Germany after unification : urban settlement systems in the 1990s
Exurban settlement ; Germany ; Settlement ; Settlement system ; Suburbanization ; Urban development ; Urban network ; Urbanization
The urban settlement system in Germany is polycentric : it doesn't exist one sole primate city. As a result of federal policy and seen as advantageous in European-wide competition the spatial planning pursues a concept of decentralised concentration
. The settlement development between West and East shows significant differences. In West Germeny the process of urbanisation is concentrated on rural areas and hinterland regions instead of central cities. In the new Länder all categories of settlement-structural
, where new large-scale facilities are built up, fraught with loss of importance in cities are characteristic for the urban settlement system in the new Länder. - (HPB)