ABSTRACT
A review of the relevant literature reveals that the concept of sustainable development has been a dominant element in research on urban planning for the last 30 years. Despite the many controversies around the term, most planning documents on all levels of government define and implement their own sustainability objectives today (Berke et al., 2006, pp. 35). Due to the intensity of resource use and the concentration of human activities in cities, the implementation of sustainable development strategies focuses on urban development in particular. In 2005, 2600 German municipalities (out of 13,000) had adopted the local “Agenda 21” process in their planning strategies (Grunwald & Kopfmüller, 2006, p.129). A reoccuring theme in these strategies are the negative effects of development paths with excessive land use patterns, often described as “urban sprawl”. Cities that can be described as sprawling exhibit excessive and often disconnected growth of low density built-up areas with inefficient service structures and higher than average resource use. Traditionally, automobile-oriented suburbanization with single-use zonings, resource-intensive industries and large lot residential areas caused urban sprawl (Ewing et al., 2002, Wolman et al., 2004). Nowadays, similar patterns can be found in shrinking cities, where the decline of certain city districts leads to perforation in the urban fabric, with similar effects on the efficiency of urban services and resource use (Häußermann et al., 2008, Siedentop & Fina, 2008a). In England, the difficulties of urban regeneration initiatives in shrinking post-industrial areas (Manchester, Birmingham, etc.) have recently motivated a London-based think tank to postulate the premise to “accept the realities of economic geography”, i.e. to favor development in geographically advantaged areas (in this case the dynamic region of London) over investments in areas in decline (Leunig and Swafield, 2008). Although heavily criticized and certainly not a model for German policy, these “geographic realities” are also present in Germany, and already working towards a further differentiation of urban development paths. The much talked about “Mega-City Region” or “Polycentric Metropolis” represents one end of the modern urban development spectrum (Thierstein and Förster, 2008; Hall and Pain, 2006), economically disadvantaged, ‘remote’ areas the other. It is therefore important to provide a more comprehensive range of indicators, capable of covering growth and decline conditions. The European Union funded project “URBS PANDENS” (Urban Sprawl: European Patterns, Environmental Degradation and Sustainable Development, see Petschel-Ried, 2005) specifically links urban sprawl to sustainable development targets. It focuses on seven case studies in Europe, some of which are experiencing population decline. It can be said that through this project, at least the Europe-based research focus is now extending to include the realities of demographic change, and its’ effect on cities. In terms of the postulated goals, the main challenge is the regeneration of urban cores, and the re-building of shrinking cities towards compact “sustainable forms”. In Germany, the rebuilding of cities is being supported by government initiatives that favor central city developments (“Stadtumbau”), as opposed to the uncontrolled “perforation” of shrinking cities. However, there are doubts that such policies will successfully disrupt the forces of urban sprawl and demographic decline. Property rights, the lifecycles of infrastructures, and the cost of re-building for communities seem to stand in the way of a timely adaptation to demographic change, especially in communities with a decreasing tax base. There are also conflicting forms of social resistance, where some people benefit from lower housing costs, others hesitate to invest in places with an uncertain future (Häußermann et al., 2008, pp. 207). In contrast, the demolition of publicly owned, prefabricated high-rise buildings is
progressing successfully in some Eastern German states, and the inner cities often benefit from these developments.
