ABSTRACT
In 1949, Germany adopted the social market economy as its public policy framework. Its conceptual cornerstones were formal and material freedom, equality, and solidarity, which helped to create a system that balanced social and market challenges in a war-ravaged country. This chapter draws on current demographic data, including regional variances, notably in post-G.D.R. cities, to answer the question of how this idea can be applied to governing the state and its metropolises in the context of impending population loss.
