Since reunification in 1989, many East German cities have been devastated by failing economies and population loss. The Germans, therefore, have a leg up on management strategies for failing cities. Doreen Ritzau takes a tour.
Ritzau writes:
"A first impression offers a portrait of urban resilience made possible by an emerging toolkit of tactics-new kinds of ecological infrastructure, small-scale urban interventions, targeted demolition, and citizen-activism-coupled with economic development strategies like tourism, education, and high-tech incubators. In Magdeburg, for instance, a revitalized riverfront is the core of a new urban identity, with an old port reinvented as a science center and other brownfield sites returned to nature. The city of Köthen tapped its heritage as the birthplace of homeopathic medicine, building a new European library for homeopathy and exploring how alternative medical principles might even heal the urban landscape. "
Some East German cities have used the sort of landscaping/urban greening techniques being discussed for American cities like Detroit and Cleveland. Ritzau looks at how well these strategies are working.
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