ABSTRACT
172The double city of Görlitz/Zgorzelec, the sixth and last scene, is grappling with the repopulation policies that aim to attract retirees from the West. In Görlitz, the German town with the best-preserved historic centre and the highest vacancy rate, a further decline in the population of around 25% and an extraordinary increase in the incidence of the elderly population is expected by 2030. It has long been the city with the highest average age in all of Germany. A primacy favoured by one part of the immigration processes towards Görlitz of pensioners looking for a place of retreat and on the other by processes of emigration from Görlitz of young population. In a context of severe underutilisation of the housing stock and a perspective of greater specialisation, the city has encouraged repopulation policies through three series of Probewohnen (try to live) programmes, which over the years have encouraged above all the elderly to retire for free in the city for a few months. Observing the repopulation policies initiated in Görlitz shows how the migratory balance will be the decisive factor in the coming years to reduce, or mitigate, progressive depopulation. Social diversity and the segmentation of housing careers, which consider different ages of life, will consolidate the underused built heritage in shrinking contexts. Nonetheless, although the issue of repopulation can become an important objective for territorial policies, at the same time, it generates profound competition between marginal contexts, asymmetries and disparities, with substantial social and political costs.
