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The Region RuhrgebietIt’s difficult to capture “the Ruhr Area”: 5.3 million people live in the Ruhr Area. They comprise almost 30% of the population of North Rhine-Westphalia but inhabit only 13% of its surface area. Eleven urban districts and four administrative districts combine to make up the Regionalverband Ruhr (Ruhr Regional Association), a polycentric structure without any one dominant city. The east-west course of the Ruhr and Emscher rivers still determines the structure of settlement and development in the region. The region has chosen the slogan “The Ruhr Area – A Powerful Piece of Germany” to try and carve out a new position for itself and to express the lengthy and profound restructuring of its economic, urban and social conditions. Above all the tremendous pace of growth in coal mining, in the iron and steel industries and in the chemical and energy industries led to an extreme rise in the region’s population during the second half of the 19th century (only about 230,000 people lived in the region in 1840). The Ruhr Area was the driving force behind the German economy and the “dynamo of the West German economic miracle” after the 2nd World War. During this phase of growth, urban development primarily followed the needs of the economy. On the other hand, economic success and full employment as well as the resulting high level of tax revenue benefited the municipalities and their inhabitants. Change in economic and technological structures hit the region associated with the economic miracle particularly hard. Many products were no longer in demand or were imported at lower cost. Businesses were forced to close. Jobs were lost. But today there are still extremely successful companies in the Ruhr Area. These global players have opened up new markets but have also transferred jobs to “more cost-effective” locations. The environment was one of the first areas to profit from structural change: air and water pollution were noticeably reduced, land usage reversed, wastelands and slag heaps greened, and streams and their banks renaturalised. A new kind of restructuring based on a more balanced use of space and on social, ecological and cultural goals began with the Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park (IBA) in 1989. Although the Ruhr Area is a long way from solving all its economic, ecological, urban and social problems, an increasing number of locations have shown that creative concepts can be used to transform the industrial past into a new resource and asset with potential for more sustainable development. Unusual business locations, cultural institutions and residential areas have been created. Historical buildings have been retained and filled with new life. New, top-quality architecture consciously creates contrasts. Projects such as the →“Route der Industriekultur” and “Route der Industrienatur” invite both visitors and the region’s population to explore this surprising variety. This is best done on foot or by bike on newly-created paths, e.g. those on old railway lines and those which pass through areas which were formerly “out of bounds” and which have now been networked with striking bridges. A system of signage and a cycle route planner on the Internet are designed to help those using this network of paths. Thus it is possible to go on a “Tour de Ruhr” and experience attractions such as landmarks and lookout points, football stadiums, theatres and museums, historical villages and landscapes and the many historical and contemporary parks and gardens. |
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