Growing Economic Gap
March 27, 2007
Munich ranked as the German city with the best chances for the future by a study released by the Prognos consulting firm and German business daily Handelsblatt. The Bavarian capital also won first place in a 2004 report.
"The Munich metropolitan area is clearly Germany's leading economic region," Prognos' Peter Kaiser said.
The study evaluated all of Germany's 439 cities and rural districts and took 29 factors, including economic growth, productivity, unemployment and crime, into account.
Compared to an equally expansive study conducted in 2004, Germany's overall economic prospects have improved, the 2007 report said.
"The prerequisites for a long-lasting economic upswing are present," said Prognos head Christian Böllhoff.
Southern Germany particularly strong
Southern Germany fared better than the north with seven of the country's top eight regions located in Bavaria and the final one in southwestern Baden-Wüttemberg. The two southern neighbors also accounted for some 54 percent of Germany's 35 second tier cities.
Long lagging behind western regions, eight regions in eastern Germany were among the country's 10 most improved localities with Dresden, Jena and Potsdam among Germany's 20 top cities.
Researchers, however, stopped short of saying the situation had improved for all of the former East Germany as a handful of cities seem to be leaving the rest of the region behind.
Industrial regions in difficulty
"There has been progress in the east, but it has been very selective," Böllhoff said. "Bright and dark are very close together in the former East Germany. Overall the east is not in the clear."
Heavily industrial regions in Germany's west and northwest also proved to be problem areas, according to the study. All 10 cities that experienced the biggest drop since a 2004 study came from western Germany.
"Regions where only industry is strong have dropped in terms of competitiveness," the study said.
The study showed that while overall better than three years ago, the gap between cities that are well and poorly orientated for the future is growing, according to Rolf Sternberg, an economics professor at the University of Hanover.
"The regional differences in Germany are getting bigger," he said.