Eastern German Project Provides Hope for Shrinking Cities

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Eastern German Project Provides Hope for Shrinking Cities


04/09/2010

By Rainer Müller



Read More: http://www.spiegel.de/international/...688152,00.html

Eastern Germany has seen its cities shrink since the fall of the Berlin Wall as people leave to find work elsewhere. But now a state-sponsored project suggests that "city islands," urban green zones and huge outdoor art could be part of the solution. The higher one climbs up the steps, the more intense the spicy smell becomes. But it is not until you get to the observation platform that you realize how this building in the eastern German town of Dessau got its name, "The Smoking Tower." At one stage the sausages made by a local butchery co-operative were smoked here and the smell seems to have become engrained in the masonry.

However the socialist production line in what was once East Germany is no longer running and the butchery jobs have disappeared. Only the tower remains. It is being renovated and made more accessible -- even though it still emits a strong smell. But while the aroma lingers, the people themselves have disappeared. "In 10 years' time, Dessau will have lost a third of its residents compared to 1990," says city planner Heike Brückner. Since Germany was reunified in 1990, Dessau, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, has shrunk more than almost any other municipality in the land.

In 2007, the town of Dessau merged with the town of Rosslau to become Dessau-Rosslau, thereby boosting the population, which is currently around 88,000. Yet whole neighborhoods still appear abandoned, the facades of 19th century buildings are crumbling and the windows in many of the prefabricated apartment blocks are broken. Schools, businesses and residential buildings lie empty. "What can we do when half of the population is gone?" Brückner asks. "After all, we can't just close the town down."

Dessau-Rosslau is an extreme case in this region -- but it is not the only one. No other state has been as affected by population decline as Saxony-Anhalt has. The reasons for the decline are well known. After German reunification in 1990, whole industrial sectors collapsed, leaving locals without the means of making a living. People simply moved away. They are still leaving today. Most importantly, it is mainly young people and the well qualified who are seeking their fortunes elsewhere. The situation presents a dramatic challenge for the cities, which is why the state government began an experiment in 2003: the International Building Exhibition (IBA), a seven-year program focusing on how cities can be transformed.