Strenghtening The Center City Is Not Enough

The transformations of the urban region in central Europe, and the role local politics will play in the regeneration of its downtowns and in the restructuring of its outer districts and sprawling suburbs, is addressed in Harald Bodenschatz's essay "Urbanization and Suburbanization - Assumptions about the Future of European Urban Regions".

Harald Bodenschatz calls for a radical shift in the urban planning discourse when he claims for a revitalization not only of the downtown, but of the district centers and of suburbia itself, which should be made denser and more valuable: "Strengthening the center simply is not enough. Parts of the remaining inner city are characterized by decreasing purchasing power, insufficient investment, and the concentration of social problems...When strengthening quarters of the inner city, one should concentrate on strengthening their district centers as well. Their revitalization affects the inner city as a whole. People often underestimate and hence do not care for the enormous development potential inherent in district centers: the bundling of economic activity. In these small centers, districts can develop and display their distinct and different profiles."