Regional urbanisation in German metropolitan areas: functional, economic and demographic changes in the metropolitan hinterland

Since the turn of the millennium, an increasing concentration of economic activities in large centers has been observed in Germany. Reurbanization processes show that large cities have also gained new importance as residential locations. Many socioeconomic changes are mutually reinforcing and leading to metropolization in Germany.

But how far into the surrounding areas of the large cities are these processes felt? Can surrounding areas also benefit from the attractiveness of the large core cities through spill-over processes? Or do surrounding areas develop their own locational advantages and can processes of regional urbanization even be observed in Germany?

These questions will be addressed in cooperation with the ILS - Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research. For the first time, relocation processes of metropolitan functions, population and employment are analyzed jointly and for smaller spatial units than counties in German urban regions.