Archive for category: News

The monitoring enables interested parties from politics, administration, business and society to gain a picture of the fundamental and very different structures and development trends in the German Metropolitan Regions. Jakob Richter, spokesman for the Association of German Metropolitan Regions and head of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region office, comments: “The monitoring is important for the perception and understanding of the importance of the German Metropolitan Regions. At the same time, it provides a very good data basis for recognising challenges, opportunities and the need for action in the metropolitan regions. The data also shows how important metropolitan regions are for the development of Germany as a whole.”

Both the overall situation in the eleven metropolitan regions and the situation of the districts and administrative districts within the individual metropolitan regions can be visualised here. The monitoring compares the situation in the eleven metropolitan regions with each other and the situation of the districts and administrative districts in the individual metropolitan regions with each other. Topics that are equally important for all eleven European metropolitan regions are taken into account. These include Labour market and education data, data on population structure and development, services of general interest, finances and subsidies, settlement structure and the housing and real estate market, as well as data on economic performance, mobility and tourism, and the development of the population.

This year, the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region created the monitoring system for the IKM for the first time.

Four modules are available in the new monitoring system:

• Structural data: Data for comparing the structural situation of the metropolitan regions
• Absolute values: planning and calculation-relevant absolute values – five-year time series
• Brief profiles: short reports on the individual metropolitan regions – structurally relevant TOP indicators
• Maps: Geo-information on the location and district structure of the metropolitan regions

The monitoring of Germany’s European Metropolitan Regions has been published by the Initiativkreis Europäische Metropolregionen since 2006. It draws on data from the Federal and State Statistical Offices, the Working Group on National Accounts of the Federal States and the Federal Employment Agency.

To the IKM-Monitoring.

“Metropolitan Regions after Covid: Shaping Opportunities”

The Corona pandemic is affecting all areas of society and the economy. The longer-term changes are not yet foreseeable, but trends are emerging that could outlast the pandemic – because in many cases the pandemic is accelerating previously existing transformation processes. This concerns, for example, the digitalisation of the world of work, the importance of city centres and stationary retail or people’s leisure behaviour.
These transformation processes should not only be considered in the classic spatial categories, but especially where they affect the reality of people’s lives – i.e. in functional spaces that transcend administrative boundaries, as they are lived and organised in the 11 German metropolitan regions.
What initial conclusions can be drawn from the developments of the pandemic months? How are metropolitan regions experiencing the transformation? And what approaches to solutions are being developed?
This is the topic of the joint digital specialist event of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) and the Association of Metropolitan Regions in Germany (IKM).

„Metropolitan Regions after Covid: Shaping Opportunities“:  Tuesday, 14 September 2021 from 12:00 – 15:45 hrs

Mr. Ministerial Director Schwärzer from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs presents federal activities concerning the topic.
Dr. Markus Eltges, Head of the BBSR, will present the current state of research.

In four thematic forums we will discuss the impact of the Corona pandemic on metropolitan regions:

• Living and working environments in upheaval! What does this mean for regional planning and development?
• How do metropolitan regions organise innovation?
• What are metropolitan regions doing to secure an optimal transport infrastructure as well as trade fairs and congresses?
• Rethinking tourism and leisure in metropolitan regions

The discussion partners in the thematic forums come from business, science and administration.

Complete programme (German, PDF)

German metropolitan regions present solutions in Berlin

At a joint conference on 4 June 2019 in Berlin, the Initiative Group of European Metropolitan Regions in Germany and the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development presented perspectives on promoting equal living conditions in Germany. Projects from the metropolitan regions were presented on topics such as social participation, opportunities in a digital world, mobility in rural areas and networking in the health sector.

In the German metropolitan regions, cooperation between urban and rural areas is a reality. They involve a wide variety of partners in rural and urban areas on an equal footing. Regionally on site and also jointly, they show responsibility for the goal of equal living conditions in rural and urban areas. They work with numerous partners to find solutions to a wide range of challenges, be it in the area of mobility, settlement or commercial space development, regional marketing or local recreation. Metropolitan regions shape the partnership between rural and urban areas in projects and thus strengthen the competitiveness of their region and of Germany as a whole.

During the day-long conference, around 130 experts from politics, planning and science presented and discussed possible solutions. In his opening speech, Dr. Markus Eltges, Director of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), said: “Equal living conditions concern everyone. Promoting them is a task for society as a whole. The regions in particular must recognise their potential, leverage it and, where necessary, cooperate regionally.”

State Secretary Dr. Markus Kerber, Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Community, pointed out: “The aim of our homeland policy is to improve the living conditions for every individual and the cohesion of our society as a whole. This includes equalising the living conditions in our country. It is a matter of helping strongly growing conurbations and metropolitan areas to cope with their challenges and of giving structurally weak regions opportunities for development. Urban-rural cooperation is an important instrument for achieving this goal. As well-established networks, metropolitan regions are important actors and multipliers for the creation of equal living conditions in Germany’s regions.”

Jakob Richter from Hamburg, spokesman of the Initiative Group of European Metropolitan Regions in Germany (IKM) went into detail about the positioning of the German metropolitan regions on the topic and presented numerous contributions of the German metropolitan regions to the creation of equal living conditions. These include, among others:

• Joint regional development planning
• Digitalisation as an opportunity for social participation
• Mobility concepts and public transport funding in urban and rural areas
• Opportunities for electromobility for climate protection and economic development in rural and urban areas
• Shaping structural change
• Growth and building culture with quality and calculation of demand for settlement areas
• Digitalisation skills of socially disadvantaged young people
• Networking of actors in the health sector
• Intelligent marketplaces to secure local supply in rural areas