearly lower. In some housing blocks theshare of the Turkish population is above90 percent, an ethnic segregation is pre-vailing. There are 17,500 inhabitants in theMarxloh district 58 percent of which havegot a migration background, another 35percent are foreigners (city of Duisburgaverages: 32 and 15 percent, 2005/2008).As in other districts of the region, the shareof foreigners goes along with an aboveaverage birth rate and an above averageshare of children and young persons.Nevertheless the Marxloh district has lost30 percent of its population in the lastyears by out-migration. Particularly themigration balance of the German popula-tion has become negative due to the socio-economic situation, severe environmentalproblems, bad housing conditions and thehigh share of foreigners.

4.1.2 Former British barracks site in Dortmund

East, 1996

4.1.3 Conversion of the former British barracks

site in Dortmund East, 1996

4.1.4 New housing quarter on the Dortmund

Stadtkrone East, 2009

4.1.1 Dortmund-Clarenberg after modernization

67

Since the 1980s strategies of an inte -grated urban renewal have been appliedin the Marxloh district to improve thehousing conditions as well as the social,cultural and economic situation. Since1993 these integrated aid programs havebeen applied in the course of the NorthRhine-Westphalian action program fordistricts with particular demand of re-newal and in the course of the EU programURBAN (1995 to 2000). In the meantimesome favourable developments have beeninitiated. The local ethnic economy is nowregarded as an important part of the dis-trict, because the readiness to investexhibited by non-German enterprises isappreciated. Local politicians wholeheart-edly emphasize the internationality of thedistrict, a desegregation that could beachieved by reducing the share of popu -lation with migration background is nolonger the aim of development. In con-trast, the integrated renewal initiativetries to achieve a strengthened local iden-tity, an improved housing quality, a posi-tive change of the image and a reductionof conflict in order to stop the socio-economic decline.

The Marxloh example reveals the dilem-ma of the urban and housing policies. Onthe one hand, the concentrations of pover-ty shall be abandoned and transfers fromethnic segregations into the social major-ity shall be made possible, on the otherhand, general economic and social trendsreinforce the socio-economic and ethnicsegregation. As public means increasinglybecome deficient, districts like Marxlohare more and more forced to rely on theirown development potentials. In Marxloha prime potential are the efficient struc-tures of co-operation that have beendeveloping since the 1980s.

As already mentioned in 2.3, Germany’slargest mosque has been dedicated inMarxloh in 2008; its costs were sevenmillion Euros with the Land participatingwith 3.2 million. Unlike other cities wherelarge mosques are going to be built, therewere no protests against such a buildingin Duisburg. Quite obviously, decades ofcommon working and living have ceasedthe reservations; moreover, the mosquecommunity has been very cooperative.Next to the mosque an open educationand meeting center has been built and thecommunity agreed not to build a tallminaret and to refrain from a muezzincalling. In total, all groups involved regardthe new building as enriching for thedistrict and as a symbol of a successfulintegration.

Further south along the boundary of theKruppThyssen site there is the district ofDuisburg-Bruckhausen where the struc-tural problems are severer than in otherdeprived districts of the region. Despite ofthe measures that have been undertakento improve the housing and living condi-tions, Bruckhausen is characterized by ahigh rate of unemployment, a high shareof foreign population, bad housing condi-tions and a pronounced amount of vacantflats. The housing quarters of Bruckhausenare in the immediate vicinity to the Krupp -Thyssen steel works with its new blast fur-naces, separated only by a street and a wallthat surrounds the industrial site. Thisclose proximity of housing and workingthat has been developing here since 1895has once been seen as favourable. Today,however, only the high air and noise pollu-tion, the exceedance of respirable dust andpollutants limit values, the dilapidatingfacades, the not existing free spaces andthe missing infrastructure are recognized.

After all, the efforts of the last decadeshad minor effects in the fields of educa-tion (primary school) and culture (“Kul-turbunker”) but could not fundamentallychange the conditions especially becausethe new blast furnaces will have a lastingindustrial effect on the housing quarters.Therefore the local planning authoritydecided in 2006 to start the dismantlingof Bruckhausen. In the next ten yearssome 300 houses will be torn down; de-spite of the vacancies some 2,000 personswill be resettled with the support of asocial plan. After the dismantling theconstruction of an anti-noise barrier willbe combined with the layout of a greenbelt (250 m wide) that will work as bufferbetween the industrial site and thehousing quarters and will improve thequality of housing and living. The costs of72 million Euros will equally be sharedbetween ThyssenKrupp on the one sideand by the state of North Rhine-West-phalia and the European Union on theother.

4 . M E TRO PO L I S R U H R – D EV E LO PM E N T P RO C E S S E S

4.1.6 Ethnic segregation in Duisburg-Marxloh

4.1.5 Not only churches and mosques but also

the big Hindu temple in Hamm demonstrate

the wide range of religions in the Ruhr

4.1.7 Dieselstraße in Duisburg-Bruckhausen

68

The local inhabitants fear that the existingcommunity will not survive in Bruck-hausen and they are anxious that thedevelopment of the green belt will causeincreased rents and consequently an ex-pulsion of the population. However, byinvesting in this green belt ThyssenKruppinvests in the operational capability of itsproduction site Bruckhausen, so that theenvironmental stipulations will be ful-filled even if the site will be expanded. It iswidely held that this development is thelogical consequence ensuing from thesevere deprivation of the housing quarterBruckhausen. As the demographic changeproceeds such a dismantling might proveas a sensible final solution in other citiesas well; in shrinking cities housing quar-ters that increasingly lack demand havenot to maintained any more.

Since the shut-down of the Consolidationmine in 1993 an increasing number ofbrownfields, a shrinking population andlow public budgets have been the chal-lenges for the Gelsenkirchen districts ofBismarck and Schalke-Nord. Here as wellthe living quality and the local economyhave been strengthened by using thebrownfields left behind by the industry fornew developments. From 1995 to 2004,this revitalization of Gelsenkirchen-Bis-marck/Schalke-Nord has been supportedby the joint national and North Rhine-Westphalian program “Districts with par-ticular development demands – SocialCity”.

Both districts happened to see consider-able population losses. The decline of thecoal, iron and steel industries causedmany persons of the working age to moveout of Bismarck and Schalke. From 1961to 2010, the population decreased by5,000 to 21,000 persons. A remarkableevent in the period of decline was theclosure of the Consolidation mine. 4,000miners were set free, the rate of youth em-ployment raised, the purchasing power ofthe population decreased and many hous-es lacked investments for modernization.Extensive brownfields, facades needingrepairs and vacancies characterized theurban appearance of Bismarck/Schalke-Nord.

Since 1995 the former site of the Con -so lidation mine (27 hectares) has beenregenerated into the new center ofthe district in the course of applyingthe integrated district program “SocialCity” (s. fig. 5.1.3). The head frame and apower house have been converted into

a center of culture and events; a wide-ranging cultural offer has been estab-lished in the middle of Gelsenkirchen-Bis-marck (youth theatre, music center with38 rehearsal rooms for local bands, seefig. 2.5.4; mosque and Turkish communi-ty center). New housing quarters havebeen established; new shops and anattractive park have been planned andrealized in cooperation with the popula-tion. Another successful lead project wasthe opening of a new com prehensive

school which has been well established asmulti-cultural and ecological districtschool and which is regionally appreciat-ed for its innovative school program. Inthe immediate vicinity of this school thefirst solar-powered housing estate of theMetropolis Ruhr has been erected, com-prising 74 detached houses. As a result ofall these measures the out-migration ofthe population could almost be stoppedand Bismarck achieved a positive inner-urban migration balance.

4.1.8 Air pollution in Duisburg-Bruckhausen, 2005

4.1.9 Extension of the planned green belt in Duisburg-Bruckhausen

69

To create an innovative city worth living init was the aim of a 2010 competitionlaunched by the Initiativkreis Ruhr. Thecities of the Ruhr could apply for the title“InnovationCity Ruhr”. The city chosen isto be a model of the future climate city interms of energy efficient architecture,housing and living together. In this cityboth the consumption of energy and thecarbon dioxide emissions will be halved,with the quality of life increasing. The cityof Bottrop has been the winner of the

competition and is going to apply a sus-tainable concept that might be trans-ferred to other cities in the future. In 2012more than 100 projects have been startedin the Bottrop, the InnovationCity Ruhr.Three existing houses – a detached house,a multi-story housing block and a com-mercial building – are taken as examplesand are converted in plus-energy-housesthat produce more energy than is neededby the households living in them. The ex-pansion of a decentralized energy supply

for private, industrial and public purposesshall be enhanced and the energy effi-ciency shall be increased thereby.

In general, it can be stated that the dis-tricts of the northern Ruhr and particular-ly of the Emscher zone still have to copewith the consequences of the industrialimpact. It was here that the old industrieshad reached their maximum stage of de-velopment and it is here that the impactcaused thereby is still very strong. The

4.1.10 Building conditions and social infrastructure in Duisburg-Bruckhausen

devastated


70

examples presented have shown that thechange of the economic structure alsorequires an urban development that isinnovative and pragmatic alike in orderto maintain or to create an attractiveenvironmental quality for housing andleisure.

Traffic and transport

A major function of metropolitan areas istheir gateway function, i.e. they have togive access to people, knowledge andmarkets. This is a precondition of a thriv-ing economic development in a globalizedworld that requires a quick processing oftransports. This demand is particularlytrue for the polycentric metropolis Ruhr asits geographical position in the middle of

Europe is a locational advantage. Thisfavourable position should be used in anoptimal way by outbound connectionsand an inner network. That is why soundmotorway, railway, shipping and air trafficsystems are of utmost importance.

Areas used by any form of traffic sum up to7 percent of the total Ruhr area. Because,tendency increasing, more than everysecond inhabitant of the region is a car-owner the motorized individual traffic isimportant in the Metropolis Ruhr. The net-work of 4,700 kilometers of regional roadsis highly connected, with a remarkableshare of motorways; the share of theMetropolis Ruhr is 12.9 percent, in contrastto the 7.4 percent NRW average and justfive percent for the whole of Germany.Due to the massive freight and long dis-tance transports and the high amount ofcommuters traffic, jams on the motorwaysand the arterial roads are the normal case.Road freight transports and long-distanceroad traffic have increased above averagein the last years because the region has

been well connected since the 1970s.There is the motorway A2/A3 connectingthe Metropolis Ruhr with the economicregions of Hanover and Cologne, the A1connects it to the German North Sea portsand the A3 to the ports of Rotterdam, theA45 provides the connection to the Rhine-Main conurbation and the A44 into theKassel area. The motorways of the regionare also important transit lines betweenWestern and Eastern Europe. Because thistraffic will increase in the future a con-stant maintenance and extension of themost congested traffic axes is carried out,quite recently the A40 extension to sixlanes between Essen and Dortmund.

The overloading of the road traffic be-comes also apparent when the modal splitdata of the Metropolis Ruhr are analyzed.Statistically the modal split exhibits thedistribution of the transport quantitieson the various means of transport. Themotorized individual traffic is by far themost frequent mean of traffic in the Rhine-Ruhr region and thus the main cause of thedaily jams and the overall problems.

Traffic jams are a big and fundamentalproblem in all modern conurbations; theycause stress and enormous delays. Ger-man car-drivers spent approx. five billionhours per year in traffic jams thus causingextremely high costs. The risk of trafficjams is high in the Metropolis Ruhr simplybecause of its size and regional position.There are numerous efforts to understandthe emergence of traffic jams and to findsolutions. Since 1997 there is the uniquechair for the physics of transport andlogistics at the University Duisburg-Essen.Traffic jam research has produced analyti-cal models to explain jams and to predictand simulate them. In the meantimethese traffic simulations are adoptedby an online traffic information systemfor the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia(www.autobahn.nrw.de). Even if trafficjams cannot be prevented by this system,it reliably calculates the time necessaryfor a planned route. As a result of theirresearch, the physicians recommend notto exit a motorway in a case of jam andre-enter it again behind the jam as thisvery seldom brings a gain of time. Chang-ing the lane in a traffic jam is not worththe trouble either. Abrupt braking shouldbe avoided, a jam should not be rear-ended too close, and speed should beaccelerated after the jam has dissolved. Ingeneral, to avoid traffic jams on motor-ways a speed limit would help to balancethe differences in speed that are the main

60

80

100

2011200620011996

Ge-Schalke-Nord

Ge-Bismarck

Gelsenkirchen

70

90

4.1.11 Population development in the city of

Gelsenkirchen and its districts Bismarck and

Schalke-Nord, 1996 to 2011 (indexed

1996=100)

4.1.12 Protestant comprehensive school and solar-powered housing estate in

Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck

4.1.13 Logo of the InnovationCity Ruhr

campaign

71

causes of traffic jams. One of the devicesdeveloped by this traffic jam research isthe traffic lights controlled access on amotorway that has been implemented onmany slip-roads in the region.

To reduce the massive lorry traffic on theregional motorways the idea of “CargoCap”has been developed at the Ruhr UniversityBochum. This system consists of under-ground tubes in which self-driving capsules(caps) that can convey two Euro palettestransport the freight from one logistics andfreight center to another. In comparison tolorry transport this system can deliverpieces of freight faster, better on time andeco-friendly. To put CargoCap into reality anew infrastructure – a network of tubeswith an inner diameter of 2 meters – hadsuccessively to be constructed. Within sixyears the first and cost-efficient track couldbe operated over the 80 kilometers dis-

tance between Dortmund and Duisburg;this track could become the spinal cord of aregional CargoCap tube network.

A useful and already existing solution torelieve the lorry freight traffic is the com-bined transport (rail/road, road/waterwayand rail/waterway), as containers can betransported not only on roads but alsoon rails and waterways. This is importantbecause freight transport on the regionalwaterways is still below the capacitylimit, even if the transport volume of theinland navigation is constantly increasing.However, the higher costs that accrue withcargo processing and the greater complex-ity of the transport chain prevent enter-prises from using the combined freighttraffic.

As the waterways system has been verywell developed in the industrial past, the

network of canals and harbors is able tomeet the modern logistical demands.With 270 kilometers of inland navigationroutes and a variety of harbours and ter-minals it is Europe’s densest harbour andcanal system. Next to the river Rhine andthe navigable part of the river Ruhr thereare the Wesel-Datteln Canal, the Datteln-Hamm Canal, the Dortmund-Ems Canaland the Rhine-Herne Canal. These canalshave purposely been built as transportroutes and had to meet the 20th centurydemands of coal mining and the iron andsteel industries.

In 1899, the Dortmund-Ems Canal hasbeen laid out pushed by the basic indus-tries in order to export coal from and toimport ores into the eastern part of theRuhr. To overcome 14 meters difference inheight on the way to Dortmund a ship lifthas been constructed between Castrop-

Tab. 18: Degree of motorization (cars by1,000 inhabitants) in metropolitan regions

Rhine-Main 589Munich region 582Hamburg region 541Metropolis Ruhr 510Berlin region 450Ìle-de-France 439Greater London 343Amsterdam region 336

Source: Wirtschaftsförderung MetropoleRuhr:

Mobilität in der Metropole Ruhr im Vergleich mit

anderen Metropolen – Analysen, Leitbild, Konzepte,

Maßnah men. Kurzfassung,

State: August 2008; p. 7

Motorbike1.6 %

Public Transport16.0 %

Walking9.1 %

Bicycle5.6 %

Car67.7 %

4.1.14 Modal split Rhine-Ruhr

3

57

59

3

40

46

4544

4244

2

143

52

31

52 43

1

43

40

2

52446

516

44

ArnhemAmsterdam

GronauEmden

HamburgBremenMünster

BremenHamburg

HanoverBerlin

Kassel

Arnsberg

Frankfort/MainCologne

VenloEindhoven

Antwerp

NijmegenRotterdam

DüsseldorfWuppertal

DüsseldorfCologne

Frankfort/MainAirport

hausenOber-

a. d. RuhrMülheim

Herne

Hamm

Hagen

kirchenGelsen-

Duisburg

Dortmund

Bochum

DortmundEssen/Mülheim

Marl-Lohmühle

Dinslaken/Schwarze Heide

Weeze

Münster

Düsseldorf international

regional

4.1.15 Motorways network and airports in the Ruhr

4.1.16 Model of a CargoCap station


72

Rauxel-Henrichenburg, Datteln and Wal-trop; later a second lift and two sluiceshave been added.

Since 1914, the Rhine-Herne Canal hasserved as a connection between Dort-mund and Duisburg. But very soon itstraffic has been so busy that, since 1930,the Wesel-Datteln Canal has been built asa spillway section in the north. Since 1914as well, the Datteln-Hamm Canal, built asa branch canal, opened up the area aroundHamm. With all canals being directed into

this area, Datteln became the hub ofthe regional canal network (“DattelnerMeer”).

In total, there are 12 public harbours and30 works docks in the region. Worth men-tioning are the harbours in Duisburg andDortmund, the first being Europe’s largestinland harbour, the other Europe’s largestcanal harbour. The inland navigation ofthe region is an energy efficient, eco -friendly and safe mode of traffic thatholds a general growth potential.

Because an efficient railway network hasbeen the precondition of the regionalindustrial development it has been ex-tensively laid out already in the 19th cen-tury. Still today, the network with its fivebig marshaling yards in Hamm, Wanne-Eickel, Oberhausen-Osterfeld, Schwerteund Hagen is very functioning for railfreight services. The combined freighttraffic, i.e. the combination of road, wa-terways and rail freight traffic is servedat the container terminals in Duisburg,Voerde, Hagen, Herne and Dortmund.Nevertheless, rail freight traffic could beused more in the Metropolis Ruhr in orderto relieve the overstrained road freighttraffic.

The rail passenger traffic can rely on adense network serving national, regionaland local lines. There are 70 railway sta-tions in the Metropolis Ruhr that shallgradually be modernized according to thedevelopment plan of the Land NRW; andto relieve the road traffic the railway net-work shall be extended. Due to the highdensities of both population and workingplaces public transport in the MetropolisRuhr is of greater importance than in lesspopulated areas. Yet the modal splitshows that the share of public transportis quite small even if the number of pub-lic transport passengers has increased inthe Rhine-Ruhr region in the last years(1.1 billion passengers in 2010); a publictransport ride is cheaper and often faster

4.1.17 Section of the Duisburg ports: the former North harbour has been filled up in 2009 to

gain more area above the flood mark; on the banks of the South harbour combined freight

traffic facilities are to be seen

R. Rhine

R. Lippe

RuhrR. Rhine

River

R hine-Herne Canal

Wesel-Datteln Ca nal

Datteln-Hamm Canal

Dortmun

d-Ems Ca

na

l

Wesel

Rheinberg

a. d. RuhrMülheim

Lünen

Herne

Hamm

kirchenGelsen-

EssenDuisburg

DortmundBottrop

BergkamenMarl

RauxelCastrop-

National waterway/navigable river/canal

River port

4.1.18 Waterways and harbours in the Ruhr

Tab. 19: Cargo handling in the MetropolisRuhr harbours and in Hamburg, 2010

Harbour Cargo handling(million tons)

Duisburg 52.9Marl 5.0Gelsenkirchen 3.8Hamm 2.7Rheinberg 2.0Dortmund 1.7Essen 1.4Lünen 1.4Bergkamen 1.2Bottrop 1.0Herne 0.9Mülheim an der Ruhr 0.8Wesel 0.6Castrop-Rauxel 0.5Hamburg 121.2

Sources:

http://www.it.nrw.de/presse/

pressemitteilungen/2011/pdf/108_11.pdf und

http://www.hafen-hamburg.de/node/590/backlinks

73

than using the car in times of rising petrolprices and everyday traffic jams. In total,there is in parts a competition betweenthe transport of persons and the trans-port of goods on the same intensivelyused railway network. On the other hand,the more than four million passengersper weekday have brought the publictransport of the Verkehrsverbund Rhine-Ruhr (VRR, Transport Association Rhine-Ruhr) to its capacity limit. The peak periodoverloads and delays of the public trans-port have generated the plan to look foran additional and efficient rail-boundmode of traffic.

For the lines between the Rhine area andthe Metropolis Ruhr that are intensivelyused by daily commuters a system ofaccelerated regional trains is planned.This Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) moving ona high speed line between Cologne/Bonnand Dortmund shall become the premi-um offer (fast, comfortable) of publictransport. Due to cuts of the nationalbudget RRX is unlikely to be realizedbefore 2020.

As far as air traffic, the Metropolis Ruhrhas indirect access to the internationalairline network via the international air-ports in Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn.The regional airport Dortmund, opened in1926, has gained importance for businessand holiday flights after a 2,000 m run-way and a new terminal building havebeen opened. The airfields in Essen/Mül-heim, Marl and Dinslaken are nothing butan addition to the system. It has beenmissed in the 20th century to provide theregion with an international airport thatis appropriate to its size and economicpower. So the international connectionshave to be operated via the airportsDüsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Frankfurt andAmsterdam; an extension of the existingsmaller airports and airfields or even theconstruction of a new major airport isimpossible to realize in the densely popu-lated Metropolis Ruhr.

The traffic infrastructure is one of themost important determinants of thefuture development of the MetropolisRuhr. The demands will increase asparticipating in global processes increas-ingly requires efficient and faster logis-tics. In addition, the individual demandsof the population for the traffic infra-structure are constantly growing. In theMetropolis Ruhr wide ranging road, railand waterways networks represent amodern traffic infrastructure; at the same

4.1.19 Sluice Park in Waltrop (from left to right): old ship lift (1899 to 1969), old air lock

(1914-1989), new air lock (since 1989) new ship lift (1962 to 2005)

4.1.20 Waterway hub Datteln: Dortmund-Ems Canal (bottom), Datteln-Hamm Canal (to the right),

Wesel-Datteln Canal (to the left) old and new speed of the Dortmund-Ems Canal (top)

4.1.21 Europe’s largest canal harbour in Dortmund


74

time, the region is suffering from massiveoverloads despite of all efforts that havebeen made to alleviate them. Accordingto traffic jam research, a reduced trafficimpact can be expected not prior to 2025,a positive side effect of the demographicchange.

Logistics

Logistics is defined as the planning, hand -ling and controlling of flows of material,information, values, persons, and energyalong a value-added chain or a supplychain. The field can be divided in logisticsof warehousing, transport, procurement,production, distribution and disposal. Lo-gistics, one the supported competencefields in the Metropolis Ruhr, is of greateconomic importance. In 2008, some5,700 logistics enterprises with nearly80,000 employees generated a turnover of18.7 billion Euros, i.e. 8.3 per cent of theregional gross domestic product (Euro-pean average: 5.4 per cent). As there areadditional 80,000 logistical jobs in othereconomic branches, the field of logisticscan reasonably be regarded as a motorof the regional structural change. Thegeographical position of the Ruhr in themiddle of Europa gives access to some50 million consumers within the reach ofthree driving hours. The European expan-sion to the east was to strengthen thisposition even more, with Duisburg and itslargest European inland harbour being themost important European interface ofroad freight, rail freight and ship’s freight.As mentioned above, the system of water-ways is well developed, and the river Rhineconnects the region to the North Sea andnumerous upstream ports. The densecanal system gives access to the North Seavia Emden and to the Baltic via the riversWeser, Elbe and Oder. At the crossing pointof important north-south and west-easttraffic lines (Rhine ports and canal ports,motorways and railway tracks) Duisburgand its harbour have been establishedas the most important logistics site of theregion.

The port of Duisburg which is called atby 20,000 vessels per year is the centralreloading point in the hinterland of thegreat sea ports Amsterdam, Rotterdamand Antwerp (ARA ports). Since the 1990sit holds the status of a sea port and com-prises a free port; thus goods that areshipped from all over the world to Duis-burg, can be stored there tax free and canbe refined and further transported. Theconnections to international ports areintense, as the local shipping companieskeep up river-sea lines to about 100 ports.The port authority keeps up a strategicalliance with the corresponding authori-ties of Dortmund, Bilbao, Memphis (USA),Xiamen (China), Rotterdam, Middelburgand Antwerp.

In 2011, the Duisburg port authority (“duis-port”) had employed 700 persons. Thereis a total of more than 40,000 personsemployed working in 250 port related en-terprises and representing 14 per cent ofthe total Duisburg labour force; a turnoverof 2.7 billion Euros has been generated.The total harbour area comprises 1,350hec tares; the cargo handling uses 21 docks(water area 180 hectares) with quaysides of37 kilometers, 16 kilometers thereof withside tracks. In 2011, 64 million tons of goodshave been handled; if the cargo handling inthe eight company ports is included, thetotal handling sums up to 125.6 milliontons. With container handling constantlyincreasing since 2006, there has more gen-eral cargo been handled than bulk goods.

The port offers a wide range of services tothe customers. There are eight containerterminals with 16 container gantries; twoof these container terminals are equippedwith up to nine parallel rail tracks allowingthe simultaneous handling of block trains.In addition, there are two roll-on/roll-offsites to load and unload RoRo ships; thegoods are transported on and off the shipsby lorry or railway.

The development of the port of Duisburggoes back to the 16th century. The firstport in the present district of Duisburg-Ruhrort has been but a mooring placecapable to take small trading vesselsheading for Holland. In the first half of the19th century the outer and inner harboursclose to the historical center of Duisburghave been reloading points, at first formine timber and coal, later for grain. Inthe 1960s the combined and constantlyextended ports of Duisburg and Ruhrorthave fundamentally been re-structuredmeeting the demands that have beencaused by the handling of mineral oil andcontainers. In Ruhrort container terminalshave been built that allow trimodal traffic(road, rail, waterway).

In the 1990s, plans have been promotedto use new areas in order to extend theport of Duisburg and change it into aneven larger logistical interface of road, railand waterway traffics. To achieve this pur-pose the site of the former Krupp steel-works in Duisburg-Rheinhausen on theleft side of the river Rhine is being used.After the steelworks had been shut downin 1993, it was dismantled, industrial hallswere converted and the area was market-ed as ‘logport’. The logport area has be-come a symbol of the structural changein Duisburg, as nearly the complete siteof 265 hectares has been leased to largelogistics companies (e.g. Kühne + Nagel,Rhenus logistics, Schenker). It also in-cludes the Duisburg Intermodal Terminal(DIT) which has become the logisticalcenter of the Duisport harbor group andis intensively used; it allows an adequateinterchange between ship, railway andlorry.

The success story of the logistics siteDuisburg is still going on. In 2008, thelogport 2 logistics center (35 hectares) hasbeen opened which is the second phase ofthe harbour extension on the right sideof the river Rhine, right opposite to log-port 1. In addition, there is the logisticspark Kasslerfeld and the logistics centerRuhrort.

Tab. 20: Rail freight traffic and public transport

Rail freight traffic as share of total Public transport as share of totalfreight traffic (percentages) person transport (percentages)

Metropolis Ruhr 19.2 11Hamburg region 13.3 16Berlin region 10.0 25Ìle-de-France 4.5 18Greater London 2.5 19

Source: Wirtschaftsförderung MetropoleRuhr: Mobilität in der Metropole Ruhr im Vergleich mit anderen Metropolen –

Leitbild, Konzepte, Maßnahmen – Kurzfassung, State: August 2008, p. 11 and p. 16

Tab. 21: Airports – Passengers and air freight

Airport Passengers Air freight(millions) (tons)

Frankfort 53.00 2,308,000

Düsseldorf 18.99 88,164

Cologne/Bonn 9.85 626,120

Dortmund 1.75 33

Münster/Osnabrück 1.33 131

Source: Verkehrsaufkommen Flughäfen (2010)

Luftverkehrsbericht 2010, S. 60

75

Next to Duisburg, the modern traffic in-frastructure of the Metropolis Ruhr hasbrought forward other interchanges thatserve as logistics hubs. Even if it cannot becompared to Duisburg inland harbour, theDortmund harbour has become Europe’slargest canal port with three million tonsof cargo per year (mainly containers,building material, mineral oils, iron andsteel, scrap, coal and coke). According to

Dortmund’s image as a technology site,e-port-dortmund has been allocated inthe port in 2002; it is a start-up and com-petence center to support the allocationof innovative new logistics enterprisesand the expansion of existing ones.

Another traffic hub of the Metropolis Ruhris the Kamener Kreuz; its direct motor-way connections provide ideal locational

conditions for logistics companies. TheKamener Kreuz connects the importantsix-lane motorways A 1 (North-South axis)and A 2 (West-East axis) and is used as aninterchange by 160,000 vehicles daily. Thelocational potential has attracted someenterprises already many years ago. Sincethe 1970s extensive retailing outlets andmarkets (furniture, toys, gardening, DIY,cars) have been established in the vicinity

4.1.22 Krupp Hüttenwerk in Duisburg-Rheinhausen, 1980

4.1.24 Duisburg: Logport, 2012

4.1.23 Duisburg: Logport construction site, 2002


76

of the exits; they were followed by trans-port and removal enterprises. From 2000onwards, the area turned into an impor-tant logistics site when large enterpriseswere allocated. In 2007, Deutsche PostDHL Exel Supply Chain opened the LogistikCampus Unna; on 240,000 square meterslogistical services are provided for cos -metic brands, up to 1.5 million palettesare turned over per year. The DHL centralwarehouse for Karstadt Deutschland, pro-viding 1,500 jobs, has been allocated aswell. Further industrial estates to be usedby logistics enterprises are planned.

Next to the motorway A 2, there is anotherlogistics site on the Ellinghausen waste tip

in Dortmund. In 2003, IKEA opened a dis-tribution center from which to managehome delivery for customers in Germany,Belgium and the Netherlands; in 2007, thecomplex has been enlarged to a Europeandistributions center. The full-automatedhigh-bay warehouse provides a capacity for430,000 palettes; 10,000 different small-volume articles and promotion merchan-dise are stored and delivered from here to

all of the 180 European shops of the com-pany. The delivery and dispatch is carriedout by means of more than 1,000 loadingramps that are reached by 500 lorries daily;the site has its own rail siding. More than1,000 persons work directly in the distri -bution center; another 300 are employedby subcontractors. Due to shortage ofcapacities the center has been extendedfor another time in 2010.

4.1.25 Kamener Kreuz, 1980: the ideal shamrock of a motorway interchange

4.1.26 Kamener Kreuz, 2012: optimized traffic routing

Tab. 22: Cargo handling in Dortmund harbour

Main items 2011(percentages)

Container, incl. cargo 33.4Mineral oils 22.4Rocks, soils, gravel, sand 21.2Iron and steel, iron and steel goods 10.0Scrap 8.6Coal and coke 3.9Wood and wooden goods 0.2Grain 0.2Others 0.1Fertilizers 0.0Foodstuff 0.0Pulp, paper 0.0Total 100.0

Source: Dortmunder Hafen AG

77

4.2 Education and research

As in all metropolitan regions of the worldknowledge and expertise, produced anddelivered by institutions of education andresearch, are important locational factors.For education influences the ability toinnovation and creative education milieusproduce a workforce potential fit to meetthe corresponding demands. The Metro -polis Ruhr provides a dense network ofeducational institutions. There are some1,700 schools and 20 universities, univer-sities of applied sciences and schools ofart taking 560,000 pupils and 180,000students. But this dense network hasbeen developed not until the last decades.As already mentioned, up to the 1960sthe region suffered from an “educationalblockade”. Since then the actual densenetwork has been developing and is nowbeing optimized. Headlined “Bildungs -region Ruhr 2018” (Education regionRuhr 2018), the urban and rural districtsof the region pursue an educational pro -filing of the region and an increase inquality.

Education

In order to optimize the regional edu -cation system education analyses arecarried out since 2010 that describe theactual state and give recommendationsfor action; it is divided into modules alongthe individual educational biographyfrom pre-school to university.

The pre-school education in the Metro -polis Ruhr is widely depending on socio-spatial parameters. The regional povertyrate of 24.6 per cent is considerablyhigher than the NRW average (16.8 %).The necessity of language training isabove the NRW average, with remarkabledifferences within the region. Schoolentry studies reveal the influences ofvarious social milieus concerning diver-gent potentials in terms of incentives andsupport. Day care facilities and child carefacilities for below 3-year olds are claimedfor below average. That is why studiesrecommend to extend the childcarefacilities for below 3-year olds and toincrease the attendance quota of thesefacilities by children from precarioussocial environments. A systematical pre-school language training is recommendedas well.

A pre-study on the educational situationmaintains that the Metropolis Ruhr pro-vides a dense network of primary and

secondary schools, but facing the compre-hensive quantitative and qualitativechanges it is doubted whether the struc-ture of the regional school system stillmeets the needs. The demographicchange is going to influence the demandsfor school forms, in particular for thesecondary schools. In the course of arecommended reformation of the region-al school structure more all-day schoolsshall be provided and the integration ofand the support for children from migrantfamilies shall be enhanced in sub-regionswith strong needs.

The study stresses that vocational train-ing and advanced and further traininghave grown in importance and that thetransfer from school to job is a centralfield of action.

As far as the informal education is con-cerned, the impact of the relevant facili-ties on the development and education

River Emscher

River RhineR. Lippe

R. Ruhr

DepartmentUniversityUniversity ofApplied Sciences

Gladbeck

Gevelsberg

kirchenGelsen-

Fröndenberg

Essen

Ennepetal

Duisburg Dortmund

Dorsten

Dinslaken

Datteln

RauxelCastrop-

Breckerfeld

BottropBönen

Bochum

Bergkamen

Alpen

WESEL

ENNEPE-

RECKLINGHAUSEN

RUHR

RURAL

UNNA

Sonsbeck

Selm

Schwerte

Schwelm

Schermbeck

Rheinberg

Recklinghausen

ErkenschwickOer-

hausenOber-

VluynNeukirchen-

upon RuhrMülheim

Moers

Marl

Lünen

Kamp-Lintfort

Kamen

Hünxe

wickedeHolz-

Herten

Herne

Herdecke

Hattingen

Hamminkeln

Hamm

Haltern am See

Hagen

Xanten

Witten

Wetter

WeselWerne

Waltrop

Voerde

Unna

Sprockhövel

DISTRICT

RURAL DISTRICT

RURAL DISTRICT

RURAL

DISTRICT

4.2.1 Distribution of universities and universities of applied sciences

4.2.2 Day care center “Lummerland” in

Breckerfeld

4.2.3 Public primary school Veen, Alpen

community, district of Wesel

4.2.4 Institute for Waldorf pedagogics in Witten, focusing on inclusion und intercultural relations


78

of children and youths is often underes -timated. The programs and initiativesoffered are particularly used by childrenand young persons from migrant familiesand those with lower educational levels.A qualitative and quantitative survey ofthese offers and their impacts is recom-mended.

With reference to the tertiary education,the education blockade mentioned abovehas been overcome and a dense networkof scientific and research institutions hascome into being.

Research

Since the 1960s the Ruhr UniversityBochum, the Technical University Dort-mund, the universities of Duisburg andEssen – merged to the University ofDuisburg-Essen in 2003 –, the Fernuniver-sität Hagen and the Private UniversityWitten/Herdecke have been founded. Inaddition, there are 13 widely accepteduniversities of applied sciences (Fach-hochschule) as e.g. in Bochum, Duisburg,Dortmund, Essen, Hagen, Hamm andGelsenkirchen. Quite recently some newuniversities of applied sciences have beenfounded. In winter term 2009/2010 theFachhochschule Westliches Ruhrgebiethas been opened in Mülheim an der Ruhrand in Bottrop comprising the faculties ofmathematics, IT, sciences and technology.With the same set of faculties the Hoch -schule Hamm-Lippstadt has been found-ed. In Kamp-Lintfort a branch of thenewly founded Hochschule Rhein-Waal inKleve has been established.

In total, there are more than 175,000 stu-dents at the universities and universitiesof applied sciences, a third of them study-ing economics, law and social sciences,about a quarter languages and humani-ties and another quarter is go for a degree

in natural sciences, mathematics, infor-mation technologies or engineering.

Outside the universities various forms ofresearch are conducted in four Fraunhoferinstitutes, four Leibniz institutes, three MaxPlanck institutes and in 60 other instituteswith a scientific staff of more than 2,000persons. The research activities are focusedon nano and plasma tech nology, energyproduction, logistics, in formation technolo-gy and biosciences. As the universities, thenon-university research institutions try tocooperate with the economy. To promotethis cooperation between the sciences andthe regional economy nine technologytransfer agencies and some 30 start-up andtechnology centers have been founded;some of them are integrated into theuniversity structures. The successful tech-nology center attached to the TechnicalUni versity of Dortmund has already beenmentioned above.

To enhance the cooperation between theuniversities of the region by developingcommon fields of teaching and researchthe universities of Bochum, Dortmundand Duisburg-Essen have created the Uni-versity Alliance Metropolis Ruhr (UAMR).With some 90,000 students, 1,250 profes-sors and a budget of 840 million Euros thisalliance is better recognized in the scien-tific communities as would be the univer-sities alone. Moreover, 47 non-universityand university research institutions areorganized in the WissenschaftsforumRuhr e.V.

To be able to estimate the quality of thescience region Ruhr that has been devel-oped in the last decades, in 2011 the Mer-cator Foundation commissioned a studythat compares the Metropolis Ruhr withthe metropolitan regions Berlin, Munichand Zurich and reveals the strengths andweaknesses. The Metropolis Ruhr scores

4.2.5 University Duisburg-Essen, Essen campus 4.2.6 Technical University Dortmund

Tab. 23: Universities in the Metropolis Ruhr, winter term 2011/2012

Year of Number Scientific staff Number offoundation of students (excl. professors) Professors* faculties Special Research Fields

Ruhr University Bochum 1965 36,693 2,710 462 20 12 (incl. cooperations)Technical University Dortmund 1968 27,010 1,510 285 16 5 (incl. cooperations)University Duisburg-Essen 1972 37,401 1,632 370 11 7 (incl. cooperations)Fernuniversität Hagen 1975 79,906 294 68 4 NonePrivate University Witten/Herdecke 1983 1,417 191 44 3 None

*without faculty of medicine

Source: Information provided by the universities

79

better in terms of private funding inthe fields of mechanical engineering(28.2 million Euros, with Munich achiev-ing 26.9 million Euros and Berlin achiev-ing 26.5 million Euros. Concerning theapplications approved by the DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft the strength ofthe regional mechanical engineeringbecomes apparent even more; here theMetropolis Ruhr universities achieve 55million Euros which is twice as much asMunich (27.2 million Euros) and Berlin(25.8 million Euros).

Next to these research achievementacademic teaching has been detected as

strength. In Zurich the professor/studentratio is 1:33, with 1:49 and 1:50 in Berlinand Munich respectively; in the Metro -polis Ruhr, however, the ratio is 1:65.But the students regard the quality ofacademic education in the MetropolisRuhr as high as in the other regionsdis regarding this unfavourable relation.Despite the negative migration balancethe share of persons aged 6 to 18 ishigher in the Ruhr than in the regionscompared and is therefore regarded asan important potential of talents. Aparticular chance might be given by inte-grating a higher amount of students from

migrant families. And finally, anotherpotential that could be used more exten-sively is the proximity to strong enter -prises that have not yet be cooperatedwith so far.

The lack of financial means has beendetected as the definite weakness ofthe science region Ruhr. Whereas theuniversities of Zurich, Berlin and Munichdispose of annual budgets of 1.9 to 2.4billion Euros, the budget of the Metro -polis Ruhr universities is a low as 1.4billion Euros per year. This is to explainthe unfavourable professor/student ratio,the – again in comparison to the otherregions – low numbers of PhDs, habili -tations and patent applications. Andfinally, there are less non-universityresearch institutions in the MetropolisRuhr than in the other regions. Theattractiveness of a science region isinfluenced by the socio-cultural infra-structure; this is regarded as less attrac-tive in the Ruhr as there are less doctorsand artists and the child care participa-tion quota is lower than in Berlin, Munichand Zurich.

To sum up, in the last decades the Metro -polis Ruhr could establish itself in terms of

education and research. But qualitativechallenges will still have to be met in orderto evolve to an innovative region of edu-cation by 2018. Experts regard this aim asrealistic if the indispensable political andfinancial support is given.

River Emscher

River RhineR. Lippe

R. Ruhr

Xanten

Witten

Wetter

Wesel Werne

Waltrop

Voerde

Unna

Sprockhövel

Sonsbeck

Selm

Schwerte

Schwelm

Schermbeck

Rheinberg

Recklinghausen

ErkenschwickOer-

hausenOber-

VluynNeukirchen-

upon RuhrMülheim

Moers

Marl

Lünen

Kamp-Lintfort

Kamen

Hünxe

wickedeHolz-

Herten

Herne

Herdecke

Hattingen

Hamminkeln

Hamm

Haltern am See

Hagen

Gladbeck

Gevelsberg

kirchenGelsen-

Fröndenberg

Essen

Ennepetal

Duisburg Dortmund

Dorsten

Dinslaken

Datteln

RauxelCastrop-

Breckerfeld

Bottrop Bönen

Bochum

Bergkamen

Alpen

Locations of research institutes

WESEL

ENNEPE-

RECKLINGHAUSEN

RUHR

RURAL

UNNA

DISTRICT

RURAL DISTRICT

RURAL

DISTRICTRURAL

DISTRICT

4.2.7 Distribution of the research institutions of the Wissenschaftsforum Ruhr

4.2.8 Fernuniversität Hagen

4.2.9 Private University Witten/Herdecke


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4.3 Nature, recreation and leisure

As mentioned above, the former sparselypopulated agrarian landscape of the Ruhrhas fundamentally been changed by theimpacts of industrialisation and urban-ization. The natural conditions have ad-justed to the needs of the industries anda growing number of population; thedevelopment and the repeated recon-struction of the rivers Ruhr and Emscherare good examples. On the one hand, theold industries have degraded the naturalpotential; on the other hand, the indus-trial heritage is creatively addressed sincethe 1990s by using industrial nature andindustrial culture for recreation andleisure purposes.

But the industrial past is not only reflect-ed in form of new recreation and leisuresites, but also takes influence on theeveryday life of the population. Danger-ous cases of subsidence are still a legacyof the industrial past and may inducedamages on buildings, roads, railwaysand supply lines. What are the causes?The coal deposits are formed as layersof different thickness (seam) and areaccompanied by surrounding rocks (minewaste). The extraction of coal and sur-rounding rocks produces extensive sub-terranean cavities that up to the 1960shad been refilled with mine waste. Sincethen this method has been given up and,consequently, the overlying rock layersbroke; the breaks continued up to thesurface. Taking the about seven billiontons of coal that have been excavatedsince the beginning of industrialisationa regional average subsidence of threemeters can be calculated. Locally, sub -sistence of 20 meters and more can berecognized.

In the mining districts of the MetropolisRuhr subsistence can be recognized inform of cracks in buildings, leaned walls,burst pipes and rewetted agriculturalareas. These damages appear in activemining areas and in abandoned areas aswell because the process of subsidenceshows a certain time-lag and extensiveeffects can occur a long time after theclose down. The cooperation of house-owner damaged by mining has to dealwith 6,000 cases per year and theDeutsche Steinkohle AG service center isconfronted with an annual amount of35,000 complaints. In Bochum-Watten-scheid the spectacular 2000 subsidencecaused a crater of 40 by 40 meters whenthe ground above a former coal mine

yielded unexpectedly. Luckily only twogarages disappeared in the hole and therewere no casualties. In the very end is hasbeen figured out that already in 1907 atower, 25 m high, had crashed into theshaft and had blocked it in a depth of 40meters. The rest of the shaft had beenfilled with concrete in 1991 but an openspace remained underneath. Eventually,the remains of the former tower could nolonger stand the pressure and caused thatspectacular event.

Subsidence areas of about 75,000 hec -tares are permanently artificially bedrained; they concentrate in the middle

of the Metropolis Ruhr, in the catchmentareas of the river Emscher and Lippe.Over a length of 32 kilometers the riverLippe has been dyked. Because the rivercourses themselves have been affected bysubsidence they had to be raised, trans-ferred and dyked. Very often a junction ofthe tributaries with the river itself is notpossible anymore. Because the precipita-tion has to be pumped out of the raisedrivers as well more than 100 pumpingstations have to be operated to guaran-tee that the subsidence areas of themiddle Emscher will not turn into a land-scape of lakes in which most parts wouldbe more than ten meters below the waterlevel.

But there are also positive consequencesensuing from the extraction of coal andmine waste; waste tips and subsidencelakes are features of a “second-handnatu ral landscape”. Subsidence lakesoccur when the groundwater rises to thesurface and fills the dell of subsidence.Subsidence lakes are quite frequent in theEmscher and Lippe zones. The alreadyexisting Hallerey flat in Dortmund hasbeen affected by an additional subsi-dence ensuing from the mining activities

4.3.1 Development of a subsidence caused by mining

4.3.3 Aerial of the nature reserve Hallerey in

Dortmund

4.3.2 Damage caused by subsidence in Bochum

4.3.4 Vegetation in the Hallerey nature reserve

in Dortmund

81

of the Dorstfeld mine nearby. Some sub -sidence lakes gradually formed a con -tinuous water and swamp area of 32hectares which is distinguished as an im-portant breeding, resting and transit areafor wading and water birds. Due to thegreat variety of species large areas of theHallerey have been declared a naturereserve already in 1977.

By tipping the mine waste at the surfacemany waste tips have been scatteredover the Ruhr. First generation tips wereheaped up in the immediate vicinity ofthe mines by carrying material by meansof conveyor belts and forming a tippedcone. The tips of the next generationgrew in size and were formed like flatsummit mountains. The last generationof tips is the large designed landscapebuilding that deliberately combines vari-ous forms.

Actually there are 20 large tip complexesthat are sometimes regarded as thefourth generation of tips. When the sub-sidies for coal mining will cease in 2018,tipping and the landscaping of waste tipswill cease as well. Some tips are ownedby the Regional Authority Ruhr and aredeveloped and maintained for recreation,others are managed by industrial enter-prises and development companies.

Even if these tips are “second-hand natu-ral landscapes” designed by landscapearchitects, they have an ecological poten-tial as they provide inner-urban environ-ments for plant and animal species; onlaid out paths they can also be used bywalkers. In the north-east of Dortmundan extensive dump and tip area has beendesigned. At the bottom a forest area ofhornbeams, common oaks and small-leaves limes has been planted whichis followed uphill by grass and shrubfields.

Thus different habitats are offered todifferent animal species and an over-growth of the tip is prevented as well sothat they still serve as viewing points forvisitors. Tips have different functions forleisure, sports and recreation activities.On the tipped cone tip of the formerSchleswig mine in Dortmund-Asseln amountain biking area has been designed.In the hall of the alpincenter on theProsper tip in Bottrop the difference inaltitude of 80 meters can not only beovercome on skies but also by means of asummer toboggan run of 1,000 meters.Other tips are sites of arts and parts of the

route of landmark art (see below). Beforea tip can be used for new purposes thedanger of fire must be excluded as frac-tions of coal remaining in the tip materialcan inflame under pressure and can smol-der in the inner body of the tip for a longtime.

Next to the cases of subsidence and thewaste tips the influence on the river Em-scher is among the major impacts of coal

mining. The various activities of theEmschergenossenschaft, founded in 1899,have already been mentioned. Since the1990s it is the company’s main task tochange the “black Emscher” into the “blueEmscher”. Step by step the river and itstributaries are being recultivated and thesewage waters are being conveyed in sub-terranean canals; 8 to 40 meters belowthe surface this subterranean sewagewater canal is being built parallel to the

SCHERMBECK

HÜNXE

VOERDE

DINSLAKENRHEINBERG

WESEL

HAMMINKELN

XANTEN

SONSBECK

ALPEN

KAMP-LINFORT

NEUKIRCHEN-VLUYN

MOERSESSEN BOCHUM

GELSEN- KIRCHEN

MÜLHEIM A.D. RUHR

BOTTROP

OBER-HAUSEN

DUISBURG

HERNEDORTMUND

HAMM

HAGEN

FRÖNDENBERG

SCHWERTE

HOLZ-WICKE-

DE

UNNA

BÖNENKAMEN

BERGKAMEN

WERNE

LÜNEN

SELM

WALTROP

DATTELN

CASTROP - RAUXEL

RECKLING-

HAUSEN

HERTEN

MARL

HALTERN AM SEE

DORSTEN

GLADBECK

OER-ERKEN-SCHWICK

WESEL

RURAL

DISTRICT

RECKLINGHAUSEN

ENNEPE-RUHR

RURAL DISTRICT

RURAL

RURALDISTRICT

DISTRICT

UNNA

HATTINGEN

SPROCK-HÖVEL

WITTEN

WETTER

HERDECKE

GEVELS-BERG

SCHWELM

ENNEPETALBRECKER-

FELD

Tips owned by theRegional Associaton Ruhr

Tips of other owners State: June 2012

with landmark

with landmark

4.3.6 Distribution of waste tips in the Ruhr

4.3.5 Types of tips

4.3.7 Lake Bever in Bergkamen created by

subsidence

4.3.8 The longest skiing hall of the world in

the alpincenter on the Prosper tip in Bottrop

Pointed cone tipPointed cone tip ( 1( 1stst generation ) generation )

Table mountainTable mountain ( 2nd generation )( 2nd generation )

Landscape constructionLandscape construction( 3rd generation )( 3rd generation )

Former tip 1Former tip 1 Former tip 2Former tip 2AdditionalAdditional tippingtipping

Major tipsMajor tips( 4th generation )( 4th generation )


82

river Emscher. This canal is a concrete tubeof 2.8 meters in diameter that containsthe sewage water and leads it throughtwo intermediate pumping plants to thesewage plants in Bottrop and at the Em-scher mouth. By 2017 the present-dayopen sewage system shall be convertedinto this subterranean canal of 51 kilome-ters. Above surface there will be the newEmscher running in a nature-orientatedstreambed. Retention basins will allow acontrolled overflow in case of flooding.These retention basins are indispensable,as the July 2008 centennial flood hasshown when in the west of Dortmundwide housing areas have been flooded forhours and million Euro damages havebeen caused.

In total, the Emschergenossenschaft isgoing to install some 400 kilometers ofnew sewage canals by 2020 and some 350kilometers of surface water streams are tobe ecologically changed and improved. Bythese measures the Emschergenossen-schaft intends to upgrade the Emscherarea. For decades a zone protected bybarbed wire, this Emscher area shall bereturned to the public as a piece of naturethat can be used for leisure and recre-ation; safety provided, fences shall be torndown and landscape is made available toexperience. Particularly the so called Em-scher island, 30 meters to two kilometerswide and extending over 34 kilometersfrom Oberhausen in the west to Castrop-Rauxel in the east shall be changed froman unattractive and inaccessible industri-al backyard into a leisure area that is opento the public; on average, every 400 me-ters a bridge connects the Emscher islandwith the surrounding areas.

Not only has the topography of the Ruhrbeen changed by human impact but itsclimate as well. For compared to a lesspopulated umland urban environmentsinduce climatic changes that are address -ed as urban climate. As in other urbanareas, temperatures that are higher thanthose of the umland are the most promi-nent characteristics of the MetropolisRuhr urban climate. Higher temperaturesare clearly recognizable at night and insummertime “heat islands” occur. Theoverheating is mainly caused by the urbanarchitecture as buildings can store theheat longer than areas that are not beingbuilt or covered by vegetation. Urban ar-chitecture also diminishes the wind speedby blocking the circulation or due torough surfaces. Because of the reducedair circulation urban areas are liable to an

increased accumulation with air pollu-tants. In certain high pressure situations ahaze dome can develop over the Metropo-lis Ruhr. The overheating is additionallybeen caused by the high degree of sealingand by waste heat. An extensive sealingallows the precipitation very quickly todrain off into the sewage system thus pre-venting evaporation; evaporation heat is

withdrawn from the air and a cooling isthus provided. In winter waste heat is pro-duced by heating systems, in summer byair conditioning systems. High amounts ofwaste heat are also produced by the in-dustries and the traffic systems.

Disregarding the urban climate character-istics, the climate of the Metropolis Ruhr is

4.3.9 Emscher mouths, sewage canal and sewage plants

4.3.10 Climatope map of the Ruhr

4.3.11 Climate diagram of Mülheim an der Ruhr

83

dominated by westerly winds, cool sum-mers and moderate winters; the relativeproximity to the Atlantic Ocean and to theGulf Stream causes this maritime climate.As westerly winds constantly transportmild air, the annual amplitude of thetemperatures is relatively low and precip-itation is widely equally distributed overthe months of the year. Steady rain inwinter and short but extensive outburstof rain in summer are normal; July is thewettest month of the year. The details andthe changes of the regional climate havebeen recorded in the cities of the Ruhr fordecades. Local data are provided onlineby the climate server (www.metropole ruhr.de/regionalverband-ruhr/umwelt-freiraum/klima/klimaserver.html).

The old industries had degraded thenatural landscape of the region. So thede-industrialisation not only required aneconomic turn but also social and ecolo -gical ones. Still in the 1980s a high amountof brownfields was the visible sign of theEmscher zone crisis in the middle ofthe Ruhr. Summing up to thousands ofhectares, the brownfields with their mul-titude of old plants and vacant halls werea stressing legacy for the cities and theregion as a whole. To support the changethe NRW government established theGrundstückfonds NRW (Estate FundsNRW) in 1979. As the brownfields shouldnot be left vacant, the Estate Funds was aproposal to the cities to start the recyclingof the brownfields thereby following theobjectives

• to provide attractive sites for commer-cial/industrial investments,

• to create urban environments of highquality,

• to secure jobs,

• to guarantee a responsible and costorientated treatment of the pollution,

• to design new areas for leisure andculture.

By means of development programs (EU,Germany, state of North Rhine-West-phalia) the Estate Funds was able toprovide two billion Euros to buy sites, todismantle plants, to decontaminate sitesand to develop a new infrastructure onthem. In addition, there were revenuesfrom estate sales, rental and leasingincome. From 1980 to 2006, a total of2,700 hectares of brownfields have been

bought, some 1,700 hectares of themcould be marketed again.

The Estate Funds NRW was the startingpoint of a new regional policy thataccepted the crisis and the shrinking asa chance; after a period of transition anew approach to the brownfields wasestablished. At the end of the 1980sthe new concepts were highlighted by awide-ranging structural program for theEmscher zone, the International BuildingExhibition (IBA) Emscher Park. In the peri-od from 1989 to 1999 new impulses weregiven to re-construct the Emscher zoneecologically, economically and socially. Inthe course of those ten years 120 projectswere put into reality on old-industrialbrownfields. This success was necessarilybased on the cooperation of the urbanand rural districts of the northern Ruhr,the former KVR, the IBA Emscher ParkGmbH and others. Brownfields and oldhalls were re-used to establish new in-dustrial and office enterprises. To take theformer mining and coking site of the Erinmine in Castrop-Rauxel as an example,the 33 hectares of brownfield have beenbought by the Estate Funds in 1985.Situated close to the city-center, theIBA activities converted this area into anindustrial estate attractively lined andcrossed by green spaces for leisure andrecreation.

By investing a total of 2.5 billion Euros,the IBA Emscher Park projects have beendesigned to reconnect and upgrade alandscape that had been fragmented bysettlements, production sites and trafficlines. The Emscher Landscape Park, com-prising 320 square kilometers becamethe central project to reconstruct thelandscape. It is a co-operative project ofthe Regionalverband Ruhr, of 20 munici-palities, of two rural districts, of threeRegierungsbezirke, the state of NorthRhine-Westphalia, the Emschergenossen-schaft and the Lippeverband and hasbeen continued after the IBA EmscherPark was ended. The Landscape Park wasthe stage for some of the 2010 Capitalof Culture events. It will be developedfurther until 2020; already today, it isEurope’s largest regional park and do -cuments the successful change of theregional landscape.

On some former brownfields a specificmixture of plants and animals produced acharacteristic urban ecology. What cameinto being on these sites that have beenreclaimed by nature is referred to by the

contradictory term Industrial Nature, forthe ecological conditions on these sitesseem to be contradictory. The former in-dustrial use had its impacts. Some of thesoils – contaminated or not – have beenmassively changed or are absolutely un-natural (industrial soils) as they consists ofdebris, ashes or cinder which is a waste ofthe iron smelting process. When thesesites had become brownfields, plants andanimals could develop undisturbed. Thusthe special conditions allowed the devel-opment of the special industrial nature.

On the open oligotrophic industrial brown-fields with their small-scale spatial differ-ences rare endemic plants are to be foundthat do no longer exist on agriculturallycultivated sites. But the extreme industrialsoils as well as the high summer tempera-tures that ensue from the dark soil colourare also accepted by “in-migrant” plantsthat are not endemic in the region. Theseneophytes have been imported into theRuhr with the raw materials from abroadas e.g. the iron ores from Africa and SouthAmerica; one of these neophytes is theSouth African Senecio inaequidens. Thiswild and spontaneously expanding indus-trial nature is spreading in a great varietyas man does not interfere. So, the vege -tation can develop from a thin herb layerover various stages of succession to a wildforest within a few decades. As this wildvegetation on the industrial nature siteshas become the habitat for many animalscompletely new biocoenoses have devel-oped. Bird species that accept the former

4.3.12 Industrial and office park on the site of

the former Erin mine in Castrop-Rauxel


84

brownfields as their new habitats are e.g.the little ringed plover, the wheatear or thestonechat; similarly do the midwife toad,the natterjack toad, the common lizardand other amphibians and reptiles.

By admitting a wild and undisturbedsuccession of vegetation the open spaceplanning departments of the cities, ofthe Regional Authority Ruhr (RVR) and ofthe corresponding NRW ministry followthe concept of a sustainable landscapedevelopment that

• allows natural processes of reclaimingand regeneration,

• retains the specific aesthetic quality ofindustrial nature,

• releases the public budget as this newtype of landscape requires only low ex-penses for development and care.

After a few decades of unregulated suc-cession a forest will have developed on theformer brownfields. To create this newwilderness has been the aim of the IBAEmscher Park project “Industrial ForestRuhr” that has been continued since thento 17 sites in the Emscher Landscape Parkcomprising a total of 244 hectares. Nextto the uncontrolled development of na-ture the industrial forest concept includesthe free access for recreation and leisurepurposes, as these sites shall be usedharmoniously by nature and man alike.Industrial nature sites that are safe interms of contaminations are also used asexternal education and event places bychildren and young persons, landscapeartists use them as their studio. A remark-able example is the industrial foreston the Rheinelbe site in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf. As the mine had been shutdown already in 1930 a high forest withspecies-rich shrubs has developed on 42

hectares. In the course of the IBA EmscherPark existing trails or paths on old railwaytracks have been consolidated. Childrenand young people use this forest as anadventure playground, adults for walking,cycling and jogging. The adaption of thearea has been strengthened by HermanPrigann’s sculptures; his sculpture “Stair-way to Heaven” on the Rheinelbe Spiral-berg tip has become one the most promi-nent viewing points in the MetropolisRuhr.

Former brownfields also exhibit a poten-tial for tourism, the coincidence of indus-trial culture and industrial nature createsa specific aesthetic dimension of harmonyand contrast. That is why these sites havebeen integrated into the urban planningof the adjacent housing quarters and havebeen opened by bicycle paths (EmscherPark long distance bicycle path) and by theRoute of Industrial Nature. This route com-

4.3.13 Industrial forests and places of observation and study on the Industrial Nature Route

85

prises 17 sites of particular interest in theEmscher Landscape Park; the anchor pointis the visitor center in Ripshorst House inOberhausen.

Of even greater importance than theIndustrial Nature is the Industrial Culture,a term created by the IBA Emscher Park todevelop an appropriate approach to thenumerous monuments of the industrialpast. The old industrial plants and build-ings often located in the center of the

cities or districts were given a new valueby not tearing them down but by chang-ing them into locations of regional historyand culture. Recognized from outside theregion as well, many of these industrialmonuments have become symbols of theunique history and the extraordinarychange the region has undergone in thelast decades.

The year 1994 was the turning pointtowards a new and positive assessment of

the built industrial legacy, when there hadbeen more than 450,000 visitors of theexhibition on the industrial history ofthe Ruhr in Europe’s biggest gasometerin Oberhausen. The Jahrhunderhalle inBochum, the Hansa coking plant in Dort-mund, the Landscape Park Duisburg Northand, of course, the Zollverein mine areprominent examples of conservation andrevitalization. In the course of the IBAEmscher Park old industrial buildings andgroups of buildings have been given a new

4.3.14 Sites on the Route of Industrial Culture


The many housing settlements reveal a lot aboutthe social history of the Ruhr and the development of present day urban architecture.Here you can get an authentic insight into the life of the region.

The outstanding viewing points of the region area particular attraction for tourists. Here you canlook down over typical industrial landscapes.Some of these panorama points have been embellished with huge sculptures and other landmark art installations.

86

meaning and appreciation, sites haveartistically been staged and re-used: Bigindustrial halls have been converted intovenues for concerts and theater events,blast furnace sites have turned into open-air cinemas, and waste tips have becomeimpressive landmarks.

The most prominent of these sites andbuildings have been connected in theRoute of Industrial Culture, a circuit of 400kilometers. Among them are six museumsof technical history and social history aswell as 13 important workers’ housingestates. The significance of both the routeand the industrial culture as a whole isvery high because the past is a constituentpart of the regional identity and is at thesame time a potential for a successfulfuture.

Another theme route is the “Route ofLandmarks” that connects special wastetips. But these tips are not only greenhills made accessible by footpaths butthey have been topped by landscapesculptures and have thus been convertedinto landmarks. The best known exampleis the triangular pyramid that has beenconstructed on the Beckstraße/Prospertip (80 meters high) in Bottrop in 1991.From the three platforms that hang in theopen steel construction wide views overthe post-industrial Metropolis Ruhr areopened. At night green and yellow lightbands change the tip into a lighting event.Besides the waste tips other distinctivelarge-scale buildings are parts of theRoute of the Landmarks, as the Gasometerin Oberhausen, the Landscape Park inDuisburg, the Zollverein mine in Essen andthe Mont Cenis Academy in Herne. Theroute has been designed to materializethe regional awareness. All the 20 land-marks on the route are widely acceptedby the population and by visitors; they areaccessible at any time and are free ofcharge. They allow overviews and givenew insights – into the smooth transitionsbetween the nearby cities and the multi-tude of green spaces.

The reinterpretation of the old industrialsites can generally be regarded as a suc-cess; they are widely used for leisure andrecreation purposes and are sites of iden-tification for the regional population.From outside the region the MetropolisRuhr is realized as a region of industrialculture, increasingly industrial culture hasbecome an urban tourism attraction andhas enhanced the scope of soft locationalfactors. The people’s attitude towards the

4.3.16 Industrial forest Rheinelbe in Gelsenkirchen

4.3.15 Jogger near the “Stairway to Heaven” sculpture on the Rheinelbe tip in Gelsenkirchen

4.3.17 Brownfield of the former coking plant Hansa in Dortmund

the place” should be made visible againand the social, aesthetic and ecologicalpotentials should cautiously be formedand developed. Following the new parkconcept, in the following years the oldmaterial bunkers have been designedto bunker gardens, numerous dams ofthe old works railway that intersectedthe landscape have been transformed intoa network of footpaths and the blastfurnace 5 has been promoted to an openand walk-through object of study and aviewing point. Due to these and otherprototypical changes that retained theindustrial past of the site, the LandscapePark Duisburg North became the mostprominent IBA Emscher Park showpiecenext to Zollverein. Because the history ofcoal mining and iron steel has beenbrought back to life and has been made avivid experience here, the Landscape Parkhas been declared one of the anchorpoints of the European Route of IndustrialCulture and provides a visitor center onthe regional Route of Industrial Culture.

far back into the 19th century when theindustrialist August Thyssen was lookingfor an area appropriate to build a newsmelting plant which was to supply pigiron to his steelworks and foundriesalready existing in Duisburg and Mülheim.The present Landscape Park area promisedto be a perfect site as there was coal un-derneath and the Cologne-Minden railwayline nearby.

The mine and the coking plant didn’tyet exist anymore when the smeltingplant has been closed in 1985. It has notbeen dismantled because the costs neces-sary would have been higher than thoseestimated for maintaining and securing it.Following this calculation, the city of Duis-burg decided to conserve the buildingsand allow the vegetation to reclaim theadjacent areas. When the site had beendeclared an IBA Emscher Park project in1989, the idea was developed to use theunique conditions of this brownfield andcreate a new type of park. The “traces of

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4.3.18 Spontaneous vegetation on the coking plant Hansa area in Dortmund

regional heritage promoted the decisionto declare the Ruhr the 2010 Capitalof Culture which itself promoted themanifestation of the new Metropolis Ruhridentity.

One of the best known and most promi-nent examples of varied new land uses onold industrial sites is the Landscape ParkDuisburg North that comprises industrialnature, industrial culture, events as wellas educational and leisure aspects.

Surrounded by various housing quartersin the north of Duisburg, the LandscapePark extends over an area of 200 hectares.Its central part is the site of the formerblast furnace and smelting plant Mei-derich that has been closed in 1985; thissite has been merged in the west with thesite of the former Friedrich Thyssen 4/8mine and in the east with the formermanganiferous iron ore storage space andsome agricultural pieces of the Ingen-hamms farm. The industrial history goes


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4.3.19 Walk-through sculpture “Tiger & Turtle” in Duisburg

site, the buildings were given strict pro-tection by conservation regulations. Theintentions of the IBA Emscher Park werehelpful as well and step by step the min-ing site of Zollverein has been changedinto an industrial heritage site. From 1929to 1932, the world-wide known industrialbuildings have been built according to thedrafts made by the architects Fritz Schuppand Martin Kremmer by setting the Bau -haus style cubic buildings in clear geo-metric arrangements. The clear outer steellattice shell contained the most modernmining technology of the 1930s. Sincethen many new and efficient mines havebeen built but due to its unique architec-ture Zollverein mine has always been re-garded as “the most beautiful mine of theworld”. The shaft XII headframe is oftenaddressed as the Eiffel Tower of the Ruhr, acomparison that is striking when lookingup from the bottom of the construction.

Zollverein mine has become the landmarkof the region and, since the 1990s, thesymbol of the structural change; in 2001,Zollverein mine and coking plant havebeen included into the UNESCO WorldHeritage list. Since the last years therestored halls have been used by arts anddesign activities. PACT Zollverein (Inter -national Center for Dance and PerformingArts) has moved into the former pitheadbaths of shaft 1/2/8; in the power house,redesigned by Lord Norman Foster, theNRW design center and the permanentexhibition of the red dot design museumare located. The coke ovens of the cokingplant are the scenery of a swimming poolin summer and an ice rink in winter.840,000 people visited the Zollverein sitein 2008. In 2009, a new visitor attractionwas opened, when the RuhrMuseum thatexhibits the history of the Ruhr moved in-to the former coal washing plant. Finally,in 2010 the Zollverein assembly of build-ings was the prime reception venue of theEuropean Capital of Culture activities.

To sum up, the natural and open spacesof the Metropolis Ruhr have received spe-cial imprints by the built remains of theindustrial past and have thus become anattractive recreation and leisure landscape,appreciated by locals and visitors. Bothindustrial nature and industrial cultureprovide great potentials. In times of clima -tic change and turns on the energy marketthey provide an ecological potential; interms of soft locational factors they can beconsidered as an economic potential; andfor the users of the new open spaces theyare an important social potential.

The Landscape Park Duisburg North hasbecome one of the most vibrant touristattractions in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Next to the industrial culture it is theindustrial nature which is unique in theLandscape Park. Detailed floristic sur-veys since the beginning of the 1990shave proved that there are more than300 plant species in more than 80 bio-coenoses in the park. A survey of thespecies exhibited more than 1,800 plantand animal species. On the one hand, itis the undisturbed condition allowingbiotopes to develop over a longer periodof time that makes the ecological value ofthe park, on the other hand, it is thesmall-scale spatial heterogeneity in termsof nutrients supply, soil acidity and watershortage. In addition, there is not only agreat variety of species but there are alsomany rare and endangered ones. As apark of high ecological dynamics theLandscape Park fulfills the IBA goal of theecological renewal of the region. It offersthe urban population the experience andthe discovery of nature, individually or onguided tours. Given these circumstancesthe environmental education on the In-genhamms farm is of particular impor-tance. The farm has been founded in themiddle ages and, after the smelting planthad been established, provided food forthe shops of the company. After havingbeen reorganized, Ingenhamms farm hasbecome the extracurricular, experience-orientated place of learning, with its sixhectares of fields and meadows beingworked ecologically. All over the year chil-

dren can come to know all aspects ofliving on a farm.

More than 500,000 visitors per year usethe Landscape Park Duisburg North free ofcharge. Next to recreation in nature vari-ous leisure, sports and culture facilities areprovided. The old smelting plant powercenter and the blasting hall have beenconverted into multi-purpose halls with-out destroying their historical character.The old gasometer has been filled withwater and offers diving adventures in anunderwater world, the bunkers are beingused for climbing and the former castinghall has been remodeled into an open-aircinema. All these leisure facilities receivea particular charm by the location – anindustrial ruin reclaimed by both natureand man. But even if the Landscape Parkhas become a magnet of leisure andevents it has not been commercialized.

As widely known as the Landscape ParkDuisburg North is the Zollverein mine andcoking plant site in Essen-Katernberg.Although it is a large area as well as (100hectares), it is different and hardly compa-rable to the Landscape Park. The Zollvereinmine has been shut down in 1986; thecoking plant was closed in 1993, endingthe long industrial history of the site thathad started when the industrialist FranzHaniel had founded the mine in 1847.As in Duisburg it has widely been held inEssen as well as that it would be morefavourable to dismantle the above groundplants. But industrial historians prevailedand the Estate Funds NRW purchased the

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4.4 Sports and culture

Sports

As mentioned above, the Metropolis Ruhrcould be particularly proud of its suc -cessful football clubs in 2011. BorussiaDortmund became German Champion;Schalke 04 achieved the UEFA ChampionsLeague semi-final as did the FCR Duisburgin the corresponding women’s tourna-ment. Besides the top-class sports thereis a wide scope of mass sports activitiesin the various clubs of the region. Theregional enthusiasm for sports has grownover the decades and is the basis of a mul-titude of clubs and sports venues forvarious sports. The Regional AuthorityRuhr communicates the sports landscapeof the Metropolis Ruhr (“sportplatz-ruhr”)and conceptualizes it in the Master PlanSports in order to guarantee that theMetropolis Ruhr remains one of the mostimportant European regions of sports.

Some of the countless 2011 regional sportsevents shall be presented to exemplifythe top-class and the mass sports of the

region. In January 2011, men and womenhockey teams took part in the final roundof the German Indoor Hockey Champi-onship in the Rhein-Ruhr Halle in Duisburg.In February the best table tennis players ofthe world met in the Westfalenhalle inDortmund for the German Open 2011,Timo Bell entered the men single semi-finals. This tournament was an importanttest for the 2012 World Championship forteams. By the end of March the EuropeanWrestling Championship was held in Dort-mund, the seat of the German WrestlingUnion. In the Westfalenhalle some 500male and female participants from 43countries contested for 21 European titles.

Tab. 24: Sports clubs registered by the Landessportbund NRW and number of members, 2012

Number of Number Degree of organization Male Female Total inhabitants of clubs (percentages) members members members

Bochum 373,748 384 21.68 49,045 31,984 81,029Bottrop 116,580 127 22.91 16,148 10,562 26,710Dortmund 580,335 515 29.52 117,464 53,857 171,321Duisburg 488,410 467 20.25 62,067 36,867 98,934Essen 573,372 566 22.25 78,423 49,185 127,608Gelsenkirchen 257,285 251 59.82 113,902 40,012 153,914Hagen 188,033 226 22.75 25,850 16,945 42,795Hamm 181,842 161 24.61 26,771 17,997 44,768Herne 164,355 187 19.60 19,631 12,595 32,226Mülheim an der Ruhr 167,091 171 24.79 23,656 17,773 41,429Oberhausen 212,714 211 19.29 26,037 14,998 41,035Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis 330,620 418 30.97 57,654 44,758 102,412Kreis Recklinghausen 626,864 717 25.24 94,348 63,903 158,251Kreis Unna 410,669 468 27.10 65,609 45,700 111,309Kreis Wesel 467,859 531 30.49 82,297 60,389 142,686Ruhr, total 5,139,777 5,400 26.78 858,902 517,525 1,376,427NRW, total 17,836,512 19,496 28.48 3,085,056 1,995,186 5,080,242

Sources: Landessportbund Nordrhein-Westfalen

4.4.2 Biathlon in the Gelsenkirchen Arena4.4.1 Indoor hockey, German Championship

After the Football Champions League semi-finals in Duisburg (women) and Gelsen -kirchen (men) in April the Canoe SprintWorld Cup took place in the SportparkWedau in Duisburg in May. More than500 athletes from more than 50 countriescontested in races over 200, 500 and 1,000meters. In summer the Women’s’ FootballWorld championship took place in Ger-many. The Ruhr contributed because theGerman national team had its trainingcamp in the SportCentrum in Kamen-Kaiserau, because six FCR Duisburg playerswere in the national team and because thestadium in Bochum was one of the nineWorld Championship venues.


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A typical mass sports example was theCity Race in Herne over 25 kilometers inApril 2011; some thousands participantshad twice to complete the 12.5 kilometerscircuit from the city center via the Flott -mannhallen, Strünkede Castle, the West-falia stadium and back into the city-cen-ter. Another important mass sports eventin April was the Fair for Fitness, Wellnessand Health (FIBO) in twelve halls of theEssen Fair that presented recent fitnesstrends and information about healthpromotion, prevention and nutrition. InApril as well, the Regional Authority Ruhrand the Sauerländische Gebirgsvereinorganized the Walking Day Ruhr; in theKirchhellen Heath six courses of differentlengths and levels of difficulty had beenprepared for walkers, cyclists, families andhandicapped people.

Particular efforts have been taken to sup-port the promotion of young talents in thesports clubs; eventually numerous top

4.4.3 Training of the so called “gold” rowing eight on the Dortmund-Ems Canal near the national

training center in Dortmund

4.4.6 Mountain biker on a tip

4.4.4 Ramblers in Breckerfeld

4.4.5 Competition track in the middle of a city: wildwater canoeing on the river Lenne in

Hagen-Hohenlimburg

athletes have been generated. The RuhrOlympics that have been founded in 1964are a particularly important event for theyoung athletes of the region. Thousandsof them contest in the various sports com-petitions; advancement awards are givento hopeful talents. There are also manypossibilities to do trend sports. The skatertracks alongside the Lake Baldeney andthe Lake Kemnade have been establishedvenues for many years. Many other ve -nues for trend sports as climbing, diving,beach sports, BMX riding and skatinghave been established in the last years,very often on redesigned old industrialbrownfields; e.g. mountain bikers use laidout tracks on former waste tips for theirpractice.

Culture

The industrial past and the industrial cul-ture deriving from it is a great and uniqueasset of the Metropolis Ruhr culture.

Already for decades there have been othermanifold and high rank cultural venues; atpresent the regional supply comprises 120theaters, 100 concert halls, 250 festivals,100 cultural centers and 200 museums.The regional culture is characterized byestablished and alternative venues; sincethe 1990s the industrial culture has beenadded providing new sites and provokingfor extraordinary forms of staging. In2002, the Ruhr Triennale as a premiumcultural festival has been started; it is thepolitical intention by means of this festivalto make the regional change known out-side the Ruhr and thus to improve theimage. This combination of cultural andstructural policy reached its peak whenthe region applied for the 2010 EuropeanCapital of Culture by stating “Changeby Culture – Culture by Change”. Inthe course of “RUHR.2010” a budget of60 million Euros allowed some 5,500events to be carried out which more than10.5 million visitors participated in. The

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4.4.7 Training centers and training bases for Olympic sports

“RUHR.2010” program followed threemain themes: to understand the Ruhrmyth, to shape the metropolis and tomove Europe.

The main theme “To understand the Ruhrmyth” comprised the industrial past andits socio-economic consequences but alsothe search for the future identity; it was itsaim to conceive the cultural identity of theregion. The project SchachtZeichen thathas been created to bring the change ofthe Metropolis Ruhr on stage, is to exem-plify this connection. The idea behind wasto refer to the many mining sites thatonce had their impact on the region; thesigns of shafts were yellow balloons witha diameter of 3.7 meters at the ends of80 meters long ropes. For one week they

stood over more than 300 former miningsites and were lighted at night. TheSchachtZeichen sites forced the visitorsto think about the change of the regionwhen being confronted with new land-uses on old industrial sites.

The main theme “To shape the metro -polis” deals with the vision for the metro -polis. Following the successful IBA ideas,impulses shall be given to promote acooperation of artists, planners and archi-tects to achieve a new quality of life inthe polycentric Metropolis Ruhr. In thecourse of “RUHR.2010” the former UnionBrewery tower in Dortmund has beenrenovated and became the sign of the“Dortmund U”, a center for arts and cre-ativity with flexible rooms for exhibitions

and events. Next to the architectural as-pect, the renovation of the “Dortmund U”had economic aspects as well. It is part ofthe creative economy project “Kreativ. -Quartiere” and shall give an initial ignitionfor establishing architecture, arts, culture,education and the creative economy in theadjacent quarter.

The main theme “To move Europe” isfocused on the traditional role of the Ruhras a region of migrants. Culture and inter-cultural living together are regarded asthe essence of the European society oftomorrow. The MELEZ festival was topresent internationality, cultural varietyand intercultural activities. In October2010 the MELEZ train rode throughthe region and was used as a stage, a


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4.4.9 SchachtZeichen

4.4.8 Dortmund U: once a cooling tower of the

Union Brewery, now a center of culture with a

video installation

4.4.10 Still-Leben A40 (Still-Life A40)

laboratory or a studio to present readingsand concerts, international cuisine, dance,theater and exhibition; this project wasconcluded by a fest for four days.

The results of “RUHR.2010” and thesustainability of its impacts could bediscussed in many ways, but only threepositive aspects shall be mentionedhere. There have been many unforget-table events as e.g. “Still-Leben A40”(Still-Life A40), when the A40/B1 motor-way had been closed for traffic on 60kilo meters from Duisburg to Dortmundon July 18; the main arterial road of

the Ruhr had been turned into a prome-nade for more than three million walkersand cyclists ambling along a table ofcultures. Many venues that have beenestablished in the course of “RUHR.2010”have benchmarked the regional culturalgeography (Dortmund U, Museum Folk-wang in Essen, RuhrMuseum in Essen,Museum Küppersmühle in Duisburg etc.).A new sense of unity could be developed

within the region and the new image ofthe Ruhr has been recognized from out-side.

To sum up, it can be stated that the widerange of sports and culture of the Ruhr isunique in Germany. Where in anotherregion of 100 kilometers in diameter canbe seen so many new, special and highrank events?

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4.5 Image

If a region is so varied as the MetropolisRuhr and, above all, has continuously andstronger been changed in all spheres of life,its image cannot be unambiguous. Butthere are some aspects that had effects onthe image of the Ruhr in the last years.

Quite often the image of the MetropolisRuhr is still far from reality and orientatedto the past. This outdated perception istaken up and reproduced by the media ineither a negative or a glorifying and ro-manticizing way. There is the crime series“Tatort” with the inspector Horst Schiman-ski that is set in the dirty, loud and industri-al north of Duisburg but, at the same time,traces the cliché of the hard working butjust and likeable pal. Old school text-bookshave kept on spreading the traditional im-age of the industrial region. It is only in themost recent versions of these text-booksthat the structural change towards theMetropolis Ruhr and the modern develop-ments are dealt with. But many people stilladhere to the old images and only reluc-tantly allow new evaluations of the grid-locked regional image. There are tradition-al images of the region as the pigeon breed-ing, the allotment gardens, the “Bude”(kiosk) at the corner of the street and thesmall or famous football club nearby; theyare still parts of the mentally shared iden -tity even if they do no longer exist in realitygiven the present era of individualism(“Here you can live with football and beer,you are not alone with us here” is a line inWolfgang Petry’s song “You are the Ruhr”).

But a distinction has to be made betweenthe perceptions and evaluations of theregional population (living sphere) and theaspired evaluations of the decision-makinggroups (politicians, entrepreneurs, repre-sentatives of regional institutions, scien-tists etc.; systems sphere). Thus dependingon the associations the respondents have,the region is highlighted in quite a differentway. As with other regions, self-perceptionand external perception have to be distin-guished. From outside the image of theregion is still dominated by coal mining,industries and large enterprises. Whenvisit ing the region, people mostly changetheir attitudes and evaluations (“I wouldn’thave thought that there is so much green.”).Since the 1980s attempts have been madeto overcome the discrepancies between themental images and the changed realities bymeans of image campaigns (“Das Ruhr -gebiet. Ein starkes Stück Deutschland”,“Der Pott kocht” etc.) which produced new

images to invite the people into the region.Eventually, the success of these campaignsdepends on their authenticity; so it wasplausible since the 1990s to transform andto upgrade the old industrial sites andbuildings into venues of industrial culture.By staging them, these symbols of the past(Landscape Park Duisburg North, Zollvereinetc.) have attained a new socio-culturalfunction, are of individual value to the visi-tors and may even produce a new identity.And they allow new ways of looking atand on the region, as e.g. the triangularpyramid on the Beckstraße/Prosper tip in

Bottrop allows alternative views on theriver Emscher. As the landmarks of theindustrial culture are the representatives ofthe new region and, at the same time, thesymbols of the past and they are mentaland spatial links of the region. Whereas theregional population of the 1980s still ex-hibited a paramount mental disengage-ment the landmarks of the present reflectthe common past and allow the populationto regard the region as a unity. Further-more, they are the proofs of joint processesof change and the unique characteristics ofthe region. This successful development

Adolf Tegtmeier Ballungsraum Arbeitslosigkeit Bude Helge Schneider BVB CentrO

Dortmund-Projekt Emscher Folkwang-Museum Schlamm

Gasometer Gruga Grönemeyer FußballGroßindustrie Halde

Herbert Knebel Kohle Krupp Hütte Ruhrschnellweg Westfalenhalle HoeschWAZ Kulturhauptstadt Kumpel Zeche Zollverein Lärm

Stahl Wissenschafts- und Studienlandschaft Schimanski SPD

RuhrAusländer ThyssenMetropolregionRuhri

Opel Multi-Kulti Movie-Park Arbeiter Musicals Pfefferpotthast Pott

HochschulenPütt Renaturierung Rhein-Herne-Kanal Smog Ruhrdeutsch Emscher-Park Ruhr-Marathon Hafen

Loveparade WeltkulturerbeTetraeder RuhrtriennaleIndustrienatur Schalke Stahlkocher Duisport Starlight Express

StrukturwandelTaubenzüchter IndustriekulturDAB Technologiepark Villa Hügel Landschaftpark Duisburg-

Nord Westfalenstadion Maloche KöPi Currywurst

4.5.1 “Ruhr” associations and connotations

4.5.2 Allotment gardening in Bochum


has been perpetuated by establishing fur-ther viewing points and panoramas (e.g.Dortmund U, shaft tower of the Nordsternmine).

Another aspect of the region is its name.The name of a region has influenced andinfluences its publicity but also the evalua-tions connected with it. As mentionedabove, the region along the river Ruhr is nota historical one but has been constituted inthe course of the 19th century industrial-ization. As late as the 1920s, the regionwas referred to as "Ruhrgebiet", but therewere also alternatives (then: Ruhr district,Ruhr pott, mining district; today: Ruhrcity, Metropolis Ruhr) indicating a certain

skepticism towards the term “Ruhrgebiet”(The Ruhr). In the first chapters of thisbooklet that deal with the foundations theterm “Ruhrgebiet” (The Ruhr) has beenused, the modern developments, however,more adequately take place in a regiontagged “Metropolis Ruhr”. Since 2005 thisterm is used by the Regional Authority Ruhrand its economic development agencymetropoleruhr (wmr) to refer to thechanged region. Since then, the region isnamed as Metropolis Ruhr on tourism andestate fairs, in all publications and on allevents. The term has drawn attention andcaused fewer controversies as there hadbeen in the discussion about the term“Ruhrstadt” (Ruhr City). A branding by

means of the term “Metropolis Ruhr” shallpromote the developments in the newRuhr area. However, this term does notrefer to the living sphere but to the systemsphere. When asked where they come frommost of the regional inhabitants use thename “Ruhrgebiet” or name their home-town, disregarding the region completely.

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4.5.6 Love Parade 2008 on the B1 arterial road

in Dortmund

4.5.5 Typical location of a crime story starring

Götz George as Schimanski: tunnel in

Matenastraße, Duisburg-Bruckhausen

4.5.4 Borussia Dortmund, German Champion 2011 and 2012

4.5.3 Illuminated blast furnace in the Landscape Park Duisburg North

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5.1 Think globally – act regionally

As could be shown, a variety of develop-ments have made the Metropolis RuhrEurope’s largest and most important poly-centric conurbation. Based on the complexstatus quo the question for the futureperspectives of the Metropolis Ruhr shallbe answered.

As with other economic regions in theworld, the future developments of theregion are embedded in the global tenden-cies of change and progress. Thus globaltrends have to be considered and acceptedas an exogenous framework in which theendogenous potentials have to be usedand unfolded regionally in the sense of“think globally – act regionally”.

The most important global tendency is theongoing process of globalization. Particu-larly by new information, communicationand transport technologies the transferof information, goods and persons hasaccelerated to a degree that the world has

downright shrunken to a “Global Village”.These global dimensions also apply to theaction spaces of the economy and societyof the Metropolis Ruhr. They open newchances, but they also increase the num-ber of competitors in the global competi-tion for locations.

If globalization is considered in the contextof the general technological and economicprogress it can be stated that both theseprocesses caused a worldwide changefrom an industrial society to a service andeventually a knowledge-based society. Likeother regions in developed countries theMetropolis Ruhr is on its way to turninto a nodal point of the new knowledgeeconomy; here the periods of time neces-sary to generate, apply and distributeknowledge will be constantly decreasing.Consequently, the demands on the em-ployees’ qualifications will increase; at thesame time important jobs of the classicalindustrial production methods are shiftedto more favourable locations or are sub -stituted by automatized processes.

5 . M E TRO P O L I S R U H R – P E R S P E C TI V E S

5.1.1 BioMedizinZentrum Bochum on the Ruhr

University campus

5.1.2 University Duisburg-Essen, campus

Duisburg

5.1.3 Social City: Consol Park in Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck – Cultural center (foreground) and the district park planned with the participation of

the local population

5 . M E TRO PO L I S R U H R – P E R S P E C TI V E S

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Based on the superior tendencies of glo -balization and technological and economicprogress the fundamental structuralchange from an old industrial region Ruhrto a modern knowledge-based MetropolisRuhr has been accompanied by socialchanges. The increasing qualitative de-mands on the employees produced newmiddle classes but put unqualified or lowqualified persons at the risk of being af-fected by structural unemployment. Thesedifferent socio-economic tendencies arealso reflected by the outer appearance ofurban quarters and are combined withtendencies of spatial segregation.

The ecological development of the Metro -polis Ruhr has also to be seen within theglobal tendencies of change and progress,even if ecological aspects have lost theirimportance both globally and regionally.Whereas a sustainable development hadinsistently been pursued both socially andpolitically after the World Summit of Rio(1990), the “Lokale Agenda 21” processes

launched in those days lost their influencein the Metropolis Ruhr.

That the efforts for a sustainable develop-ment have not stringently been continuedin the Metropolis Ruhr is astonishing ifthe globally effective and acknowledgedprocesses of climatic change are takeninto consideration. For the MetropolisRuhr as well has to face increasing risksby climatic anomalies as events of heavyrainfall, storms and heat periods. In themeantime a regional strategy is aspiredthat strengthens the region in ecologicalterms; initial projects are “Innovation -City”, Green Capital, Decades Project,and dynaklim (dynamic adjustment tothe effects of the climatic change in theEmscher Lippe region).

Another not global, but national trend isthe demographic change; in the Ruhr istakes place earlier and more intensive thanin NRW and in Germany as a whole.Decades of negative natural balances and

5.1.4 With 850 square kilometers Europe’s largest environmental zone

Tab. 25: Population prognosis Ruhr and NRW, 2015 to 2050 (millions, rounded)

2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050Ruhr 5.08 4.99 4.89 4.79 k.A. k.A. k.A. k.A.NRW 17.78 17.67 17.53 17.33 17.06 16.74 16.37 15.93

Sources: RVR-Datenbank, it.nrw

a negative migration balance producedan unfavourable age structure. Thus thedemographic change does not only imply aconstantly decreasing population, but alsoan increasing share of elderly people andlacking offspring; long-since the regionaldemographic pyramid has changed intothe shape of a fungus. Another aspect ofthe regional demographic change is anincreasing ethnic heterogeneity which isdue to larger shares of inhabitants with amigration background.

This change described by “less, older andmore colourful” produces severe conse-quences. Adaptions are necessary in retail-ing, on the labour market and in terms ofinfrastructure. The region is summoned toovercome the various effects of the demo-graphic change and should regard someof them as a chance that allow positivedevelopments.

At the end of the first decade of the newmillennium is can be said that globaland national development trends requireregional action to shape the future of theMetropolis Ruhr successfully. In the follow-ing chapter the players and the fields ofaction shall be introduced and, finally, theperspectives of the Metropolis Ruhr withinthe network of European regions shall bediscussed.

5.2 Institutions and networks

The major obstacle of a consistentregionalization of the Ruhr is the stillprevailing inter-municipal competitioncaused by policies that are more locallyorientated (Parish-pump politics). Localgovernments prefer the short-term suc-cess instead of a regionally coordinatedperspective action. Even if there havebeen regional authorities as the Sied-lungsverband Ruhrkohlenbezirk (SVR) andits successors KVR and RVR (RegionalAuthority Ruhr) since 1920, they oftenlacked the political will of their membersand the legal competences necessary toaccomplish the additional regional valuealso against opposition. First of all, astronger regional impact is preventedby the administrative fragmentation ofthe Ruhr; for the competence for 53municipalities is shared between threeregional political bodies (Regierungsprä-sidien), two regional cultural bodies(Landschaftsverbände), 20 economic de-velopment agencies, 24 public transportorganisations and six chambers of com-merce.

Nevertheless, since the successful cooper-ative management of the IBA EmscherPark in the 1990s an increasing coordina-tion can be observed on the regional level.The following institutions and networkstake part in this process:

The main task of the Regional AuthorityRuhr (RVR) is to coordinate the interests ofthe urban and rural districts in the Ruhr.Since October 2009 the RVR has resumedthe governmental regional planning of

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the Ruhr. The Economic DevelopmentAgency Metropolis Ruhr (wmr) has beenfounded in 2007 as a subsidiary of the RVRand deals with the regional economicconsulting and marketing. Since 1988the Initiativkreis Ruhr is another regionalplayer that comprises the leading enter-prises in order to promote the Ruhr region.

In 2003, the cities of Duisburg, Ober-hausen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen,Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Bochum and Dort-mund joined together in the Städteregion2030 (urban region Ruhr 2030) in order tointensify their interurban cooperation. In2006, the Städteregion 2030 publishedthe first draft of the Masterplan Ruhr stat-ing commonly agreed spatial develop-ment strategies in the fields of housing,region and water, and urban develop-ment. In 2007, the first version of aRegional Land-use Plan has been present-ed as it has been commonly developed bythe cities of Oberhausen, Mülheim an derRuhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne andBochum. In 2007 as well, the cities ofBottrop, Hamm and Hagen joined thisgroup. Since 2009 another product of thiscooperation is the permanent regionalhousing market report.

There are many other organizations thatwant to join the regional forces by cooper-ation as e.g. the initiative “pro ruhr gebiet”since 1981, the union of the regionalchambers of commerce, and the UniversityAlliance Metropolis Ruhr (UAMR) foundedin 2007.

In the course of these regional efforts theRuhr region is consequently named and

marketed as Metropolis Ruhr; this term isused to make clear that the region doesno longer correspond with the image ofthe (old) Ruhr. The word composition hasbeen selected for two reasons. The term“metropolis” shall indicate the size andimportance of the region; it follows thestandards of the German and Europeanregional development policies that regarda metropolis and metropolitan regions asthe driving forces for development in theglobalized locational competition. Theterm “Ruhr” has been selected because itis comprehensible on the regional andnational levels as well as internationallyaccepted (The Ruhr); following the sameconsiderations, the Initiativkreis Ruhr -gebiet has been renamed InitiativkreisRuhr in 2008.

It is among the positive effects that in2007/2008 the regional cooperation hasproduced strategic concepts for the futureof the Metropolis Ruhr; however, theseconcepts have been developed by twodifferent groups of regional players andhave not been aligned.

In 2008, the Economic DevelopmentAgency Metropolis Ruhr published the“Konzept Ruhr” as a joint strategy of theurban and rural districts for the sustain-able urban and regional development inthe Metropolis Ruhr. In 2009, 35 cities andthree rural districts of the Metropolis Ruhrjoined the concept and cooperate in 274aligned projects. Within ten years 400projects shall be realized that would mo-bilize 1.6 billion Euros of public fundingand would be backed by 4.4 billion Eurosof private investments. “Konzept Ruhr” is

5.2.1 Logos of selected regional players


98

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99

5.2.6 An alternative concept for the future

of the region

the regional visions of the big enterprisesjoined in the Initiative Ruhr. In this strate-gic concept as well, various projects arethe means by which a processual regionaldevelopment shall be initiated. The con-cept that has been developed by entrepre-neurs and corporate consultants unfoldsfour central fields of action:1. Economy and innovation2. Infrastructure3. Quality of life:

Health, Education, Culture4. Regional marketing

The central idea of the “Economy andinnovation” field of action is the trans -formation of the old industrial strengthsof the Ruhr to the new strengths of theMetropolis Ruhr: from coal to energy,from steel to new materials, from trans-port to logistics. These new strengthsshall be flanked by other branches asIT and business services. Among thefuture fundamentals of the MetropolisRuhr development are also fields as edu-cation/training/research, infrastructureand health care.

However, it must be stated that thevisions of the Initiativkreis Ruhr arefocus ed on economy and suppress impor-tant themes of the future as ecologicalsustainability, social stability and demo-graphic change that are relevant also forthe economic development of the Metro -polis Ruhr. A widened regional cooperationwith other players might produce an inte-grative and promising approach.

tied up to successful regional activities ase.g. Emscher Landscape Park 2010; exist-ing regional master plans and develop-ment initiatives (e.g. Stadtumbau West,social City) are picked up.

Because the concept as a whole and thedifferent projects are orientated to the EUstandards, all measures of regional devel-opment could financially be supported byEuropean and NRW funding in the period2007-2013. The variety of projects hasbeen bundled to five approaches:

• ruhrlines: extension of the four dominant devel-opment axes of the Metro polis Ruhr(river Ruhr, A40/B1, river Emscher, river Lippe) by 90 projects

• ruhrcities:reinforcing the city-centers and districtcenters by 120 projects

• ruhrexcellence:developing sites of economic and urban attractiveness by 35 projects

• ruhrinvest:private investments in the region

• ruhrevents:promotion of major regional events

Whereas the “Konzept Ruhr” had jointlybeen developed by the urban and ruraldistricts and the Economic DevelopmentAgency Metropolis Ruhr, the simultane-ously presented Konzept Zukunft Ruhr2030 (Concept Future Ruhr 2030) reflects

5.2.3 Updating of the Konzept Ruhr

5.2.5 Investment for the future: the university

quarter in Essen

5.2.4 A prominent “ruhrevent”: European Capital of Culture 2010


Of particular relevance is the EU declara-tion presented in Lisbon in the year 2000(Lisbon strategy) according to which theEuropean Union intends to turn into theNo 1 of the knowledge-based economicregions of the world by 2010. Orientatedto growth and competition the develop-ment potentials in the fields of education,research and development shall be con-centrated in the metropolitan regions ofEurope. In Göteborg this growth strategyhas been enhanced by social and eco -logical aims in 2001 (Lisbon-Göteborgstrategy). The European regions contri -bute to this integration and developmentprocess both in a cooperative and in com-petitive way.

The competition of the German metro-politan regions is mitigated by the factthat metropolitan functions are sharedbetween them; e.g. Rhine-Main is Ger-many’s prime finance region and theMetropolis Ruhr is characterized by aconcentration of trade and energy enter-prises. This shared spatial organization isa consequence of the federal nationalsystem and a regionally balanced devel-opment that has been pursued fordecades. Nevertheless, also in Germanymetropolitan regions are regarded as im-portant factors to maintain and developGermany’s economic performance andcompetitiveness. So since the 1990sregional development planning followsthe ideas of a “growth-orientated con -cen tration” and the “strengthening ofthe strong”. Since 1995 the Ministerkon-ferenz für Raumordnung (MKRO; ministerconference for regional development)declared eleven German metropolitanregions as European metropolitan regions(EMR) that are to be enhanced. To be ableto fulfill their node functions within theEuropean network and in a globalizedworld the German metropolitan regionsare assigned the following functions:

• Decision-making and control functions(Public and private institutions arelocated in metropolitan regions, e.g. theheadquarters of important enterprises)

• Innovation and competitive functions(Creation of knowledge, attitudes andproducts, e.g. university sites)

• Gateway functions (Access to people,knowledge and markets, e.g. importanttraffic hubs, media and fair sites)

• Symbolic function (Culture, media,events, architecture, image)

5.3 The “Europe of the Regions” and theMetropolis Ruhr

Since the 1980s the European regionaldevelopment forces the development ofregions and metropolitan regions. Atfirst there have been eye-catching spatialimages to explain the interconnectionof the European metropolitan regions.In 1989, the French geographer RogerBrunet invented the “Blue Banana”which comprised the economic coreregion of that time from London, viaRandstad Holland, Brussels, Rhine-Ruhr,Rhine- Main, Rhine-Neckar, to North Italy.Extended spatial constellations followed,as e.g. the European Pentagon that alsotrapped the metropolitan regions thathad not been parts of the Blue Banana(Paris, Hamburg, Munich). Appreciatingthe regions with the highest growthrates in South and Eastern Europe endedup in the “European Grapes” that repre-sent a great variety of important metro-politan regions. Finally, there is thegraphic idea of “Central Europe” thattakes into account the metropolitan re-gion of the extended European Union(Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest, Bratislava,Vienna, Prague).

These changed spatial images reflectEurope’s new geography after the fall ofthe iron curtain. A new system of metro -polises and metropolitan regions (“nodes”)is developing which is part of the Euro-pean and the global networks (networknodes). The Metropolis Ruhr is situated inthe center of the new Europe.

Despite of different languages and cul-tures the European Union intends toachieve the networking and the integra-tion in a short period of time by applyinga double development strategy. On theone hand, the supranational level hastobe kept strengthening. In a global per-spective, the European member statescan only maintain and extend theirwelfare when they are organized asa union (economy, currency, security,education etc.). On the other hand, thiscomprehensive integration has to bereflected on the small-scale regionallevel where it has to be practiced andaccepted by the population. That is whyit has been conceptualized to promotethe various regions and to supporttheir regional autonomy within theintegrating Europe (“The Europe ofRegions”).

100

5.3.1 The “Grapes model”, a strategic map of the European economic regions

101

5.3.2 The “Banana model”, another strategic map of the European economic regions


In this concept the Metropolis Ruhr isthe northern part of the European metro -politan region Rhine-Ruhr. With morethan eleven million inhabitants thispolycentric metropolitan region is by farGermany’s largest conurbation. With asize like this and the concentrated powerof the Metropolis Ruhr, Düsseldorf andCologne/Bonn this metropolitan region iscompetitive in a global perspective aswell. However, the European metropo -litan region Rhine-Ruhr is nothing but

102

a regional construction, a metropolitanregion “made” for strategic reasons only.Simply because of its size and its hetero-geneity this metropolitan region has notyet come across to the self-conception ofthe local players and the population ofthe 2013 Rhine-Ruhr region.

Within the Metropolis Ruhr the districtsare most likely prepared to cooperate. Inrecent years regional cooperation hasmade joint successes possible, as e.g. the

IBA Emscher Park, the joined develop-ment of master plans, the coordinatedrealization of major events as the Euro-pean Capital of Culture 2010 year.

It is still striking that cooperation inthe Metropolis Ruhr is yet limited to“soft” and conflict-free fields like land-scape and culture planning. But facingthe future perspectives of the cities andrural districts on the rivers Ruhr, Emscherand Lippe it is necessary to foster this

NL

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Rhine-RuhrRhine-Ruhr

Bremen-Bremen-Oldenburg im Oldenburg im

NordwestenNordwesten

HamburgHamburg

HannoverHannoverBrunswickBrunswickGöttingenGöttingenWolfsburgWolfsburg

Hauptstadt-Hauptstadt-region Berlin-region Berlin-BrandenburgBrandenburg

Mittel-Mittel-deutschlanddeutschland

Frankfort/Frankfort/Rhine-MainRhine-Main

Rhine-NeckarRhine-Neckar NurembergNuremberg

MunichMunich

StuttgartStuttgart

5.3.3 The eleven metropolitan regions in Germany

103

5.3.4 Metropolitan region Rhine-Ruhr

willingness to cooperate as a new poten-tial of the Metropolis Ruhr and extend itto the “hard” and economically relevantfields; for actual measurements of theGerman cities have shown that the in -dividual cities of the Ruhr are still farbehind the cities of Berlin, Munich,Hamburg, Frankfort, Düsseldorf, Cologne,Hanover and Stuttgart in terms of “metro -politanity”.

If, however, the cities of the polycentricMetropolis Ruhr are perceived as a coop-erating metropolitan region the regionas a whole will achieve a much higherrank among the German metropolitan

regions. To consider cooperation as aprime issue for the future, as it is done in“Konzept Ruhr”, has to be accepted asthe appropriate strategy for the futuredevelopment. Consequently, both theEuropean Union and NRW will no longerfund local projects but only projects thatare regionally adjusted.

Next to an increased willingness to coop-erate the future success of the region willhave to rely on the regional strengthsthat have to be used and extended, i.e. touse the given poly centrality, the centrallocation in the new Europe, the manypositive developments of the recent past,

the unique characteristics as well as themajor events (e.g. RUHR.2010) that havejointly been developed and organized.But it would be unrealistic to thinkthat the Ruhr could ever achieve againthe dominant economic position the re-gion had in times of the flourishing oldindustries of the 19th and early 20thcenturies. A sustainable regional devel-opment strategy should strive for agrowth that is based on a broad basis andthat is socially and ecologically balanced.Then the Metropolis Ruhr will remain alivable region for some million peopleand an attractive region for investors andmigrants.


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Links

www.ruhrgebiet-regionalkunde.de

www.metropoleruhr.de

U1 Arbeitsgemeinschaft Spörhase et al.

(1976) and RVR-Kartographie 2010

1.1.1 KVR/Cornelsen (1995) transparency 2

1.1.2 RVR photo archive, Butzke 2011

1.1.3 RVR photo archive, Wolf o. J.

1.1.4 RVR Aerial photo archive 1981


1.1.6 KVR/Cornelsen (1995) transparencies

2, 11 and 12

1.1.7 RVR photo archive, Ziese 2009

1.2.1 after Hoppe et al. (2010) S. 10




(state von 1990)



1.2.7 Emschergenossenschaft 2012





1.3.1 Pohl/Ponthöfer (2002) S. 11

1.3.2 Stadtarchiv Hagen

1.3.3 Stadt Dortmund, Kleemann 2012

1.4.1 RVR photo archive, Muck 1992

1.4.2 MWEBV (2010) S. 21

1.4.3 Draft: Joneit, RVR; Diagram: RVR

1.4.4 RVR Aerial photo archive ca. 1926-1938

1.4.5 RVR photo archive 1978

1.4.6 after GVSt ( 2003) S. 49 and

KVR/Cornelsen (1995) transparency 15

1.5.1 RVR photo archive, Bronny 1988

1.5.2 RVR photo archive, Lueger 2011

1.5.3 ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG:

KOM-1451 [from website]

1.5.4 RVR photo archive, Ehrich 1992

2.1.1 Planungsatlas NRW (1973) and

F. Irsigler, Karte V/1 Geschichtlicher

Atlas der Rheinlande (1982);

carto graphy by durch Rolf Plöger,

Seminar für Historische Geographie,

Universität Bonn

2.1.2 Arbeitsgemeinschaft Spörhase et al.

(1976) and RVR-Carto graphy 2010

2.1.3 after Dege/Dege (1983) S. 60

2.1.4 Stadtarchiv Herten

2.2.1 Engraving by J. Poppel; in: Gerhard

Bechthold: Das alte Essen. Frank-

furt/Main (Weidlich Publisher) 1975,

S. 39

2.2.2 Geo-Media Archiv Bronny

2.2.3 Arbeitsgemeinschaft Spörhase et al.

(1976) and RVR-Carto graphy 2010

2.2.4 RVR photo archive, Schumacher 1997

2.2.5 RVR photo archive, Schumacher o. J.

2.2.6 Bronny et al. (2002) S. 26

2.2.7 RVR data file

2.2.8 RVR (2010) S. 10

2.2.9 RVR data file

2.3.1 RVR data file

2.3.2 RVR data file

2.3.3 RVR data file

2.3.4 RVR photo archive, Lueger o. J.

2.4.1 Stadt Dortmund (Hg.): Die Ordnung

von Grund und Boden in der Stadt -

geschichte von Dortmund. 1962

2.4.2 Stadt Dortmund (Hg.): Die Ordnung

von Grund und Boden in der Stadt -

geschichte von Dortmund. 1962

2.4.3 RVR photo archive, Ehrich 1980

2.4.4 Stadt Dortmund,

Projektgruppe Nordstadt

2.4.5 Muck 1993

2.4.6 Stadt Herne, Fotoarchiv des Presse-

und Informationsamtes

2.4.7 Geo-Media Archiv Bronny




2.4.11 Keil 2012

2.4.12 http://www.soziale-stadt.nrw.de/

stadtteile_projekte/stadtteilprofile.

php (state: 08/2012, request:

31.10.12)


2.4.14 Blossey 2011

2.5.1 RVR photo archive, Ziese o. J.

2.5.2 RVR-archive

2.5.3 RVR photo archive, Permann o. J.

2.5.4 RVR photo archive, Kozlowski o. J.

2.5.5 RVR photo archive, Ziese o. J.


2.5.7 RVR-archive

2.5.8 RVR photo archive, Quickels o. J.


2.5.10 Fotoarchiv Ruhr Museum, Kingler

(um 1970)

2.5.11 Revierfoto o. J.


3.1.1 Statistik der Kohlenwirtschaft e.V.

3.1.2 Draft: Wehling, Carto graphy:

Reichert, Universität Duisburg-Essen

3.1.3 Stadt Duisburg, Köppen o. J.

3.1.4 Stadtarchiv Duisburg

3.1.5 Draft: Wehling, Carto graphy:

Reichert, Universität Duisburg-Essen

3.1.6 RVR photo archive, Blossey 2009

3.1.7 Keil 2004

3.1.8 Keil 2012


3.2.1 compiled by Keil




3.2.5 compiled by Keil 2009, in: Hoppe et al.

(2010) S. 92



3.2.8 RVR photo archive, Milde 2009

3.2.9 http://www.ruhrgebiet-regionalkunde.

de/erneuerung_der_infrastruktur/

wirtschaftsfoerderung/tgz.php?p=3,2

(request: 14.09.2012) and author’s

research

3.2.10 RVR-Mediendatenbank, Elschner 2007



3.3.1 RVR photo archive, Luhnen o. J.

3.3.2 RVR photo archive, Krüger o. J.

3.3.3 Gebr. Eickhoff Maschinenfabrik und

Eisengießerei GmbH, Bochum


3.3.5 ThyssenKrupp AG



3.4.2 RVR photo archive, Oberhäuser 2009

3.4.3 Fraunhofer-Institut IMS, Duisburg

3.4.4 RVR Aerial photo archive o. J.

3.4.5 Wetterau 2012

3.4.6 Stadt Herne, Bannert 2010

3.4.7 CCS Challenge Card Systems GmbH,

Bochum

3.4.8 Materna GmbH, Dortmund


3.5.2 after Basten, in: Prossek et al.

(2009) S. 152



3.5.5 RVR photo archive, Allmaier o. J.



3.5.8 RVR-Flächennutzungskartierung and

Deutsche Grundkarte (DGK 5)


F I G U R E S A N D C R E D ITS

107

3.6.1 after Krajewski/Reuber, in: Prossek

et al. (2009) S. 180

3.6.2 RVR photo archive, Oberhäuser 2005


3.6.4 Keil 2012

3.6.5 after Goch, in: Prossek et al.

(2009) S. 187 [updated 2012]

3.6.6 after Lavier, in: Prossek et al.

(2009) S. 175


3.6.8 RVR photo archive, Fuchs o. J.



3.6.11 Ruhr Tourismus GmbH, Schlutius 2011

3.6.12 Ruhr Tourismus GmbH

3.6.13 Stadt Bochum, Presse- und

Informationsamt


4.1.1 Stadt Dortmund, Lindenblatt 2005





4.1.6 after Hanhörster 1999, in:

Hoppe et al. (2010) S. 65

4.1.7 Stadt Duisburg, Referat für

Kommunikation, Köppen o. J.

4.1.8 after Boldt/Gelhar, in: Prossek et al.

(2009) S. 148


4.1.10 after Boldt/Gelhar, in: Prossek et al.

(2009) S. 149

4.1.11 calculated after Stadt

Gelsenkirchen, Statistikstelle

4.1.12 Stadt Gelsenkirchen, 2007

4.1.13 InnovationCity Management GmbH,

Bottrop

4.1.14 Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf 2002


4.1.16 visaplan







4.1.23 Logport 2002




4.2.1 author’s survey

4.2.2 Ihmels 2012

4.2.3 Gemeinde Alpen, Boßmann 2011

4.2.4 Institut für Waldorf-Pädagogik,

Blossey o. J.

4.2.5 Universität Duisburg-Essen, Nigl o. J.

4.2.6 Technische Universität Dortmund,

Huhn o. J.

4.2.7 www.wissenschaftsforum-ruhr.de

(request: 09.10.2012)

4.2.8 FernUniversität in Hagen

4.2.9 Private Universität Witten/

Herdecke gGmbH

4.3.1 Harnischmacher, Philipps-Universität

Marburg

4.3.2 Stadt Bochum, Bildarchiv des

Presse- und Informationsamtes


4.3.4 Hoppe et al. (2010) S. 99

4.3.5 Draft: Wetterau; Diagram:

Lamers, RVR

4.3.6 RVR-Team Städtebauliche

Planung/Freizeitplanung

4.3.7 RVR photo archive, Meier-Jantzen o. J.

4.3.8 RVR photo archive, Kneffel o. J.

4.3.9 Emschergenossenschaft 2012

4.3.10 RVR-Team Klimaschutz, Klima -

anpassung und Luftreinhaltung

4.3.11 Stadt Mülheim an der Ruhr

4.3.12 RVR photo archive, Vollmer 2000

4.3.13 after Hohn/Keil/Otto, in: Prossek et al.

(2009) S. 189

4.3.14 RVR

4.3.15 RVR photo archive, Beermann o. J.


4.3.17 RVR photo archive, Fuchs o. J.



4.4.1 Deutsche Hockey Agentur, Schirle 2011

4.4.2 Rabas o. J.

4.4.3 Stadt Dortmund, Steffen 2012



4.4.6 RVR photo archive, Siebenmorgen 2009

4.4.7 after Wetterau, in: Prossek et al.

(2009) S. 185




4.5.1 Keil


4.5.3 RVR photo archive, Permann o. J.

4.5.4 Stadt Dortmund 2011

4.5.5 Keil 2012

4.5.6 Stadt Dortmund 2008




5.1.4 Wetterau 2012

5.2.1 Initiativkreis Ruhr GmbH;

Stadt Gelsenkirchen, Geschäftsstelle

Städteregion Ruhr 2030; pro Ruhr -

gebiet e.V.; Universitätsallianz

Metropole Ruhr (UAMR)

5.2.2 RVR 2012

5.2.3 RVR 2012

5.2.4 RVR, Luhnen o. J.

5.2.5 RVR, Schwarze-Rodrian o. J.

5.2.6 http://www.i-r.de/downloads/

zukunftskongress/Zukunft%20

Ruhr2030%20-%20Strategiepapier

%2023%20November %202007.pdf

(request: 17.12.2012)

5.3.1 Kunzmann

5.3.2 modified after Wienen 1994,

Cartography: Reichert

5.3.3 after www.deutsche-metropol

regionen.org/index.php?id=45

(request: 18.12.2012)

5.3.4 Wiese nach ILS NRW (2000) in:

„Schulbuchinformationsdienst

Ruhrgebiet“ Nr. 44 (Sept. 2002)

Beilage Abb. 1

U4 RVR Cartography 2012

108

Authors

Prof. Dr. Andreas Keilborn 1970Field of research: Didactics of Geography/Social GeographyAddress:Bergische Universität WuppertalGaußstr. 20D-42119 WuppertalE-Mail: [email protected]

Burkhard Wetterauborn 1955Advisor in Fundamentals of Regional StudiesAddress:Regionalverband RuhrKronprinzenstr. 35D-45128 EssenE-Mail: [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner WehlingBorn 1949Field of research: Regional Geography ofOld-industrial CountriesAddress:Institute of Geography,University Duisburg-EssenSchützenbahn 70D-45127 EssenE-Mail: [email protected]

Translator


The Metropolis Ruhr and its municipalities

ISBN: 978-3-939234-05-0


Documents

A Regional Study of the New Ruhr...Metropolis Ruhr. A Regional Study of the New Ruhr [edited by Regionalverband Ruhr] Translated by Hans-Werner Wehling First edition 2013 Essen: Regionalverband