Regional development and demographics

Aerial view of Berlin-Koepenick (Source: Federal Photo Archives)

With its regional planning policy, the Federal Government is striving to create equivalent social conditions in all sub-regions of Germany. This task is anchored in the constitution and must come to terms with the sweeping changes to which our society is subject.

Both population figures (shrinkage instead of growth), their internal make-up (more older people, more people born abroad) and also regional distribution (urban sprawl, North-South and East-West migration) present the policy with adaptation tasks, certain of which are entirely new.

Our regional planning policy develops strategies for managing the differential development of growing and shrinking regions in close spatial proximity.

More than ever before, regional planning and regional development now also have to act under conditions of increasing international, locational competition. Regional planning development objectives are focussed more extensively on the conditions of generating prosperity than on its distribution. A shift away from primarily compensation-oriented distribution to targeted support for specific, regional potentials and strengths must be achieved.

The objective of social condition parity must be re-interpreted in this context and structured by means of corresponding approaches to regional development policy actions. Different regional conditions and development potential must be taken into consideration, as the different sub-regions also fulfil different functions as a result of their regional structure and location.