Dresden in the future atlas ahead of Cologne and Leipzig
Prognos’ future atlas classifies all 400 districts and urban districts in Germany. Dresden can compete with Leipzig and Potsdam.
Dresden is the largest place in Europe for the production of microchips. In Prognos’ future atlas, the city is now in 49th place among all 400 urban districts and districts.
© Symbolic image: Infineon
Dresden. Dresden ranks 49th among the 400 German boroughs and urban districts, at least in the latest future atlas of the Prognos economic research institute. For their comparison, the researchers considered 29 indicators, including the labor market, prosperity, population growth and the share of future industries. Dresden precedes the metropolis of Cologne in 65th place and the most populous city in Saxony Leipzig in 137th.
However, Leipzig beat Dresden in the evaluation of its “dynamics” and come in second place in Germany for this criterion, just behind the dynamic leader Berlin. Leipzig also has a better place than Dresden in demographic terms thanks to more young people. But the state capital scores with Prognos researchers with its edge in business and innovation.
Both Dresden and Leipzig have risen significantly in the rankings since they were first established in 2004. On the other hand, cities of roughly the same size, such as Essen and Dortmund in the Ruhr area, have deteriorated during this period.
Jena ranks first in the new federal states
The district of Görlitz is one of the last places in the future atlas of Prognos: 390th place out of 400. Last week, however, Görlitz received approval for a large research center for astrophysics, which could help in next ranking of Prognos. The research institute published the future atlas every three years, including one interactive map of the 400 areas, prepared by the Handelsblatt.
The cities of Gelsenkirchen and Oberhausen in the Ruhr area perform worse than the district of Görlitz, as does the district of Nordhausen in Thuringia, despite its central location in Germany. The Mansfeld-Südharz region in Saxony-Anhalt occupies the last place in the ranking. The neighboring districts of Dresden are in about 300th place: Meissen district 267th, Bautzen district 299th, Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district 308th, Central Saxony 327th. The Leipzig district ranks 268th, which is roughly the same as the Meissen district. The third largest city in Saxony, Chemnitz, is ranked 286th in the future atlas.
In East Germany, Dresden is only surpassed by Jena. Jena is ranked 24th in Germany, Potsdam is 82nd and the federal capital Berlin is 112th. According to the study, the cities and districts with the best future prospects are still mainly in southern Germany. The research and consulting firm Prognos certifies that the district of Munich has the best prospects, followed by Erlangen and the city of Munich.
Autostadt Wolfsburg scores the most points in the north
Autostadt Wolfsburg is the only independent city in northern Germany to be ranked 5th in the top 10. Germany’s second largest city, Hamburg, is ranked 22nd. The study sees significant risks not only for the Mansfeld-Südharz district but also for Stendal (399) in Saxony-Anhalt and the Prignitz district (398) in Brandenburg. The city of Pirmasens in the Palatinate also ranks low in the rankings for the Handelsblatt.
According to the study, regions specializing in future industries are generally well prepared. “This type is rare in East Germany,” writes Prognos. The lack of skilled workers and the dwindling population represent a major challenge, especially in East Germany.
Being a metropolis is no longer enough for attractiveness
Experts explain that long-term growth patterns were not destroyed by the Crown crisis. “Economically powerful regions are growing faster again after the crisis.” This applies, for example, to metropolises such as Hamburg, Cologne and Munich, but also to Erlangen, Darmstadt (7), Jena and Münster (19). These regions would be hit by crises only in the short term. “One of the reasons is that their economy is geared towards growing industries.”
On the other hand, the districts where the coronavirus crisis and structural problems overlap would have difficulties: old industries, low income, aging and dwindling population. The study also sees a connection between large cities and their surroundings as a recipe for success. He cites the metropolitan areas of Berlin, the Rhine rail network, Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart, Nuremberg-Erlangen and Munich as examples.
The analysis also confirms the potential in some central regions, such as Münsterland, Emsland, Mainfranken and the Donau-Iller region. These are on the way to future opportunities, even regardless of the metropolis. “For a long time it was considered a law of nature that economic activities in Germany increasingly shifted to metropolitan regions,” explain the authors. More and more citizens have moved to cities. “Now the trend is weakening because metropolises suffer from” growing pains “: with problems such as lack of space, lack of housing and traffic jams, which sometimes turn into social conflicts”. (with dpa)
