ABSTRACT
These processes of economic and social restructuring started in the late 1950s when the coal industry was increasingly pressurized by competing fuels and foreign competitors on the one hand and by the progression of the south-north shift in coal-mining on the other. The situation was aggravated by the steel-crisis that began in the 1970s and which led to further cuts in output and colliery manpower (Schlieper 1986). At present, the economic problems of the Emscher subdistrict are far from being resolved. On the contrary, as a result of the forseeable rise in international competition as a consequence of the expanding European economy (particularly to the East), the economic predicament of the Emscher is likely to continue or even to become worse (Ache/Kunzmann 1992).
