Beyond Plan B

Workbook IV
Regions
Beyond Plan B

Preface

Beyond Plan B is initiated by an interdisciplinary team of economists, geographers,

architects and urban planners. In the context of a structural economic crisis, Beyond

Plan B aims to bring together the knowledge and expertise from the fields of economics,

spatial-planning and governance to facilitate a debate on how to strengthen the

economic resilience and the spatial qualities of regions. By doing so, the project also

would like to reflect on governance-options in times of crises.

↓↓Beyond Plan B is initiated by

Helmut Thoele, Matthias Rottmann, Martin Sobota

Theo Deutinger, Frank van Oort, Ronald Wall

↓↓Workbook IV ‘regions’

Research Author
Helmut Thoele, Matthias Rottmann and Jens Jorritsma with an introduction by Frank van Oort

Layout and editing

Jens Jorritsma

↓↓beyond plan b online:

www.beyondplanb.eu

02
Workbook IV Regions

Contents

1 ↓↓RUNNING THE RAT RACE

2 ↓↓THE THEIR BIGGER PICTURE

3 ↓↓Four PORTRaiTS

4 ↓↓Governance

03
Beyond Plan B

Beyond Plan B
Introduction

In the context of structural crises, Beyond Plan B

aims to bring together the knowledge and expertise
from the fields of economics, spatial-planning
and governance to facilitate a debate on how to
strengthen the economic resilience, the spatial
qualities and the governance of regions.
The study focuses on the regions along the Rhine.
Our argument states that the Rhine area as a whole
can be seen as a central spatial-economic structure
of Europe, with many different layers and strong
cultural identities.
Beyond Plan B aims to acquire an intellectual position
and addresses an open-minded discussion about
possible new perceptions about the Rhine area.

04
Workbook IV Regions
Workbook IV
Regions
This workbook is the fourth out of five workbooks
produced within Beyond Plan B.
‘Regions’ summarises our research into the challenges
regions operating in our research area are facing and
dealing with. Input and feedback on this workbook
will be used for the development of our final product:
Essentials. Essentials will summarise the main
conclusions from every element of the project and will
relate them to each other.
The best way to find out more about the daily business
of the regions is to go and talk to the people, who
are busy representing, managing, linking, steering,
negotiating, developing and positioning ‘their’ regions.
Four Interviews conducted are an essential part of this
workbook.
The workbook starts with an essay from Frank van Oort
reflecting on the myths and realities about some actual
regional policies on competitiveness from the state of
the art debate within the scientific world of economists,
economic geographers and social science. Frank van
Oort proposes to think along six challenges evident for
spatial-economic strategies.
The second element of the workbook is a drawn
reflection about the multi-leveled scales and scopes
of the Rhine-regions in comparison with often quoted
concurring regions in the world. We do this by
comparing the different scales of the Rhine region with
the urban agglomerations and mega-regions in China
and the United States. Basic question is how these
area’s are organizing their scales and scopes within their
spatial-economic and political context.
The third chapter aims to take our readers into the scale
of our four partner regions. We have drawn a spatial-
economic profile of all 4 regions to enrich the interviews
conducted. We are also proposing a simple visualisation
of the regions agenda’s and were working on a synopsis
to compare the answers of the main questions in the
interviews for an overview.
The fourth and last chapter is summarising what we
have seen and heard in our dialogue in interviews and
a small symposium held in cologne where we discussed
with experts and the regions about the work of Beyond
Plan B around the first three workbooks. We gained
insights about the governance aspects of regional
management. Regions have interesting similarities but
also differ in their way of working. All are dealing with
the necessity of convincing and activating stakeholders
steadily. All deal with balancing formal and informal
instruments and all are dealing with differentiated
dynamics within and around there area of operations.
05
Beyond Plan B

06
Workbook IV Regions

1
running
the rat race

07
Beyond Plan B

Beyond Plan B
in the Rhine Corridor
Towards Spatial-Economic
Strategies in New Urban
Realities
Frank van Oort

08
Workbook IV Regions
Introduction
Where and how does the Rhineland economy
organise its welfare and well-being in the
global economy of the 21st century, with large
geopolitical shifts between metropolitan regions,
countries and continents, is an important
question.
Of course in the whole region – running from Hoek
van Holland to Schaffhausen, from Liege to Dortmund
and from Mullhouse to Stuttgart. However the global
economy becomes increasingly competitive, and
economic advantages appear to be attached to cities and
agglomerations – characterized by increasing economic
mass and combining locally functioning advantages
for firms and people (“local buzz”) with international
connectivity (“global pipelines”).
How can the Rhineland region, without extreme large
economic agglomerations, play a significant role in the
global economy? How to quantify untapped and unused
economic potentials in an economy that may be less
resilient after the (next) crisis (Beyond Plan B)?
This essay critically discusses four themes that are
increasingly important for local economic development
strategies in a globalising and restructuring urban world: (1)
agglomeration, urban networks and corridors, (2) clusters
and urban specializations, (3) regional competitiveness,
and (4) diversifying urban skill economies.
These themes are much debated but are often too easily
understood and applied by practitioners and policymakers,
leading to seemingly mythical hallmark interpretations
where urban regional development and local project-based
initiatives are suggestively intertwined. However nowadays
spatial organisation of urban societies is turbulent to an
extreme degree, with urban (infra)structures both shaping
and being shaped by flows of people, ideas, trade, and
investment – all moving around, in and between cities in a
constant flux but at different speeds (Figure 1).
In order to keep up with these urban network-based
dynamics, ever more “new” editions of societal
conceptualisation are introduced in cities. We will first
shortly discuss new societies, new economies, new
mobilities, new technologies, new government and new
scarcities to understand the complexity of societal urban
change. Then the four themes will be discussed from a
critical multilevel scalar and network perspective – what
is important on which spatial scale, in which networks,
and subject to (what kind of) policy initiatives, How will
agglomeration, clusters, competitiveness and skills give
the Rhineland regions beyond average growth potential
(Beyond Plan B), and how do local projects fit in?
09
Beyond Plan B
New Realities
in Network-Based
Cities 1
Since 2008 more than half of the
worlds population live in cities.
While searching for explanations for
the power of cities, and according
to some the triumph of cities2,we
should not neglect the shortcomings
of urban life. Cities have two faces3.
Cities facilitate growth opportunities
for firms and a better quality of
life for people, inducing economic
growth and innovation. But for some
(groups of) people and firms the city
reduces chances4.
Why do people want to live in
cities and firms agglomerate, is
central in much research. However
nowadays more than location
factors are needed to explain
the concentration of people and
business. The “new science of cities”
10
argues that in order to understand and flows and quality of life are
cities, we should not conceptualise all central elements in the current
them merely as places, but much urban debate. At least six “new”
more as systems of networks and realities can be distinguished (Figure
flows5. Flows of talent, of foreign 2).
investment, of information, in
social networks, across cultures.
Flows that require embedding In order to
within local infrastructures6, linking understand cities,
local with regional7 and (inter)
national infrastructures8. Networks
we should not
that co-determine how individuals conceptualise
and entrepreneurs function in theme merely as
cities and urban regions, how a
quality of life is created that makes places, but much
people happy and firms productive more as systems
and competitive in cities, or what
hampers their well-being.
of networks
and flows.
Multilevel micro-macro relations
of people and firms, networks
Figure 2:
New Conceptualisations for Re-
gional and Urban Development
Workbook IV Regions
New Conceptualisations
for Regional and
Urban Development
1. New societies refers to an increasingly powerful civic
society, fuelled by a globalising world society, suggesting
opportunities and diffusing fashions in an ever quicken-
ing way. Increasing emphasis on individualism, growing
disparities between rich and poor9, and an increasing
individual time-space complexity because of transitional
labour, jobs of partners and social activity schemes of
children influences social cohesion in cities and neigh-
bourhoods. From a multilevel point of view, the civic
society poses important questions on the government
and governance of cities and regions.
2. New economies refers to innovative urban econom-
ies, that generate increasing productivity and betters
urban competitiveness, even in times of economic
crisis10. Resilience is a key concept, inhabiting the two
dimensions of adaptation (ability to return to previous
development pattern, path dependence) and adapt-
ability (ability to create new paths of development,
vitality). Increasingly this is conceptualized as “smart
specialszation” – in which network positions of cities in
fragmented value chains of production, networks of FDI
and networks of knowledge (workers) are maybe more
important than localized factor endowments11.
3. New mobilities refers to factors that stimulate the
formation of networks and flows of people (migration,
daily-life, transit, talent), knowledge (cooperation,
knowledge workers) and other production factors (cap-
ital, trade and FDI). Individuals and firms are at the core
of this process of flows – being influenced and influen-
cing the “spaces of flows” in cities.
4. New technologies refers to innovative cooperation
between people and firms, facilitated by information-
and communication technologies (ICT) and ICT-infra-
structures, that may better facilitate quality of life in cit-
ies and may manage the ever more complex networked
(infra)structures in cities of people and entrepreneurs.
“Smart cities” and smart grids facilitate networked solu-
tions in the increasingly crowded cities12. “Big data” on
detailed activity patterns of people and firms, gathered
by smart technologies like mobile phones, GPS and elec-
tronic transaction data, technically enables researchers
to investigate networks and multilevel structures more
thoroughly.
5. New government refers to the self-organising powers
of civic societies and economies and how to govern this.
Social entrepreneurship, civic initiatives (often focused
on sustainable development), peer-to-peer econom-
ies and the social network organisation of people and
firms create and maintain new networks of interaction
and new standards of quality of life13. This generates
challenges for governments. They have a long tradition
in task oriented performance focusing only on one single
territory (their city), on single domains (flood protection
infrastructures, car infrastructures, public transport
services, real estate and housing) and mainly acting on
their self-defined policies. Until recently, initiatives from
private sector or citizens are often rejected and not sup-
ported from the argument that the initiatives do not fit
in with the existing policies. That seems to fit no longer
in the rapidly changing societal environment. In order
to deal with new external challenges, governments do
have to adjust much earlier, faster and more adaptive to
the changes they are confronted with. Adaptive capacity
and resilience are ‘new concepts on the block’. The capa-
city to adjust to the opportunities and threats emerging
in the complex global network society is becoming much
more crucial for (smart) governance success14.
6. New scarcities refers to climate change, natural
hazards, energy and land-use issues in urban regions.
Sustainability has a clear relation to the availability and
quality of these resources.
When recognized and facilitated well, the new societal
conditions inhabit important opportunities for renewed
development urban development – especially in the
Rhineland regions that traditionally form the economic
core of the European mainland. Local strategies and
projects exploiting untapped potential in regions that
benefit people and firms and provides them with a bet-
ter quality of life, are then needed.
11
Beyond Plan B
Agglomeration
Advantages
Only for giants?
The “new” urban order breathes
an atmosphere of agglomeration
advantages for the largest cities.
Firms there have less costs for
searching employees with the right
skills, there is larger and pro-
ductive information density, and
subcontractors and customers are
more easy to find. Consumers can
choose more varieties in products,
services and amenities. In recent
policy discussions on place-based
versus place-neutral development
strategies in the European Union, the
issue of sizes of cities is addressed 15.
This debate is highlighted in the con-
text of a series of recent major policy
reports: the place-neutral policies
in the 2009 World Bank report16 and
the European place-based devel-
opment strategies in the studies of
Barca et al.17 Place-neutral strategies
rely on the agglomerative forces of
the largest cities and metropolitan
regions to attract talent and growth
potential. Place-based development
strategists claim that the polycentric
nature of a set of smaller and me-
dium-sized cities in Europe and es-
pecially the Rhineland region (often
also called ‘second-tier’ cities), each
with its own peculiar characteristics
and specialisation in the activities to
which it is best suited, creates fruit-
ful urban variety, which optimises
economic development.
This perspective implies that me-
dium-sized city-regions have not
declined in importance relative to
larger urban ones, a proposition
that has indeed been indicated in
monitoring publications18. This is a
12
largely unexplored area of research.
It is important to identify the real
advantages of medium-sized cities
in the Rhineland. Can cooperation
between cities, based on economic
complementarities, bring along
equal agglomeration advantages
for firms as in larger cities? Cities
can “borrow size and metropolitan
functions” from each other – if they
really want that19. It also means that
some functions are better off in your
neighbouring region – and policy-
makers should be prepared to accept
this instead of competing for the
same scarce resources and invest-
ments. There is more needed than
connectivity between medium-sized
cities to warrant agglomeration suc-
cess – an institutional climate that
facilitates functional complementar-
ities20. For the Rhineland region the
potential of medium-sized cities and
agglomeration advantages is crucial.
Cities can
“borrow size and
metropolitan
functions” from
each other
Traditionally, transport corridors
(The Rhineland regions are in the
CODE24 corridor from Rotterdam
to Genova) are viewed as a prom-
ising way forward in EU transport
policy, assumingly contributing
positively to regional economic
development. However, the validity
of this assumption is not evident.
The recent research by Witte21 aims
to empirically test whether agglom-
eration economies in the Rhineland
transport corridor regions (CODE24)
are positively correlated to indicators
of regional economic development,
compared to regions outside the
scope of the corridor. The outcomes
build on the notion that the type
of agglomeration economies in
combination with the structure of
the economy matters for prospects
of structural economic growth in
regions. His findings prove that
corridors in Europe come in many
guises when it comes to growth
and agglomeration. What works for
one corridor, does not necessarily
for another. This heterogeneity has
been little recognised in EU policies
or in regional policies22. The study by
Witte importantly concludes that it
is rather the cities along the corridor
that induce growth within their
territory and in their direct surround-
ings. There is no effect within the
rest of the corridor. Agglomeration
advantages are bound to the urban
centres more than the transport
axes. This suggests that “borrowing
size and functions”, as suggested in
the polycentricity argument, is not
served by the larger corridors per se
but by the local and regional urban
growth conditions, that facilitate
localised initiatives and cooperation.
Cities in the Rhineland regions do
not have to be gigantic to profit
from agglomeration advantages, but
urban functions can be specialized
and diversified over a larger regional
area, profiting from economic com-
plementarities in (institutionalised)
networks.
 Workbook IV Regions
Unity in Variety
Clusters beyond the
perishable date?23
Does this mean that specialised local clusters are the
engines for growth, as often suggested? Clusters are
concentrations of firms specialised in a certain sectoral
activity. Besides co-location, firms in clusters benefit from
increased interaction in economic networks (agglomer-
ation economies). Empirical studies on agglomeration
economies are characterised by a high diversity of ap-
proaches. Rosenthal and Strange24 present a review of pa-
pers focusing on urbanisation economies as advantages
of cities applying to every firm or consumer. Noteworthy
is that most early (pre-1990s) works on agglomeration
simply used cities’ population as a measure of agglomer-
ation.
Doubling the population
of a city increases
productivity by 3-8%
This literature has found relatively consistent evidence:
doubling the population of a city increases productiv-
ity by 3-8%. Since the findings of Glaeser et al.25, who
studied sectoral agglomeration and network effects more
than the aggregated effect, it has become more com-
monplace to analyse growth variables using employment
in cities, suggesting a relationship between agglomera-
tion and economic growth and thereby introducing the
possibility that increasing returns in an urban context
operate in a dynamic, rather than static, context.
Sector-specific localisation economies, stemming from
input-output relations and firms’ transport cost savings,
human capital externalities and knowledge spill-overs,
are generally offset against the general urbanisation
economies that are fuelled by economic diversity instead
of specialization. Especially Jacobs26 initiated the idea
that the variety of a region’s industry or technological
base may positively affect economic growth. In empirical
studies though, the relation between agglomeration
and growth is ambiguous and indecisive with regard to
whether specialisation or diversity is facilitated by (sheer)
urbanisation as context27.
A possible way out of this seemingly locked-in debate in-
troduces related and unrelated variety as concepts in the
empirical modelling of growth across European regions28.
For economic geographers, as well as institutional and
evolutionary economists, cultural and cognitive proxim-
ity may be equally important as geographical proximity
in the transmission of ideas and knowledge between
firms. Frenken et al.29 argue that companies from related
branches of industry have overlapping knowledge bases.
This overlap facilitates intercompany communication:
shared knowledge, frames of reference and applied
technology make it easier for them to understand one
another. The fact that this overlap is only partial means
that there is room for them to learn from one another.
The presence of a high volume of related economic activ-
ities in a region thus facilitates the generation of new
combinations of existing technologies.
Van Oort et al. (2015) indeed find that for European
urban regions, the positive results of knowledge spill-
overs are higher in regions with related variety. For
employment growth, this effects is actually stronger in
medium-sized (second tier) city-regions with a more poly-
centric character, than in the larger and capital regions.
An interesting theoretical contribution to the specialisa-
tion-variety debate that focuses on these explained vari-
ables has been provided by lifecycle theory, which holds
that industry evolution is characterised by product innov-
ation (and more employment growth) in a first stage and
process innovation (and more productivity growth) in a
second stage. These interesting lines of research show
that the combination of specialization (clusters) and
sectoral variety together make up urban regions’ growth
potentials. Relatedness in networks of technology and
markets to be served should be high enough to warrant
crossovers by variety between sectors, but low enough to
warrant economies of scale by specialization in clusters in
later stages of the life-cycle of industries. The Rhineland
regions are characterized by an interesting blending of
emerging and mature industries30. This means that local
projects and policies should ideally focus on the evolu-
tion of existing sectoral strengths in the region, but also
on new cross-over potential to sectors closely related to
these specializations. This is a difficult task for policy-
makers. For sure, solely and permanently stimulating
clusters is passed logic.
13
Beyond Plan B
Regional
Competitiveness
Everyone is a winner?
The concept of regional compet-
itiveness has become a dominant
concept within public policy circles
in developed countries over the last
decades and has been translated
into policy goals by the European
Commission and national and re-
gional governments across Europe.
Relevant regional policies involve
the conditions in the microeconomic
environment under which productive
firms can prosper and new firms are
attracted. Benchmarking exercises
have become particularly popular
within regional economic poli-
cy-making in recent years, enabling
policy-makers and practitioners to
measure, analyse, and compare
competitive regional performance.
The economic geographical liter-
ature does not view the concept
of regional competitiveness very
favourably. Bristow32 argues that
regional competitiveness lacks a
clear, unequivocal and agreed-upon
meaning within the academic liter-
ature. The concept seems to refer to
good governance and to numerous
regional characteristics affecting
business performance but not to
identification of any explicit causal
relationship between economic
performance and such regional char-
14
31
acteristics. Thus, benchmarks and
composite indices present relation-
ships between inputs and outputs of
competitive processes without much
discussion of causality or the weigh-
ing of inputs. Prevailing critical dis-
courses in this area have highlighted
the distinctiveness of regional en-
vironments as limiting the utility of
what is considered ‘copy-and-paste’
and ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy-making,
as regional stakeholders purport to
transfer perceived ‘best practices’
from one region to another.
Despite its popularity in thinking in
terms of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ and
how to learn best practices from
both of these categories, many
drawbacks have been noted in the
literature. Some economists argue
that firms, not regions, compete in
markets. Others argue that regional
economic circumstances decisively
interact with competitive opportunit-
ies of firms, where governments can
facilitate locational factors that at-
tract firms and investments and stim-
ulate regional economic resilience
and competitiveness. Insight into
the networks and talent flows, trade
and international investments, and
the positions of cities and regions
within these networks is needed to
adequately analyse competition. Es-
pecially Thissen et al.33 have recently
drawn attention to the importance
of global trade and investment
networks as sources of goods and
knowledge in shaping firm compet-
itiveness in a particular area. This
international relatedness, together
with interregional networks, is pre-
cisely what is missing from current
empirical studies of competitiveness.
Using a new interregional trade data-
set on European Union regions for
the period 2000-2010 constructed by
the PBL Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency, Thissen et al.
are able to study actual (revealed)
competition between regions on the
level of 60 sectors and 60 products.
The principle of revealed competi-
tion between regions concerns their
market overlap. The competition
region A receives from region B
depends on two factors: (1) the mar-
ket share of firms from region B in
each region and (2) the importance
of each of the markets for region
A, where a market is important for
region A if a substantial share of its
sales is destined for it. Accordingly,
region A receives strong competi-
tion from region B if region B has
a large market share in the regions
that are important to region A. The
competition between regions A and
Workbook IV Regions

B is less strong if region B has a large

market share in the regions that are
unimportant to region A or if region
B has a low market share in the
regions that are important to region
A. After all, in such situations, there
is only limited market overlap, and
firms from regions A and B would
have fewer opportunities to take
market shares from one other. By
investigating market overlap, insight
into the markets most important for
the firms and the regions from which
they have the strongest competition
is obtained. Once the “real” com-
petitors of a region are determined,
it becomes interesting to compare
scores on locational factors – what
is better organized in competing
regions that focus on the export of
the same products, knowledge and
services as you do?

This may give opportunities for

learning and targeted investments.
As an example, Figure 3 shows the
competitors of Köln in chemical
and logistic services exports – two
specializations of the Köln economy.
For each product-region combina-
tion, other competitors show up (e.g.
Eindhoven and Antwerp for chemical
industry, Zuid-Holland and Madrid
for logistical services).

Figure 3:
European Competitors of Köln in Chemical Industry and
Logistical Services

15
Beyond Plan B

Figure 4 shows that once the real

competitors are known, a region like
Köln can be benchmarked on loca-
tion factors. The competitors scores
on factors is set to 100, and the Köln
scores are scaled and compared to
this (the blue bars).

For high-tech industries, Köln scores

more favourable on the most import-
ant location factors than its compet-
itors, although agglomeration size
is smaller. For the logistical services,
the competing regions score often
better on location factors.

This shows that competitive advant-

ages of regions are sector specific
and region specific (other regions
have other competitors with other
locational characteristics). These
insights confirm that practically all
regions in the Rhineland region have
competitive advantages in niche
markets, where their production and
exports shows overlap with that of
competitors. It is much more difficult
to formulate generic policies based
on these competitive advantages:
what is good for one sector in
one region (e.g. infrastructure, or
patent intensity) may be harmful for
another sector in the same or other
regions. Figure 4:
Loation Factors of European Competitors of Köln in Chem-
This urges policymakers to focus on icals and Logistical Services
targeted investments and policies
that fit the existing local industries
and specializations best in terms of
diversification: building on a region’s
own specificities, how can regions
develop further in their competitive
advantages?

16
 Workbook IV Regions

€
€

Destination
ce Destination

SD D D D
S D D

D S S
D S
D
S D D D
S D D

Figure 5:
Summarised competitiveness scores of urban regions in
the Rhine region

Figure 5 shows how typical urban
regions in the so-called euro-core,
main-core and swiss-core34 parts of
the Rhine region score when com-
pared to competitors in niche mar-
kets. We summarise and compare
over the factors of agglomeration
and knowledge economy indicat-
ors. The euro-core regions seem
generally less endowed with urban
sizes and density than the other two
types of regions. Polycentricity may
be a potential for common urban
development in especially the euro-
core regions. Strikingly, the main-
core and swiss-core regions seem more
knowledge intensive in terms of private
and public R&D-scores and patents –
even when looking at comparable sec-
tors, like high-tech systems and materials
(in Eindhoven as well as Dortmund). A
policy-focus on policentricity and on
knowledge creation, distribution and us-
age may be well advised in all (types of)
regions. Knowledge typically is not only
captured by R&D and patents, but also
by skills, education and professions.

17
Beyond Plan B
Continuous focus on
Skill Cross-Overs
This leads to a continuous attention
for cross-over and talent poten-
tials benefitting the local economy.
Currently, the Rhineland regions are
faced with major economic chal-
lenges. The financial crisis represents
a crucial test of the viability and
resilience of economies. This is par-
ticularly true for regional and urban
economies, since sectoral specializa-
tions and local success factors have a
marked impact at the regional level.
Local success
factors have a
marked impact at
the regional level.
The increasing speed of technolo-
gical development requires regions
sustained investing in new know-
ledge and applications In order to
renew economies continuously. This
involves the optimal use of existing
spatial structures and continued
(but “smart”) investment in local
environments.
A recent study presents an evolu-
tionary geographical framework that
aims to identify latent opportunities
and cross-overs within and between
the regional clusters in Zuid-Holland35
– one of the main Dutch regions in
the Rhineland corridor. It wants to
link these opportunities with urban
and regional policy agendas and the
existing economic and spatial instru-
ments in the province. It also intro-
duces a new approach to the issue of
long-term resilience and viability of
the region as a continuous evolution-
ary process of economic renewal in
which endogenous opportunities for
growth and renewal are identified.
Such endogenous opportunities are
examined by considering the skill-re-
latedness between specific sectors
as measured by the job mobility of
employees. Other local forms of eco-
nomic connections between sectors
18
and regions apart from skill-related-
ness may also be important, such
as supply and outsourcing links,
institutions concerning the labour
market, the housing market and
living environments, access to major
urban amenities, and the small-scale
dynamics of entrepreneurship and
spin-off networks.
The study focuses in particular on the
links between knowledge-intensive
skills, since these are increasingly
seen as the main success factor for
clusters and also increasingly fuelling
the other connections as well36.
Overlap in skills, expertise and
applied technologies links the indi-
vidual sectors more strongly to form
clusters which largely share the same
knowledge base, but make different
products (“related variety”). Com-
bination, complementarity and co-
operation should then contribute to
cluster formation and regeneration
over the life-cycle of mature clusters.
Opportunities in skill-related sectors
reinforce the existing clusters, but
also form cross-overs to other sectors
in ways that are sometimes expected
(such as the growth of services in
nearly all sectors in the province and
the growth potential of life sciences),
but are often unexpected (such as
the possible diversification of the
Zuid-Holland economy to include cre-
ative industries, aircraft construction,
head offices, the optical industry and
sustainable energy).
The outcomes of this research has
implications for regional and sectoral
development policies – in the Neth-
erlands and potentially in the whole
of Rhineland. Since the Netherlands
focuses on cluster policies for local
economic development, designation
of top sectors (an approach that may
be described as “picking winners”) is
expected to foster employment and
productivity growth in the current
knowledge economy, and firms in
these sectors should contribute to
international competitiveness. The
research clearly highlighted some of
the problems associated with this
approach. Firstly, the designated top
sectors may have little incentive to
work together on renewal and in-
novation. There are many potential
crossovers between sectors that are
not distinguished or rewarded in the
current Dutch policy system.
A focus on skill-relatedness for
potential diversification may help
to stimulate cooperation. Second,
labour market dynamics are mainly
(urban) region focused. Policies
should therefore besides an
economic focus, aiming for related-
ness, valorisation and cooperation
between industries and knowledge
institutes, also have an explicit
spatial (place-based) dimension.
The scale (from region to district
and knowledge park) at which
policy instruments and projects
can be deployed in order to realize
potentials to the full are diverse and
interrelated.
A focus on skill-
relatedness
for potential
diversification may
help to stimulate
cooperation.
Workbook IV Regions
Beyond Plan B
Embedded and
networked
development
In an age of austerity, investment in related and
networked economies is a good strategie. But
actually, this should be the case in any age. Cur-
rently, Beyond Plan B (or A), recovering from the
economic crisis and finding new and innovative
paths for economic development, is a major
challenge for the Rhineland regions.
Especially when urban regions face many new
paradigms, ranging from new societies, new
economies, new mobilities and new technolo-
gies. Competitive advantages are present, ready
to potentially focus on untapped potentials for
diversification and growth of economies. But
critical urban mass is important and may be
missing in the Rhineland region. Some mythical
issues related to this were critically discussed.
Not all agglomeration economies are attached
to the largest cities only – borrowing size and
functional complementarities in urban regions
may be an option for development.
Corridors may not be the most logic way to
expect continuous growth, urban agglomeration
and diversification conditions are much more. To
facilitate the evolution of regional economies,
regions can best define projects and develop-
ment trajectories that stick close to own (and
borrowed, cooperated) strengths. This means
that projects should be selected with a strong
regional embedding in mind. Skills, the labour
market, competitive advantages, functional
complementarities and cooperation between
firms and knowledge institutions appear very
important – issues that self-organise themselves
among firms and institutes, but local policy-
makers have not a focus on traditionally. The
real future innovation may well be in institu-
tional renewal and “smart governance”.
This institutional readiness of policymakers
(“new governance”) should focus much more
on local and international networks of economic
relatedness than on location factors per se.
Footnotes
1
Part of this section is translated from Frank van Oort (2015), Stedelijk economisch beleid voor werkgelegenheid en
innovatie. In: Platform31, Kennis voor Krachtige Steden, Den Haag
2
Ed Glaeser (2012), Triumph of the city. London: MacMillan.
3
Enrico Moretti (2013), The new geography of jobs. Boston: Mariner Books.
4
Platform31 (2014), Soort zoekt soort. Clustering en sociaal-economische scheidslijnen in Nederland. Den Haag: Platform 31.
5
Michael Batty (2013), The new science of cities. Cambridge: The MIT-Press.
6
Tijs van den Boomen & Ton Venhoeven (2012), De mobiele stad. Rotterdam: nai010 Uitgevers.
7
Platform31 (2013), Knooppuntontwikkeling in Nederland. (Hoe) moeten we transit-oriented development implementeren?
Den Haag: platform31.
8
Doug Saunders (2011), Arrival city: how the largest migration in history is reshaping our world. London: Windmill Books;
Simona Iammarino & Philip McCann (2013), Multinationals and economic geography. Location, technology and innovation.
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
9
Thomas Piketty (2014), Capital in the twenty-first century. The Belknap Press, Cambridge Mass.
10
Often embedded in the so-called “New Economic Geography”, see Steven Brakman, Harry Garretsen & Charles van
Marrewijk (2009), The new introduction to geographical economics. Cambridge: University Press.
11
Mark Thissen & Frank van Oort (2013), Regional competitiveness and smart specialization in Europe. Place-based
development in international economic networks. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
12
Anthony Townsend (2013), Smart cities: big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new Utopia. New York: Norton & Co.
13
RLI (2014), De toekomst van de stad. De kracht van nieuwe verbindingen. Den Haag: raad voor de Leefomgeving en
Infrastructuur.
14
Richard Feiock (2004), Regional governance. Washington: Georgetown University Press; S. Denters e.a. (2003), “The
emergence of new forms of governance”. Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 3-14; K. Emerson e.a. (2011), An integrative framework for
collaborative governance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 22; 1-29.
15
We summarise this discussion as presented in Frank van Oort, Stefan de Geus en Teodora Dogaru (2015), Related variety
and regional economic growth in a cross-section of European regions. European Planning Studies (forthcoming).
16
World Bank (2009), World Development Report: Reshaping economic geography. Washington, DC: World Bank.
17
Barca, F. (2009) An agenda for a reformed cohesion policy: a place-based approach to meeting European Union challenges
and expectations Report for the European Commission, Brussels; Barca, F., McCann, P. & Rodriguez-Pose, A. (2012) ‘The
case for regional development intervention: place-based versus place-neutral approaches’. Journal of Regional Science 52:
134-152.
18
E.g.: Dijkstra, L., E. Garcilazo & P. McCann (2013), ‘The economic performance of European cities and city regions: myths
and realities’. European Planning Studies 21: 334-354; ESPON (2012), Second tier cities in Europe: in an age of austerity why
invest beyond the capital? Brussels: EU.
19
Hall, P. and K. Pain (2006) (eds) The Polycentric Metropolis: Learning from Mega-City Regions in Europe. London:
Earthscan; Hoyler, M., R. Kloosterman & M. Sokol (2008) Polycentric puzzles - emerging mega-city regions seen through the
lens of advanced producer services. Regional Studies, 42: 1055-1064; Meijers, E. & A. Romein (2003) Realizing potential:
building regional organizing capacity in polycentric urban regions. European Urban and Regional Studies, 10: 173-186.
20
Van Oort, F., M. Burger & O. Raspe (2010) On the economic foundation of the urban network paradigm. Spatial integration,
functional integration and economic complementarities within the Dutch Randstad, Urban Studies, 47: 725-748.
21
Witte, P. (2014), The corridor chronicles. Integrated perspectives on European transport corridor development.
Dissertation, Utrecht University.
22
Albrechts, L. & Coppens, T. (2003) Megacorridors: striking a balance between the space of flows and the space of places,
Journal of Transport Geography, 11, pp. 215-224; Priemus, H. & Zonneveld, W. (2003) What are the corridors and what are
the issues? Introduction to special issue: the governance of corridors, Journal of Transport Geography, 11, pp. 167-177.
Sichelschmidt, H. (1999) The EU programme TEN’s – a critical assesment, Transport Policy 6, pp. 169-181; Vickermann, R.,
Spiekermann, K. & Wegener, M. (1999) Accessibility and economic development in Europe, Regional Studies 33, pp. 1-15.
This section summarises the discussion presented in Frank van Oort (2015), Unity in variety? Agglomeration economics
23
beyond the specialization-diversity controversy. In: Charlie Karlsson & Martin Andersson (eds.), Handbook of research
methods and applications in economic geography. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (forthcoming).
Rosenthal, S.S. and Strange, W.C. (2004), ‘Evidence on the nature and sources of agglomeration economies’. In: J.V.
25
Henderson & J.F. Thisse (eds.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics. Amsterdam: Elsevier: 2119–2171.
25
Glaeser, E.L., H. Kallal, J. Scheinkman & A. Shleifer (1992), ‘Growth in cities’. Journal of Political Economy 100: 1126-1152.
26
Jacobs, J. (1969), The economy of cities. New York: Random House.
27
Melo, P.C., D.J. Graham & R.B. Noland (2009), ‘A meta-analysis of estimates of agglomeration economies’. Regional Science
and Urban Economics 39: 332-342.
Van Oort, F., S. de Geus & T. Dogaru (2015), Related variety and economic growth in a cross-section of European urban
28
regions. European Planning Studies (forthcomming).
29
Frenken, K., F.G. van Oort & T. Verburg (2007), ‘Related variety, unrelated variety and regional economic growth’. Regional
Studies 41: 685-697.
30
Burkert, C., Garloff, A. Hell, S., Otto, A., Schaade, P. (2013), Attraktivität der Standorte Hessen und Rheinland-Pfalz für
(junge) Fachkräfte. IAB-Regional. Berichte und Analysen aus dem Regionalen Forschungsnetz. IAB Hessen, 02/2013); Otto,
A., Nedelkoska, L., Neffke, F. (2014), Skill-relatedness und Resilienz: Fallbeispiel Saarland. Raumforschung und Raumordnung
72,2: 133-151.
31
This section presents insights from Thissen et al. (2013), ibid.
32
Bristow, G. (2005), “Everyone’s a ‘winner’: problematising the discourse of regional competitiveness”. Journal of Economic
Geography, 5: 285-304; Bristow, G. (2010), “Resilient regions: re-placeing regional competitiveness”. Cambridge Journal of
Regions, Economy and Society 3: 153-167.
33
Ibid.
34
A limitation is that Swiss regional data is not available in the European competitiveness dataset.
35
Frank van Oort, Nicolas van Geelen & Helmut Thöle (2015), “Towards an evolutionary network approach of cluster policies:
skill-relatedness, FDI and multilevel governance in Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands”. In: Luuk Boelens & Gert de Roo (eds.),
Spatial planning in a complex world of change. Aldershot: Ashgate (forthcoming).
36
Ibid.
19
Beyond Plan B
“It is not about picking the winners
in advance, but creating the
breeding grounds for the future we
cannot always predict”
What is your perception on the on-going discussion
about the relevance of agglomeration policies linked to
the attention for metropolitan areas and an economic
renewal? How is the Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency (PBL) involved in the national and
international discussion?
We just finished a report with the CPB, The Netherlands
Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, about agglomeration
economies and how we understand the mechanisms
behind it. We talked about the international research that
highlights the importance of agglomeration economies.
Firms and people are clustering in cities, since they are
2-10% more productive in cities. This is due to three
main mechanisms. It is about input sharing mechanisms,
where suppliers can specialise further to make better
products and therefore can sell their products better.
Labour market pooling and matching mechanisms
have a significant influence so the skills of employees
are better matched with the demand of firms in cities.
The final mechanism is knowledge spill overs. Cities
are places where a lot of people meet and share ideas.
Cities are the breeding ground of entrepreneurship and
innovation. Gradually, agglomeration economies are
becoming more important. Especially since our economy
is transforming into a knowledge economie, that thrives
thanks interactions by human capital. There are no
general rules that cities always have the same benefits
by equal size. Cities and agglomerations have different
growth paths due to the economic structure of a city,
the types of activities, the types of jobs they have and
the transition in economies. Some cities do not profit
much from agglomeration economies because they
have a lot of firms at the end of their lifecycles with no
gains in productivity or employment growth. On the
contrary, some cities are doing very well in renewing their
activities. For example, Eindhoven had a very different
structure forty years ago. During a severe economic
crisis related to the loss of the biggest employer, Phillips,
the region reinvented itself as a Brainport. Amsterdam
also reinvented itself on creative industries and life
20
Interview with Otto Raspe
Interview conducted by Helmut Thoele
sciences and Rotterdam is really struggling to set the
same growth figures. They are lacking behind and are
below the average in job growth in The Netherlands.
Amsterdam and Eindhoven are good examples and are
far above the growth rate of average cities in Europe. It
is difficult to say there are golden rules with the impact
issues and mechanisms. You cannot say that when you
stimulate ‘x’ in every city, you always have certain growth,
and there is a big difference in employment growth
and productivity growth. Productivity is added value
divided by employment, and cities that renew, create
a lot of jobs, like Amsterdam. The productivity figures
are not growing as much as the employment growth
does because otherwise they have to gain a lot of added
value, more than job growth. Most new activities have
lower productivity rates because creative industries are
not as productive as an established knowledge intensive
chemical firm, for example, which evolved over fifty
years. There is a negative slope between forty years of
employment growth in Europe and productivity growth
and that is forming a significant theme I’m currently
working on.
Do you recognise a growing demand from policy
makers and politicians about this topic in relation to the
question of the distribution of power between cities,
urban agglomerations and nation states in Europe and
worldwide?
I have been lecturing on the topic of agglomeration
economies for more than fifteen years now. Terms such
as agglomeration economies or agglomeration power,
were inner circle terms used by academics only in
international journals, but now the average policy maker
uses these terms as often as a scientist. Policy makers
are especially aware of the importance in relation to
the competitiveness of their cities and regions. Certain
books contribute to that success like The Triumph of the
City by Edward Glaeser, which summarises why cities
work economically so good and why cities are imported
for economies. The book ‘If mayors ruled the world’ by
Workbook IV Regions

Dr. OTTO RASPE

Otto Raspe is senior researcher at The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Planbureau
voor de Leefomgeving / PBL).

He studied Economics at Tilburg University. After his graduation he worked as a researcher / con-
sultant at The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), where he advised on
the topics of (spatial) economic development, the impact of spatial investments (impact analysis,
cost-benefit analysis), industry studies and (regional) economic benchmarks. Since mid 2002 he works
as senior researcher at The Netherlands Environmental Assessment in The Hague.

Here his focus is on the (impact of the rise of the) knowledge economy, innovation and entrepreneur-
ship. Otto successfully defended his dissertation on The Regional Knowledge Economy on December
14th 2009 (Utrecht University). He often gives lectures and publishes on these topics.

Benjamin Barber described how
cities will be more important than
nation states. However, not every
city is a winner and not every city
has a mayor with the capacity to
rule the world. In the Netherlands,
we have a lot of mayors who are
struggling on how to formulate
economic strategies. Eindhoven
has a very capable mayor but in the
Dutch context he has to make certain
strategies with the 23 neighbouring
municipalities in de region, for
example concerning amenities. He
also has coalitions between cities
within a 30 minute radius and with
necessary links towards the national
and international urban networks, on
the larger scale.
How do we make
and organise
good cities and
agglomerations
which are part
of a multi-level
network?
So, at least 5 scales are important.
Mayors have to constantly level on
different scales and there are a lot
of policy related questions regarding
the most relevant scale for a certain
economic development topicand
what can we do on different strategic
scales. The real question is how we
organise a spatial economic system
which is not unified by one spatial
scale but all the scales we discussed
earlier, which are very dynamic. How
do we make and organise good cities
and agglomerations which are part of
a multi-level network?
This question links to our role as
urbanists and designers and one
of the reasons to start Beyond
Plan B. How do you see architects
and urban planners acting in this
topic? Dutch firms, for example,
are internationally very known and
successful with designing buildings,
cities and regional plans but they
not very present in the spatial-
economic discussion in Europe and
in the Netherlands.
One of my observations is that
many architects are looking solely
at the object they are making.
They are making a new building or
public space, which is not related
to the five spatial scales already
mentioned. In a city structure, there
are administrative boundaries,
neighbouring city relations, the link
to national economic centres and on
a broader scale with international
connectivity. Spatial disciplines are
acting too separate from economic
dynamics. In the logics of the spatial
disciplines, it does not seem to
matter whether you build a building
in Leeuwarden or in Amsterdam.
Leeuwarden is not an international
competitive region in need of a
world trade centre. Too often the
same success formula is applied to
every region designers are working
in. It is about embedding the objects
into the economy of the city it is
performing in.
Do you have a favourite example
which explores an excellent spatial
or infrastructural project that relates
very well to an economic strategy?
One of the principles stemming from
agglomeration economist literature
is proximity. Proximity is not always
on one spatial scale or metric
measurement. It is about how people
can travel to the cities and stay for a
period of time. How can they meet
other people to exchange ideas? A
successful project that helps a city
to grow is related to the proximity
offered to people so that they have
the option to stay for a longer time
or live nearby in the agglomeration.
There are very attractive and often
big cities which are growing and
everything comes together.
Spatial disciplines
are acting too
separate from
economic dynamics
There are also smaller cities which
have to be really smart to perform
at the same level because they are
lacking certain key elements and
critical mass. Cities like London
and Tokyo are doing fine, but what
about Brisbane? Brisbane is a city
that is very attractive to live in and
is performing economically very
well but has to transform to the

21
Beyond Plan B
new economy. There are no golden rules suggesting if
you build waterfront, you will always grow. It’s about the
context you are doing that project in.
While discussing possible paths for economic
renewal and growth, discussions are quite focused on
infrastructure, amenities, public spaces and universities.
Some examples you mentioned were related to the
creative economy but what about the possibilities to
renew industrial areas, as we often see along the Rhine,
through this creative economy? Where do you see
possible links between the urban logics of a creative
industry and heavy operations in industrial and logistic
systems?
The New Geography of Jobs, by Enrico Moretti, describes
how creating highly educated innovative jobs in cities will
produce a trickle down multiplier in the economy. For
people with other skills, there are better jobs in cities that
have that multiplier right and Moretti calculates around
five jobs per innovative job in the best working multiplier
cities. According to Moretti, the world is dividing and
there will be three types of (American) cities; cities that
have good jobs for everyone, due to the multiplier effect,
cities that cannot cope as they are not adjusting to the
knowledge economy and the innovation types of jobs
needed.
There is a need to be realistic
and smarter than the big
cities, by aligning with
neighbouring cities or with the
Rhine Ruhr area as a whole.
There is no multiplier so there are not enough jobs for
everyone. As a third typology, there are many cities which
are in between and we do not know whether they are
going to adjust or what their growth path will be. Moretti
states that it is more important where you live than the
type of education you have received because there are
better jobs in the best cities for everyone. Geography
will then change towards a more urban, spiky world. It is
important to invest in the knowledge of the mechanisms
behind the trickle down effects. Are the old industrial
areas able to renew themselves and reinvent themselves
22
with certain mechanisms? I am afraid that everybody
will attempt to apply the same trick, aiming at high end
industries or life sciences. We need to rethink on how to
transform specific economies first. There are some basic
needs like connectivity and knowledge infrastructures,
cities with universities succeed more due to knowledge
spillovers and entrepreneurial dynamisms. A city needs
to be attractive and that’s why the nowadays success
Eindhoven is currently thinking about a new strategy for
the future . They have good ingredients but are they able
to attract the international talents of the world? There is
a need to be realistic and smarter than the big cities, for
example, by aligning with neighbouring cities or with the
Rhine Ruhr area as a whole.
We have to work on more
interaction between our
mid-size agglomerations in
Europe because we do not
have big monocentric cities
This also tackles political questions and ideas
about balancing rich and poor. Would you say that
examples from the United States and south-east Asian
agglomeration areas show good strategies? Focusing on
the area along the Rhine with its cross-border structure
of a very polycentric urban field, containing a lot of
Eindhovens, what could be some basic ingredients for a
European strategy?
One of the underlying mechanisms is that in polycentric
urban areas, you divide the success of the bigger city into
the surrounding smaller cities. The peaks are then not as
high as in monocentric large agglomerations, but there
are also less agglomeration diseconomies like congestion
or pollution. Polycentric urban areas often have the
advantage of nearby green and leisure possibilities.
When you vision the Dutch Randstad as a polycentric
city, one imagines the amenities of the coast, the open
landscapes between the cities, the woods and the green
waterfronts. There are some advantages of polycentric
structures and the Rhine area is a coalition of a lot of
polycentric structures. The main strategy will not be to
create the new metropolis as big as Tokyo in that area to
outperform other urban areas but to join the forces to
create borrowed size effects. In Europe there is a specific
Workbook IV Regions
difficulty with administrative and institutional boundaries
between countries and cross-borders and we don’t see
a lot of functional areas yet. There is some coalition
between Eindhoven and Aachen but the interaction of
the people who are collaborating or commuting is very
low. We have to work on more interaction between our
mid-size agglomerations in Europe because we do not
have big monocentric cities with the exception of Paris
and London.
The Chinese are often categorised to easily build a bullet
train network and connecting distances at a speed that
could only be dreamed of in Europe. Would you agree
that these mid-size cities must be connected better, that
this is always a question of infrastructural hardware and
widening the parameter of the daily urban system?
It is necessary to have more than just infrastructure in
place. In Germany, with high-speed rail infrastructure, the
productivity of the commuting people and the adjacent
area around the nodes of the network is rising, so there
are economic gains relating to new infrastructures that
make it easier to commute and to make housing and
labour market decisions. You also have to work on the
quality of living in the urban areas so it is attractive to live
and work in these cities. Europe has an advantage with
cities containing a high quality of living that are not too
big. Pollution and crime levels are lower so we have a
comparative advantage on that level. It should work more
as a daily urban system or as a weekly or monthly urban
system to live and work in these agglomerations.
The new European commission and the Plan Juncker
are focusing on jobs and growth. Do you think that the
European Union makes this link between investing in
cities, agglomerations and the renewal of the economy?
How do you look at this current policy development on
that scale?
Yes, they are streamlining their thinking on investing and
the thinking of how cities work and produced a smart
specialisation policy approach. They made a shift from
real equity and equalising all opportunities and growth
paths to a more efficient approach, based in efficiencies
to invest in what a certain region is good at. Europe is
transforming and thinking about how to unleash the
growth potentials of what those cities have. In The
Netherlands, we are working on it now with our input
towards The Urban Agenda of the Netherlands and the
EU. Three different national departments (infrastructure,
the interior and economic affairs) are trying to link the
economic potentials of cities to a policy agenda. There
are many examples internationally where we see cities
grow due to policy incentives. Since 2011 in the UK, for
example, we have the City Deals and the urban agenda of
Europe is following that kind of strategy. My question still
remains which we discussed in the beginning; how do we
organise good cities?
Do you see possible ways to trigger an innovation in
the renewal of European logistic backbones and its
amenities like Rotterdam or the Rhine? Transforming
the port of Rotterdam into a bio-based port would
have a substantial impact and would mean large
investments into a new type of infrastructure. Can you
imagine successful examples of starting such kind of
developments?
Bio-based economies initiate from ingredients that
stem from chemistry, agro and food industries and they
combine into different knowledge bases. You need to
have these components to really transform and be
innovative in new bio-based products and processes.
When you have a missing link, you need to collaborate
with other regions who have a strong knowledge base
in a certain element you need, so it’s not only about
physical infrastructures as such.
New firms need a breeding
ground to interact in a
building or public space.
The harbour of Rotterdam is one of the key elements
for the transformation. Cities offer the interaction
possibilities of all kinds of technologies, knowledge bases
and entrepreneurial activities. However, not every city
is a winner. I like the initiative of Start Up Delta in The
Netherlands. There are lot of examples of big Firms who
say ‘we need an ecosystem with fast growing smart firms
around us to join the forces of innovation.’ New firms
need a breeding ground to interact in a building or public
space.
Would you say that governments have a role to act
strategically with concrete instruments and funding for
critical phases of the economy or would you say this is
more a question for the market?
23
Beyond Plan B
When you fully rely on that the market will solve
the problem, then the market also depends on the
established order, which does not want to really evolve
in new products because they have massive investments
in R&D, in specific areas that needs to be earned back.
Sometimes, the established order does not want to be
innovative, so the innovation comes from new, smaller
growing firms. The ecosystem of innovation should target
how we can help these firms who want to be innovative
because they are competing with other technologies that
are already in the market.
The ecosystem of innovation
should target how we
can help these firms who
want to be innovative
Governments should favour new technologies that
smaller firms are promoting to invest in fundamental
research. The government can put technologies in
clouds, be launching customers themselves and on a
spatial scale, invest in physical areas where innovation
comes together and connecting more of them together.
Governments should not continuously support certain
winning strategies, picking the winners, as you have to
facilitate the challengers, which compete with the older
established firms. This works by letting innovation really
become innovative, in allowing time for loans to be
repaid and good ideas to evolve.
You mentioned the term ecosystem relating to the
question of scale and the reality that the European
Union is very reluctant on spatial strategies. On the
scale of the Rhine and diverse typologies of cities
and city networks, could you imagine the right scales
for different typologies of areas which are open for
connecting strategies on the scale of the whole system?
Cities then need to be complementary to each other.
If a mid-sized city specialises in a certain economic
structure or technology and a neighbouring city has a
lot of specialisations, then joined together, they have
the related variety of the elements you need to explore
innovation. I’m not sure if these complementarities have
been applied on the level of the Rhine. Elements need to
be combined to jointly make innovations. Is it the high
tech industries in Eindhoven combined with the financial
clusters of Frankfurt? I really do not know whether
that will be the combination. We have to find the right
combinations. Than we can map them on the Rhine scale
and can bring in the human scale with possibilities of
commuting, visiting or interacting. Last but not least we
can make strategies of combinations.
24
Would it be clever to concentrate European amenities
(like stock exchanges, banks and infrastructures) on the
strongest points or is it for discussion about ecosystems
and borrowed size effect and so on? Is this diverse
structure an advantage?
It tends to be that the diverse structure is an advantage
but I also believe on a certain level of mass and density,
you need to be internationally competitive. Amsterdam
should build on another model than settling as a
smaller London. It’s quite a difficult question to focus on
something other than your main specialisation. Cities
need to rethink their earning models, based on the
specialisations they need to be innovative in and what
technologies are needed to combine to have a breeding
ground for new innovations. It is not about picking the
winners in advance, but creating the breeding grounds for
the future we cannot always predict.
It is not about picking
the winners in advance,
but creating the breeding
grounds for the future we
cannot always predict.
When referencing a famous example, the Silicon
Valley, the U.S. has a constant, high investment on new
technologies such as the weapons industry and it seems
to be a very strong asset when small enterprises know
there will be a constant stream of governmental and
private investments. Does Europe need a clear vison of
where we want to invest in the next 10 to 20 years to
foster the eco-logistics of renewing the economy?
Financing new activities is crucial, which is a positive
in the Silicon Valley but is lacking in many areas of The
Netherlands and Europe. Investment strategies can be
important but governments should also invest and the
question is do they invest according to the lines of picking
winners or backing challengers. The backing challengers
is more of a perspective on creating breeding grounds of
all kinds of innovations that has not been pinpointed. The
key ingredients of The Silicon Valley is about proximity,
innovation and financing the system and it is there, I
think, that The Silicon Valley became as great as it is now
due to government investments and interventions.
Workbook IV Regions

25
Beyond Plan B

26
Workbook IV Regions

2
the bigger
picture

27
Beyond Plan B

Three worldcores
In previous workbooks we explored
the idea of core and periphery. We
defined three main worldcores,
China, Europe and the US. As
show on the image below, these
three world cores can be clearly
distinguished from NASA satellite
images. Cores simply produce a lot of
light at night...
This chapter will further explore the
Rhinecore as a concept in relation to
these worldcores.
The chapter starts off with an
overview of these three worldcores.
Based on basic urban definitions
(urbanity, density and connectivity)
we give an unscientific but rather
striking image of the so called
‘pressure zones’ of these three core
zones.
From there we zoom in a bit further
to examine the worlds biggest
‘megaregions’, large networks of
metropolitan regions. Could the
Rhinecore be the worlds next big
megaregion? To answer this question
we zoom in once more to compare
the Rhinecore with two of the
worlds largest megaregions, Pearl
River Delta and the US Northeast
Megalopolis (see also image below).

Eurocore

Rhinecore
Megalopolis
Northeast

US Core

Cores light up at night...These NASA satellite images of the world give a striking view on the three world cores.

(source: http://www.nasa.gov/ edited by Beyond Plan B)

28
Workbook IV Regions

Pearl River
Delta
Chinacore

29
Beyond Plan B

China
↓↓UrbAn PoPUlAtIon

China’s population is over 1.355

billion, the largest of any country
in the world. By the end of 2013,
around 50% of the total population
lived in urban areas, a rate that rose
from 26% in 1990.

The urbanisation rate according to

official forecasts will reach 60% by Largest cities in China
2020. There are 40 cities in China
with a population over one million. > 10 million inhabitants

↓↓PoPUlAtIon densIty

Population density varies strikingly,

with the greatest contrast occurring
between the eastern half of China
and the lands to the west. Exception-
ally high population densities occur
in the Yangtze delta, the Pearl River
Delta, and on the Chengdu Plain.

In contrast, the isolated western

regions are sparsely populated.
Extensive uninhabited areas include Density map of China
the northern part of Tibet, the wastes > 200 inh. / sq.km
of the central Tarim and the eastern
Junggar basins in Xinjiang.

↓↓ConneCtIVIty
China has the world’s largest
expressway system by length, with
a total length of more than 100.000
km. Its railroads have doubled in
length since the mid-twentieth
century. China has the world’s longest
Hi-speed network with over 16.000
km; more than the rest of the world’s
high speed rail tracks combined.

The network tends to concentrate in

the more economically developed Connectivity map of China
coastal areas and inland cities along
major rivers.

30
Workbook IV Regions

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_China_by_population
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/111803/China/70992/Population-distribution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_regions_of_China

31
Beyond Plan B

united States
↓↓UrbAn PoPUlAtIon

The United States has a total

population of around 320 million, of
which 250 million live in or around
urban areas. That means more than
three-quarters of the U.S. population
inhabits about three percent of the
U.S. land area.

The country has 51 metropolitan

areas with a population of over
1 million people each. It has 10
cities in the “alpha” group of global
cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Largest cities in the US
Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, San > 10 million inhabitants
Francisco, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, and
Philadelphia.

↓↓PoPUlAtIon densIty

The most densely populated part of

the United States is to the east of the
Mississippi River. Rings of decreasing
population density radiate out from
the major urban centers of New York,
Philadelphia, and Washington along
the East Coast. Other cities—Atlanta,
Chicago, Houston, and Dallas—
punctuate the map in the country’s
interior. The west remains lightly
populated except for clearly defined
urban regions. Density map of the US

> 200 inh. / sq.km

↓↓ConneCtIVIty
The US road network exceeds 6.5
million kilometres in total length.
About one-quarter of all vehicle
miles driven in the country use
the Interstate system, a network
of controlled-access highways that
forms a part of the National Highway
System.

Rail transportation in the United

States today consists primarily
of freight shipments. Passenger
transportation plays a limited
role. The exception to the lack
of passenger rail transport is
the Northeast Corridor between
Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Connectivity map of the US
New York City and Boston. Interstate Highway System
Intercity Rail Network

32
Workbook IV Regions

sources:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=7052
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System

33
Beyond Plan B

Europe
↓↓UrbAn PoPUlAtIon
Europe’s population within the
standard physical geographical
boundaries is estimated at around
740 million. The percentage of the
population living in urban areas is
estimated around 70%.

The most populous cities are London

Istanbul and Paris with more than 5
million people. The next largest cities
across the EU include Berlin, Madrid,
Barcelona, Milan and Napoli each
with more than 3 million inhabitants. Largest cities in Europe

5-10 million inhabitants

↓↓PoPUlAtIon densIty

There is great variation in density

within Europe. The most densely
populated areas seem to fit into
the economic core of Europe, the
“banana” region. Countries like
France appear to have a relatively
monocentric structure based on
Paris. This is contrasted with the
polycentric structure observed in for
instance western Germany, where
there is no dominant city and several
of the main urban centres are of a
similar size.

Density map of Europe

> 250 inh. / sq.km
↓↓ConneCtIVIty
There are two main international
road network systems in Europe: the
E-road network and the TEN-T road
network. These networks include
over 150,000 kilometers of roads and
every regionally important road in
Europe.

High-speed rail is emerging in Europe

as an increasingly popular and
efficient means of transport. Several
countries have built extensive high-
speed networks, and there are now
several cross-border high-speed rail
links.
Connectivity map of Europe

International E-road network

High Speed rail (>200km/h)

34
Workbook IV Regions

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_Europe
Atlas van Europa
Eurostat, ESRI

35
Beyond Plan B

Megaregions

↓↓WHAt Is A MegAregIon? ↓↓Us MegAregIons

A megalopolis or megaregion is typically defined
as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas.
Megaregions are becoming the new competitive units
in the global economy, characterised by the increasing
movement of goods, people and capital among their
metropolitan regions. “The New Megas,” asserted Florida
(2006), “are the real economic organising units of the
world, producing the bulk of its wealth, attracting a large
share of its talent and generating the lion’s share of
innovation.”
US Megaregions
A megaregion must meet three key criteria. First, it must
be a contiguous, lit area with more than one major city
center. Second, it must have a population of 5 million or
more. Finally, it must produce more than $100 billion in
goods and services. By that definition, there are some 40
megaregions in the world.
US Megaregions
The metropolitan areas in the 11 megaregions identi-
fied in the America 2050 plan account for 76% of the
U.S. economy and 75% of the working population. The
largest of the megaregions—the Northeast and Great
Lakes—rank as the fifth and ninth largest economies in
the world.
The US megaregions are expected to account for 85% of
new job growth and nearly all positive population growth
through 2025. More than a million new jobs are expec-
ted to be created in the New York metropolitan area by
2025, with nearly a million in each of Dallas, Los Angeles,
and Houston.
Cascadia
Cascadia

Northern California
Great Lakes

Northern California
Great Lakes Northeast
Front Ra
Front Range

Southern California
Texas Triangle
Piedmont Atlantic
Southern California
Gulf Coast
Arizona Sun Corridor
Florida

Arizona Sun Corridor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaregions_of_the_United_States
Great Lakes 55.5

Northeast 52.3

Southern California 24.4

Texas Triangle 19.7

Piedmont Atlantic 17.6

Florida 17.3

Northern California

Gulf Coast
14

13.4
US megaregion population (in millions)
Cascadia 8.4

Arizona Sun Corridor 5.6

Front Range 5.5

Great Lakes 55.5

Northeast 52.3

Southern California 24.4

Texas Triangle 19.7

Piedmont Atlantic 17.6

Florida 17.3
sources:
Northern California 14

http://www.rclco.com/ Gulf Coast 13.4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalopolis Cascadia 8.4

“The Rise of the Megaregion”; Florida, Gulden, Mellander Arizona Sun Corridor 5.6

Front Range 5.5

36
 Workbook IV Regions

Rhinecores

a’s Megaregions
↓↓china’s megaregions ↓↓european megaregions

Apart from the three giant mega-region -Capital Eco-

nomic Zone, Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta- Florida describes the ‘real economies of Europe’ as six or
several other inland mega-regions are also emerging seven world-class mega-regions that compose the bulk
and developing. These 10 mega-regions as identified by of the continent’s innovation and production. Though the
China’s National Development and Reform Commission, European megaregions are comparable in size to those
cover around 20% of the total area of China, and include in North America, they are anchored by urban cores that
more than half of national population and 52% of GDP. actually tend to be smaller (with the exceptions of Paris
and London).
The largest three have been established since the
beginning of China’s economic reform and are expected Rhinecores Florida desribes Europe’s largest mega-region as the
to remain the leading force of the country’s economic
China’s Megaregions enormous economic composite spanning from Amster-
development in the coming decades. dam to Ruhr-Cologne, Brussels and Lille.

Liao Ning Megaregion Glas-Burgh

Capital Economic Zone

Am-Bru
Liao Ning Megaregion
Capital Economic Zone
Lon-Leed-Chester
Glas-Burgh

GuanZhong Megaregion Shan Dong Megaregion

Am-Bru Berlin
GuanZhong Megaregion Shan Dong Megaregion

Zhong Yuan Zhong Yuan

Lon-Leed-Chester

Prague
ChuanYu Megaregion Yangtze River Delta Frank-Gart

ChuanYu Megaregion Yangtze River Delta Vienna-Budapest

Paris
Paris
WuHan Megaregion Turin-Milan

HaiXia West

Lisbon Madrid
Rome

Pearl River Delta WuHan Megaregion

Barce-Lyon
Lisbon Madrid
ChuanYu Megaregion 105.5
Data: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
HaiXia West
Yangtze River Delta 76.6

Capital Economic Zone 70.6

Barce-Lyon
Amsterdam-Brussel-Antwerp 59.3
WuHan Megaregion 58.5
Lon-Lee-Chester 50.1
Pearl River Delta 50.2 Rom-Mil-Tur 48.3

Shan Dong Megaregion 38.9 Frank-Gart

Pearl River Delta
23.1

China megaregion population (in millions) Rhinecore megaregion population (in millions)
Zhong Yuan 37.5 Barce-Lyon 25.0

Paris 14.7
Liao Ning Megaregion 29.6
Vienna-Pest 21.8
HaiXia West Megaregion 24.4
Lisbon 9.9
GuanZhong Megaregion 21.7 Glas-burgh 3.8
4.1
Berlin
Madrid 5.9
Data: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
ChuanYu Megaregion 105.5
Amsterdam-Brussel-Antwerp 59.3
Yangtze River Delta 76.6 Lon-Lee-Chester 50.1

Capital Economic Zone 70.6 Rom-Mil-Tur 48.3

WuHan Megaregion 58.5 Frank-Gart 23.1

Barce-Lyon 25.0
Pearl River Delta 50.2
Paris 14.7
Shan Dong Megaregion 38.9
Vienna-Pest 21.8
Zhong Yuan 37.5 Lisbon 9.9

Liao Ning Megaregion 29.6 Glas-burgh 3.8

4.1
Berlin
HaiXia West Megaregion 24.4 5.9
Madrid
GuanZhong Megaregion 21.7

37
Beyond Plan B

Megaregion
Rhinecore
↓↓CoMPArIng 3 MegAregIons ↓↓Us nortHeAst MegAloPolIs

If we consider the ‘Rhinecore’ as one megaregion, it
would be comparable in size, population and economic
output with two of the worlds largest megaregions; the
US Northeast Megalopolis and the Chinese Pearl River
Delta.
The Northeast megalopolis (also Bos-Wash Corridor) is
the most heavily urbanised region of the United States,
running primarily northeast to southwest from the
northern suburbs of Boston to the southern suburbs of
Washington D.C.

It is home to more than 18 percent of all Americans, and

its economy is bigger than that of France or the United
Kingdom. Not only does it contain the seat of U.S. govern-
ment and banking, it boasts two of the top tech clusters
in the world - the Dulles Corridor and Route 128

1000km
on
st
Bo

900
800
700
600
lis
po
lo

rk
ga

500
Yo
Me

w
Ne
st
ea

a
rth

hi

400
lp
No

de
ila
Ph

300
e
or
m
lti
Ba

200
n
to
ng
hi

100
as
W

0 100 200 300 400

↓↓FACts And FIgUres

sources:
Governance: 11 states
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/top- Population: 52 million people
10-megaregions-in-the-united-states/ density: 350 people/km2 (2% of US land area)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_River_Delta Economy: 20% of the U.S. GDP ($ 2.2 trillion)
Leading sectors: Finance, media, biotech
other: Headquarters of 162 of the Fortune 500
companies

38
Workbook IV Regions

↓↓PeArl rIVer deltA ↓↓rHIne Core MegAregIon

One of the most densely urbanised regions in the world What if we consider the ‘Rhinecore’ as one European
and one of the main hubs of China’s economic growth. Megaregion? Following Florida’s research on
Since 1978, almost 30% of all foreign investment in China megaregions, the Rhinecore would consist of the two
was in the Pearl River Delta. It is one of the most densely megaregions along the Rhine river; The Ams-Ruhr-Brus
urbanised regions in the world and the main hub of and the Stutt-Frank-Mann megaregion.
China’s economic growth.
This densely urbanised megaregion is home to around 80
According to the World Bank Group, the Pearl River Delta million people and generates more than $ 2 trillion (*),
has become the largest urban area in the world in both placing it in the top 5 of the world’s biggest megaregions.
size and population.

Am
ste
rda
m

100 Ro
tte
rda
m
200
0

Br
us
se
ls
Du
300

G ss
ua eld
orf
nd
100

on Co
Zh
g Sh log
ao ne
ao gu
400

qin an
g Bo
nn
200

G
ua
Jia Fo ng
ng sh zh
500

m an ou
en
Do
Zh ng
on gu
300

gs an Fr
ha an
Hu kfu
n rt
Sh izh
600

Zh en ou
uh zh
ai en
Ho
400

ng
Ko Stu
ng ttg
art
700
500km

800km

0 100 200 300 400 500km

0 100 200 300 400km

(*) Data taken from “The Rise of the Mega-Region”, Florida,

Gulden, Mellander 2007

↓↓FACts And FIgUres ↓↓FACts And FIgUres

Governance: 9 prefectures of the province of Guangdong Governance: 4 nations, several prefectures

Population: 57.15 million Population: 59.3 (Am-Brus-Twerp) + 23.1 (Frank-
density: 600 peope/km2 (0.4 percent of the land area) Gart) = 82.2 million
Economy: 8.7% of China’s GDP (US$ 448 billion) density: 600 peope/km2 (0.4 percent of the
other: Also known as the World’s Factory” due the ries from foreign investments.
presence of industrial parks populated with facto- Economy: $1.5 trillion (Am-Brus-Twerp) + 630
ries from foreign investments. million (Frank-Gart) = $ 2.13 trillion
Patents: 6985 (Am-Brus-Twerp) + 3199 (Frank-
Gart) = 10185 patents

39
Beyond Plan B

Deltametropool

Regionalverband Ruhr

Region Köln-Bonn

Regionalverband Rhein-Neckar

40
Workbook IV Regions

3
four
portraits

41
Beyond Plan B

↓↓urban

Deltametropool Rhine Ruhr

Koln-Bonn Rhein-Neckar

0 10 25 50km

42
Workbook IV Regions

↓↓landscape

Deltametropool Rhine Ruhr

Koln-Bonn Rhein-Neckar

0 10 25 50km

43
 Beyond Plan B

Delta
metropool

↓↓introduction

Deltametropolis Association IMPULS: FORMELLE ROLLE:

The association is a broad public Wachstumsperiode Ende der 90er KEINE

organisation which feels responsible
for the sustainable development of
the Randstad. The Deltametropolis
Association brings businesses, public
interest groups, research institu-
tions and governments together.
The association makes it possible to
work towards a socially supported
design of the Randstad metropolitan
area, focused on welfare, prosperity
and strengthening its international
competitiveness.
The Deltametropolis Association is
a sanctuary that creates the space
to develop new ideas and sharply
discuss the Randstad outside the
usual frameworks. It is a laboratory
for agendising innovative issues and
a platform for boosting the debate
about the future Randstad. The
association aims to promote the
discussion about the development of
the Randstad and to help ideas to be
applied in everyday practice.
4 Grosse Städte wollen Einfluss auf
Nationale Raumentwicklung und INFORMELLE ROLLE:
Infrastrukturentscheidungen.
Stark Platform, Netzwerk, Koalitionen
schmieden Inhaltliche Produkte –
ZIEL: z.B. Transit-Orientated Development
Internationale Positionierung / Wach-
stum gestalten / Inhalt OPERATIONELLE ROLLE:
KEINE 4 Provinzen / Gemeinden /
ASSETS: Metropolregio‘s / Projektbüros
Inhalt und Netzwerk EU-Vertretung = Regio Randstad
- konzeptionelle Tradition und In-
strumente, gutes Netzwerk zwischen
Politik, Administration und Schlüsse-
lunternehmen
STATUS:
Neuaufstellung. Platform in-
haltlich arbeiteten – unit
strategieentwicklung. und Forschung
/
Randstadbegriff / Planungsbegriff
erweitern

Bevölkerung Fläche Bevölkerungsdichte BIP / Erwerbstätigem Hochschulen Studierende Wertschöpfung

€ € € €
100 Hochschulen
€ €

7.8 Millionen 8.287 km² 941 / km² 63.700 € 7 Universitäten 229.600 274 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
an den
47% von NL 20% von NL 36% von NL
7 Universitäten
opool

€ € € €
€ € 14 Hochschulen
5.2 Millionen 4.435km² 1.160 / km² 58.260 € 255.457 134 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
uhr / 30% von NRW
13% von NRW
davon 76.000 an 26% von NRW
nd Ruhr der Fernuni Hagen

44
€ € € €
€ € €
27 Hochschulen
113 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
3.6 millionen
Workbook IV Regions

NEDERLAND PREMIERMINISTER KONING

12 PROVINCIES
392 GEMEENTES (2015) VOTE

VOTE
+

CONCEPT ‘RANDSTAD’ = REGERING 2de KAMER 1e KAMER

4 PROVINCIES
G4 GEMEENTES

COMMISSARIS VAN DE KONING

FLEVOLAND
UTRECHT
NOORD - HOLLAND
ZUID-HOLLAND

VOTE
SUGGESTS APPOINTS
Vereniging (geen formele status)

VOTE VOTE
METRO
METROPOOL- POOL-
REGIO REGIO
DELTAMETROPOOL

ROTTERDAM AMSTER
DEN HAAG DAM Gedep. STATEN Prov. STATEN
+ 22 Gem.

BURGEMEESTER

SUGGESTS APPOINTS
AMSTERDAM
ROTTERDAM
DEN HAAG

UTRECHT

VOTE VOTE

B+W
GEMEENTERAAD CITIZENS

Governance scheme Deltametropool

45
Beyond Plan B

Deltametropool
↓↓urban / connectivity

46
Workbook IV Regions

Deltametropool
↓↓landscape

47
Beyond Plan B
“Perfect plans
simply matter less..”
What are the main topics in the Deltametropool in
terms of projects and processes?
The key projects and other state-investments programs
in the city, which are almost two decades old, are now
finally being finished. Examples of this are the big station
projects, but also the Rijksmuseum. However by far most
of state-investment go into infrastructure and partic-
ularly the widening of the roads. Since these projects
take a very long time to prepare these investments
based on challenges of the past are still dominating the
investment agenda for years to come. The key-projects
were a big trench of projects that had a strong belief in
public, state spending in big projects. Some of them are
quite spectacular like the Rotterdam Central Station. The
Delta-program is the next big investment program that has
significant impact on the way this country and particularly
the western, urbanized part, will look like. The Delta-pro-
gram is directed at water management and water quality
and it could have far reaching consequences that we
can’t oversee yet. But could be a chance also for other
investments to hook onto. What is interesting to note is
the absence of state investment into urban areas. Apart
from Rotterdam South, there is no central government
spending into cities anymore. Redevelopment of cities and
strategic investment like for example the Erasmus Bridge
in Rotterdam are now almost non-existent. Also invest-
ment in spatial economic interventions is absent although
some changes in policy are appearing. Throughout the
80’s and 90’s, there was quite a large spatial economic
policy from the central government in the sub-regions that
we are talking about. There was a big shift in Dutch policy,
partly because these investments where not effective and
partly because the money is being spent on other things
at the moment. The FES-fund, income from the gas and
oil exploitation in Groningen and the North sea, used to
be directed into structural investments of all kind, but has
now been stopped as an austerity measure from 2008
financial crises. The income out of oil and gas now flows
48
Interview with Paul Gerretsen
Conducted by Helmut Thoele
April 15th 2014, Rotterdam
into the state-budget that can be spent on anything which
effectively means it is spent on relieving debt and social
security.
Was that an effect of the economic crisis or a structural
political choice?
Both the economic crisis and the political/instrumental
shift came at the same moment. It was bound to happen.
The concept of using collective income (from oil and gas)
for structural investments instead of letting it flow away
into anything else, was generally not evaluated very well
so was bound to change. Structural changes were un-
avoidable as other investment, into healthcare and social
security where no longer being able to fund without a tax
increase. The long term effects of structural investments
are harder to pinpoint at the moment. In that sense it is a
sign of the time.
Are the Netherlands losing its unique strength of plan-
ning?
The change of policies and the end of centrally steered
structural funding has evoked a certain dynamic within
the Dutch planning system. Formerly strong instruments
lost their meaning and part of the strong negotiational
structures lost their senses. Of course there are private
funds and investors and also decentralized governmental
structures, but they cannot cope with the loss of the im-
pact and size of central government spending. You could
say that these are marginal in relation to what was spent
before.
What is the role of the association?
The Deltametropool is a independent, non-partisan, mem-
bers-association of parties that have a stake in metropol-
itan development. Within the association, there is room
for thinking, planning, designing, negotiation and debate
about the future of the urbanized heartland of the Neth-
erlands. It is a platform for exchange and to discuss topics
on an independent and informal ground, which brings
Workbook IV Regions
people and parties together without
bringing issues immediately into the
‘real’ world.
Was that also the history of the
association?
Historically, the association has
always been a place for content,
knowledge and debate. It started out
at the end of the 90’s as a vehicle of
the four major cities (Amsterdam,
Rotterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht) to
influence the central government
policies on the spatial development
of the area, but based on a strong
will to build on planning concepts.
In 1998, a common declaration by
the Elderman of the cities marked
the official start of the association.
Its strategic goal was to strengthen
the development of the Randstad
into a European metropolitan area
with a strong international position. A
central term within that declaration is
growth. On the one hand, the devel-
opment of the Deltametropool was
seen as part of an ongoing natural
growing process which historically
started centuries ago.
The development
of the Deltamet-
ropool was seen
as part of an on-
going natural
growing process
This process got an extra impulse
from the growth of the second half of
the 20th century and the start of the
EU. On the other hand, growth is also
seen as a task to deal with in terms
of quality, distribution and comple-
mentarity. At that moment, there was
also a strong tie between the central
government and the cities on the
field of spatial planning. They were
more or less in line and there was no
major conflict. The need for lobbying
was less important than the aspect of
setting a common agenda driven by
content.
PAUL GERRETSEN
Paul Gerretsen is chief designer in the fields of regional planning, urban planning and architecture.
He has studied at the renowned Universities TU Delft and ETH Zurich. He graduated with honourable
mention in 1999 at the TU Delft as Master of Architecture.
From 2003 Paul Gerretsen has worked at Maxwan Architects and Urbanists on both urban and
regional planning projects. Between 2005 and 2007 Paul Gerretsen was appointed Director of the
South Wing Studio for Research and Design of the Province South-Holland. Since 2001 he teaches and
lectured at numerous schools and universities.
From 2008 onwards he is appointed director of the Deltametropolis Association. The Deltametropolis
Association is a members association that focuses on the development of the Randstad area, consists
What has changed since then? change. Within these themes, dif-
ferent kinds of investments will def-
Orientation towards spatial chal- initely pop up. The emphasis should
lenges was always a very strong driver be on the process to change the way
for the association but the way it was different stakeholders act together.
used has changed and needed to For me, the way we organize the pro-
change, especially if we think about cesses to act on decisions for budgets
a new generation of projects. As we and investments is very crucial. We
discussed in the beginning, most of also see the central government
the projects currently being accom- dealing with that question by trying
plished were based and developed to rethink the way the agendas are
in the 80’s and 90’s. If we think that currently made. There is the ambition
we should or could develop a new to leave and create more space for
generation of ‘key-projects’ just the integral planning and the involvement
way these kind of projects were of all stakeholders.
developed and prioritized back then,
we would follow the wrong path. To How can you adapt to the interests
work in a structured method towards of stakeholders and how import-
the type of investment that needs to ant is the link to the daily lives of
be done has become very difficult. people?
Next to the economic situation, the
steering aspect has changed, so for The biggest variable is how people
me, that period has come to a close. use this urbanised region nowadays.
We haven’t come to terms with that
What are possible reasons? question yet and it is at the same
time changing fast. The notion that
One reason is the fact that the area the understanding of the dynamics
has become a city in itself. This of the users of an already existing
aspect – the process of metropoliza- build-up area is the most import-
tion- is and always has been our key ant starting point that has not yet
argument. What is different now is touched ground. This means that
that it is less and less a discussion on the way you plan your investments
how we should ‘make’ the Metro- needs to be more adaptive and that
polis. It is more about how we can has consequences for the projects
act smartly in a very complex regional themselves as well.
and political context and within a
social-economic dynamic in which no
one can foresee the future develop- The way you
ments clearly. That makes it harder plan your invest-
for planners to know ‘a priori’ what to
do. The things you can be more sure
ments needs to be
of lie within the bigger themes identi- more adaptive
fied like water levels or demographic
49
Beyond Plan B
As the changes are often coming
faster than the time needed to finish
the projects. On the other hand, it
is also less important that they are
perfectly masterplanned from the
beginning because people will adapt
and appropriate processes and pro-
jects more quickly than we are used
to up to now. In that way, plans would
simply matter less. It is our endeavor
to find out how to do this and how to
possibly coordinate this.
How do you manage to influence
formal processes from an informal
structure?
Basically, we try to have an impact
using very soft tools. We are shaking
hands, trying to keep a foot in the
door.
We try to invest
a lot in devel-
oping new tools
and pilots to set
the next step.
We organize public debates and try to
deliver content which matters and is
of interest for our members or poten-
tial new members. A very important
aspect is that we try to invest a lot
in developing new tools and pilots
to set the next step. We are experi-
mental by doing or combining things
which have not yet been done or
combined before. One of our added
values is that we are testing content
and methods that could help to cope
with actual challenges that could not
be developed simply by public or
commercial parties.
How is the Association financed?
We used to be financed 100% from
membership fees. In the last few
years, this percentage has willingly
and unwillingly dropped to 30%.
There are two main reasons for this
development. On one hand, the
financial crisis forced our members
to cut down their budgets, member-
ships are understandably the first
to go. This has meant that we lost
50
a lot of members. The other reason
is that the turnover has more than
doubled in the last 5 years because
we focus on working a lot more
on concrete projects with partners
now. In that sense, we made a shift
away from discussing big visions,
ideas or planning concepts towards
more concrete but also experimental
projects. When simply tested how far
we would come with a basic idea in
reality, we see that there is a growing
demand for that way of working while
the demand for bigger concepts is
shrinking.
Who are your members and parties
you work with?
The association used to be one third
public, one third private enterprises
and one third from a less commercial
sector like NGO or societal organiz-
ations and so on. All would have a
stake in the area. For us, it was always
very important to have this kind of
balance. Last but not least, there is
also a group of planning professionals
which are also members, a group that
has been dramatically fragmented
since the different government levels
cut their budgets for commissions
and their own staff. This group is reor-
ganizing itself within the new context
we discussed. For them, the task is to
function more detached from state
and governmental organization struc-
tures. We also try to play our role in
organizing the input and knowledge
of this group.
How is your agenda for the mid-
term formulated?
We are working with a program
covering a time span from two to four
years. The program is then worked
out further into a plan for each year.
It is steered by our board represent-
ing members. At the moment, we
are in between finishing our current
working program and discussing the
next steps. Indeed, it is a bit of mud-
dling through, on the other hand we
have to be adaptive and open for fill
in the program step by step. Intern-
ally we are very careful with this pro-
cess because we would like to offer
the best added value to our members
by using our strategic advantages. We
are doing that by focusing on content
and on themes or scales where we
see a gap which cannot be filled in by
formal or commercial stakeholders.
How did the shock of the crisis
influence the way the association is
working?
Well, very positively. One could say
that we realized even more that we
have to work with the existing spatial
structure, infrastructure and build up
area. The idea that we can redistrib-
ute and re-allocate structures and
clusters, or simply create and link
node A with node B like we did in the
past is now gone. It coincides with an
interesting societal phenomenon that
people and companies are choosing
to live and work within cities and
urban agglomerations. This demand
is a very important challenge for
the acting stakeholders in charge. It
is a big opportunity and important
timing but also a kind of wave we are
riding on at the moment. Personally,
I see big changes on the level of the
users of an area and its infrastructure
already by simply looking at how we
spend our personal budgets on mo-
bility and housing. Perhaps we want
to invest less in new cars and more
in a better energy-efficient home.
Perhaps we don’t need to own so
many things anymore as we just use
them for a certain amount of time.
Developments like that can really
evoke rapid shifts in how we use and
therefore manage our areas.
You mentioned the necessity to
position the region internationally.
What is your impression of the
actual actions within the region or
within parts of it?
There is little formal structure on a
regional level to support communal
action. There are some cities or
city-regions who are definitely pos-
itioning themselves internationally,
but the region as a whole does not
have much of a common agenda.
The Randstad area, supported by the
four provinces, has a small office in
Brussels but it is not used in a stra-
tegic way. It is more or less used to
Workbook IV Regions
take the temperature in Brussels. This is a political choice.
Also the four big cities have their own Brussels office even
though they share the building. In my opinion, due to the
crisis and political circumstances, the whole orientation
of the Netherlands has become much less orientated
internationally than it used to be and sometimes even
xenophobic.
I think the sole reason why we are still aware of the ne-
cessity of an international orientation is our geostrategic
position as a node within the international flows of goods,
people and money. The hub function of the port of Rotter-
dam and Schiphol is in that sense, iconic. The position of
Amsterdam is always more internationally differentiated
but even that is, in my opinion, much less than it could be.
The region as a whole could
do much more in terms of
thinking which role and
which interests it could play
If you compare our area with other cities or regions of
that size and impact, the region as a whole could do much
more in terms of thinking which role and which interests it
could play out internationally and which investments and
people it wants to attract. My personal impression is that
the whole idea of attracting instead of rejecting people
is very hard to discuss at the moment. We are still trying
to be ‘good Europeans’, but that is something else from
positioning your region strategically and thinking about
how you want to develop and what kind of role you want
to play in international networks.
How do you see the big economic players acting within
that playing field? How does the national economic
policy like the top sector policy effect it?
A large part of the ‘Dutch basics’ like the communication
sector, have been liberalized. Also, a large part of the
bigger Dutch players have been merged and integrated
into bigger international conglomerates. So you could say
a lot of this is already international but not necessarily in
a positive way – as we can see within the international
financial sector, which has basically evaporated within
five years’ time. These tendencies are going on a large
scale and they are effecting a lot of basic infrastructural
elements. The energy sector is a prime example of this. It
is actually happening in all regions in the world, however,
in my perspective the Dutch were always two steps ahead
and beyond it. This could also be due to the idealism and
positivism of the late 80’s and 90’s.
In our project we deal with a large scale, the theme of
core periphery and the Rhine area. Can you think of a
relevant scale for the players you described, where you
can see the possibilities to form coalition?
Yes definitely, I am unsure to where the scale ends
because maybe Deltametropolis as such is too small. I
believe there is an idea of a north-western European
market which becomes more and more important. There
is then a job market which is scaling up to at least the
scale of Deltametropolis, which in my view includes parts
of Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Overijssel, in which
there are a couple of important focus points. Travel time
is very crucial for us. It is very difficult to define the scale
in The Netherlands because it is not like in London and
Paris where you have the centre and moving outwards it
becomes more and more fragmented.
The idea of a core can also
be a misguided belief.
51
Beyond Plan B
In The Netherlands, there is a lot of
periphery and only a very marginal
idea of core. The idea of a core can
also be a misguided belief. That is
what you see with our four big cities
who truly believe they are interna-
tional cities. Amsterdam still sees
itself as the Amsterdam of the 1960’s.
Amsterdam still
sees itself as
the Amsterdam
of the 1960’s.
There is still a generation in place
which truly believes that Amsterdam
is a super special place. The idea of
uniqueness and being known world-
wide can be quite dangerous. The
reality is that there is no organizing of
any coherence of this whole region
in the international context, so there-
fore it is periphery.
How do you see the efficiency of
the influence of the Dutch planners,
designers and architects – who are
very successful worldwide - on their
own home agenda, spatially and
economically?
Basically, they are not hired at home
anymore and are still benefiting from
52
the popular image that is still present
in The Netherlands. The growing part
of their income comes from abroad.
I think that is very much influenced
by the space the Dutch municipalities
gave in the 90’s for conceptual think-
ing that has developed the idea of a
Dutch architecture community, and
which is now very popular and active
in South East Asia and China. It was
the Dutch government and municip-
alities who allowed this to blossom
initially, but that type of commission-
ing now seems to be absent. So the
Dutch Approach is something that is
now particularly found elsewhere and
not in the Netherlands.
What are your favorite European
references on how to operate within
the playing field of design, economic
development and politics?
Bordeaux is, although small, one
of the most beautiful examples.
Of course it also depends on the
circumstances, it is at the same time
extremely French. I think it is a very
good example where they learnt a lot
from the Dutch approach through the
redevelopment of the centre of the
city. They moved onto the regional
scale and focused on public involve-
ment in the process, the role of integ-
rated design and the way of reusing
existing urban structures. It is also
tiny, a microcosm, an isolated city and
relatively wealthy. But it also did have
a period of very steep decline so Bor-
deaux is a really interesting example.
Is the steering role of planning and
strategic agenda setting always
related to growth?
Well it is much easier of course if you
have investments based on spec-
ulation, this makes a tremendous
difference. However, in a way the
challenges are still there and we need
to take care of them. There was an
idea around 2000 when there was
a group of people that believed the
country was so to say “completed”
and only needed maintaining. Of
course it was not like this. The biggest
change is the societal change and this
is occurring rapidly. It leads to a scal-
ing up of the agenda setting and the
problem setting, very interesting, but
also needs solutions on that level and
there coordination is much harder.
So we need more speed in a situation
where much less speed is likely. We
will have to see how this continues.
For example the decline in car usage,
it is unbelievable how rapidly this
takes place. Of course you can blame
the financial crisis and unemploy-
ment on this, but that is only part of
the answer, there are different forces
at play. At the same time, there is
also technological development and
technologically driven rapid societal
changes. When generations are only
four or five years apart, and things
really change radically between them
we can see whole value systems and
ways of working change.
We see a lot of regions dealing with
participation of the inhabitants,
trying to involve them in agenda
setting, How would you say the next
generation will set the agenda the
ability or the way people commu-
nicate?
Workbook IV Regions

I strongly believe there will be a large part of investments
done by the public sector itself also in the future and it is
problematic that there is no idea who plays a role in the
political decision making which could cooperate or be set
opposite of this kind of movement. We have a public soci-
ety and a public body which support this society. We have
the structure in place to decide about these things and
then we do a referendum instead, based on nothing, with
people handing in ideas based on nothing but their own
capacity to organize their support. The ‘Stadsinitiatief’ Rot-
terdam, with a budget of 5 million Euro is a tricky example.
The approach can appear sympathetic but in a way, it is
also endangering the whole democratic structure. Detours
can definitely be about ideas and agenda setting, but pub-
lic investments should be based on their own merits.
So what would be your proposal, if you had half of the
money to spend?
I would definitely put it into the existing urban areas
in the cities themselves. We only have small cities so I
think that is easy, a small city investment fund. It is very
important and there is definitely work to be done on the
public transport infrastructure as well. I know of at least
three projects that are waiting and which are as we speak
already decades behind.

In The Netherlands we see ‘territorial agenda’s’ where

the public sector tries to bind parties in a certain region
and then be able to prioritise their own investment for
the next years. How do you see this instrument devel-
oping?

If people get the impression that it is window dressing

they will stop participating. The biggest problem is that
all the investment funds for spatial development in The
Netherlands have been dedicated already until the year
2030. Because of the financial crisis many investments
have been postponed and are dominating the invest-
ment agenda for years to come. So, 15 years in advance,
everything has been spent already, promises have been
made, so what is the point in negotiating if all is already
cast in concrete?

On a political level the

territorial agenda doesn’t
play a role anymore

That is why on a political level the territorial agenda

doesn’t play a role anymore, because there really is noth-
ing to be gained and only to be lost. There are basically
two solutions for that: either we agree to re-evaluate
all these investments that are in the pipeline until 2030
which, is smart and possible. It is really not the case that
we should plan everything 15 years ahead. Or we re-evalu-
ate the whole way how we deal with the taxing system in
The Netherlands and give much more freedom in levying
tax on a regional and local level. In reality though at this
moment, both don’t seem very likely.

53
 Beyond Plan B

Regionalverband
Ruhr

↓↓introduction

MetropoleRuhr is part of a bigger ag- is the most important sector. The STATUS:
glomeration. The Region Rhine-Ruhr, density of public transport stations
like the Deltametropolis is divided in both the entire region and in the Vom Pionier zum Flaggschiff / Stabil
into several regions and alliances urbanizsed area is high. The region is mit starker Organisation und Instru-
with varying formal status: Metro- linked to the Rhine Region by means menten Agenda bleibt Strukturwan-
pole Ruhr, Dusseldorf Metropolitan of the Rhine Alpine Ten-T corridor. del + Gebiet mit grossen lokalen
Region and Region Köln-Bonn e.V. The region is located centrally in Unterschieden in der Entwicklungs-
Other than the federal state (Bundes- European networks of people and dynamik.
land) of North Rhine-Westphalia, goods.
no tier of government covers these
FORMELLE ROLLE:
three regions. The federal state of IMPULS:
North Rhine-Westphalia is form- Regionalverband Ruhr hat Planungs
Weitergehen des Weges des Struk-
ally divided into five government hoheit Planung / Wirtschaftsförder-
turwandels / IBA => Neupositionier-
districts that implement the policy ung Regionalrat = politische Ebene
ung als Metropole
of the federal state. Metropole Ruhr
has a strong industrial base and is INFORMELLE ROLLE:
challenged with transforming an area ZIEL:
Stark. informelle Planung, Konzept
with complex socio-economic prob- Neue wirtschaftliche Aktivität in
Ruhr, Wandel als Chance, Wettbew-
lems. The work of the regions focus neuem räumlichen Kontext + interna-
erbe. Beteiligung / PartizipationPlat-
primarily on their operational scale. tionale Neupositionierung
form, Netzwerk,
An organisational form at the scale
of Rhine- Ruhr is currently only an
ASSETS:
inviting prospect. The GDP per capita OPERATIONELLE ROLLE:
is comparable with the Randstad, but Lange Erfahrung auf allen Ebenen.
Verband mit Eigenbetrieben
the percentage of higher-educated FlächeGutes Netzwerk
Bevölkerung auf Politischer und BIP / Erwerbstätigem
Bevölkerungsdichte
Wirtschaftsförderung Hochschulen
GmbH Studierende Wertsch
workers and the employment rate Administrativer Ebene. Prozesse, Ver-
trauen. Freiwilligkeit, Kooperation, Pflege der Standorte=Lokaal
are lower. In terms of employment
Daten, starke Identität, Integra- Tourismus GmbH
and Gross Value Added, the large
share of the industrial sector of the tionsleistung € € € €
100 Hochschulen
€ €
Rhine-Ruhr region stands out. In
7 Universitäten 229.600
terms of7.8 Millionen
patent applications, ICT 8.287 km² 941 / km² 63.700 €
an den
274 Miljar
47% von NL 20% von NL 36%
7 Universitäten
ol

€ € € €
€ € 14 Hochschulen
5.2 Millionen 4.435km² 1.160 / km² 58.260 € 255.457 134 Miljar
/ 30% von NRW
13% von NRW
davon 76.000 an 26%
uhr der Fernuni Hagen

€ € € €
€ € €
27 Hochschulen
113 Miljard
3.6 millionen 4.415 km² 809 / km² 67.000 € 111.457 22% v
20% von NRW
13% von NRW
54
Workbook IV Regions

BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
BUNDESKANZLER
16 BUNDESLÄNDER

BUNDESRAT BUNDESTAG BUNDESREGIERUNG

MINISTER-PRASIDENT
BUNDESLAND
NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA VOTE

VOTE

LANDES-
MINISTERS LANDSTAG
APPOINTED

METROPOLITAN AREAS

REGION METRO-
DÜSSEL- POLE KEINE FORMELLE /
DORF RUHR DEMOKRATISCHE EBENE
REGIONALVERBAND RUHR
HAT PLANUNGSHOHEIT
REGION
KÖLN
BONN

REGIERUNGS-
REGIERUNGSBEZIRKS PRASIDENT
ARNSBERG, DÜSSEL -
DORF, KÖLN

BEZIRK- REGIONAL
REGIERUNG RAT

REPRESENTATION
LANDKREIS LANDRAT

VOTE

KREISTAG

CITIES/ (OBER)
DISTRICTS BURGERMEISTER
VOTE

VOTE

(STADT)RAT
CITIZENS

Governance scheme Regionalverband Ruhr

55
Beyond Plan B

Metropoleruhr
↓↓urban / connectivity

56
Workbook IV Regions

Metropoleruhr
↓↓landscape

57
Beyond Plan B
‘‘Der Strukturwandel
bleibtt die Aufgabe’’
Wofür steht die Metropoleruhr?
Die Metropole Ruhr steht für einen hochkomplexen und
differenzierten Ballungsraum. Der Versuch einer Bes-
chreibung mit wenigen Merkmalen muss darum scheitern.
Ein Ballungsraum ist per Definition kein Monoweg eines
Einzelnen, einer Gruppe oder eines Wirtschaftszweiges.
Früher meinte man uns mit zwei Merkmalen als indus-
triellen und dicht besiedelten Agglomerationsraum -
beschreiben zu können – was auch schon nicht stimmte.
Wir waren und sind ein sehr viel differenzierteres Gebilde.
Dabei zeichnet uns eine starke Kohäsion - also das Leben
mit großen Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschieden - aus.
Was sind im Moment die wichtigen laufenden Projekte
und Prozesse in der Region?
Inhaltlich gilt es den Strukturwandel fortzuführen und zu
gestalten. Dabei sind die Defizite, die sich räumlich der
ökonomischen Transformation von Süden nach Norden
folgend verlagert haben, die zentrale Herausforderung.
Ökonomisch ist der Strukturwandel bereits weit vor-
angeschritten, hingegen ist er sozial, städtebaulich und
kulturell an vielen Stellen noch sehr präsent. Das heißt im
Strukturwandel haben wir es immer mit drei Zuständen
eines hochkomplexen Systems mit 5 Mio. Einwohnern
und 53 Städten zu tun: mit der Vergangenheit, mit den
verschiedene Zwischenzuständen und mit ebenso vielen
Zukünften.
Als formaler Prozess steht der neue Regionalplan auf der
Agenda, der bis 2017 erstmalig in dieser Form entstehen
soll. Dieser wird von einem umfangreichen Diskussion-
sprozess um die Zukunft der Metropole Ruhr begleitet, der
unter dem Titel „Regionaler Diskurs“ vielfältige informelle
Formate wie z.B. den Ideenwettbewerb Zukunft Metro-
pole Ruhr“ bündelt.
58
dr. Claas beckord
Teamleiter Masterplanung
Michael Schwarze-Rodrian
Leiter Europäische und regionale Netzwerke Ruhr- EU
Beauftragter des RVR
26. März / 10. April
MetropoleRuhr, RVR Essen
Interviewer Helmut Thoele / Matthias Rottmann
Als weitere informelle und freiwillige aber sehr gut
organisierte und regelmäßige Zusammenarbeit sind zum
einen das „Konzept Ruhr“, in dem Stadtentwicklung und
Standortentwicklung zusammengedacht werden, und an
dem 41 Städte gemeinsam arbeiten, und zum anderen
Programm „Wandel als Chance“, das als gemeinsames Pro-
jekt von 17 Städten eine nachhaltige Gestaltung des Endes
des Steinkohlenbergbaus bis 2018 lokal vor Ort organisiert
zu nennen.
Gibt es über den Strukturwandel hinaus (neue) große
mittel- oder langfristige Themen?
Die Themen der Gegenwart sind sicher auch die The-
men der Zukunft. Es gibt nach wie vor eine hohe soziale
Dringlichkeit bezogen auf Stadtteile mit besonderem
Erneuerungsbedarf (Armut, Bildungsrückstand, Lang-
zeitarbeitslosigkeit) in denen, das was wir die soziale
Durchlässigkeit nennen, gefährdet oder nicht gegeben ist.
Als große räumliche Aufgabe ist der Emscher Landschaft-
spark, an dem seit 25 Jahren gearbeitet wird, noch nicht
abgeschlossen. Die Qualifizierung der Stadtlandschaft mit
dem Parallelprojekt des Umbaus der Emscher als Wasser-
system für insgesamt 4.3 Mrd. € kann man zwar an vielen
Nebenläufen bereits erleben, am Hauptlauf wird es jedoch
noch bis 2027 dauern, ehe der Fluss wieder vollumfänglich
als landschaftliches Element im Stadtraum genutzt werden
kann.
Zum Strukturwandel gehören aber genauso die wirtschaft-
liche Diversifizierung und die kulturellen Schwerpunkte;
dazu gehören die Universitäten, die in den 60er Jahren
entstanden sind und die sich nun in der Universitätsallianz
einem weltweiten Wissenschaftswettbewerb stellen.
Workbook IV Regions
Nicht zu vergessen Themen wie
Verkehr und Energie, wobei sich bei
der Energie langsam andeutet, dass
hier noch größere Umwälzungen
bevorstehen. In unserer Region sind
die Betriebssitze der Atom- und
Kohlekonzerne, deren Wirtschafts-
modell, sei es durch gesellschaftliche
Veränderungen oder das Haltbarkeits-
datum der fossilen Energiegewinnung
zur Zeit unter Druck steht. Wenn
diese Firmen in Schieflage geraten,
dann trifft dies die Region doppelt.
Zum einen klassisch auf der Versor-
gungsebene, aber insbesondere auch
finanziell, da viele Kommunen histor-
isch bedingt große Aktienpakete der
entsprechenden Versorger besitzen;
unmittelbar fallen die Gewinne und
Dividenden weg und mittelbar damit
auch das Gewerbe- und letztlich auch
das Einkommensteueraufkommen.
Zuwanderung und Integration war
und bleibt ein Thema. Die polyeth-
nische Herkunft der Menschen war
in der Vergangenheit ein Thema und
sie ist es auch heute. Eine Stärke des
Ruhrgebiets ist seine erarbeitete und
erlernte Integrationskraft. Unsere
Region hat sowohl ethnisch als
auch bezüglich unterschiedlichster
Konfessionen eine gewaltige Integra-
tionsleistung erbracht. Eine Fähigkeit,
die zum Beispiel bei der Zusammen-
führung evangelischer und kathol-
ischer Zechen in der RAG entwickelt
wurde.
Es gibt also viele große Prozesse,
die gleichzeitig stattfinden und um
dies noch mal aus Ingenieurssicht zu
verdeutlichen: Die Transformation
der Emscher ist noch lange nicht
abgeschlossen, wir sind bei ca. 60%
des Umbaus. Bis wieder ausschließ-
lich Regenwasser in einem natür-
lichen Flussbett fließt und die Ufer
zugänglich sind, wird es noch mehr
als ein Jahrzehnt dauern. Damit ist
klar, dass im Moment keine Not-
wendigkeit aber auch keine Mög-
lichkeit gibt, große oder gar neue
Megaprojekte anzuschieben oder zu
entwickeln.
Michael Schwarze-Rodrian
Michael Schwarze-Rodrian hat Landschaftsplanung studiert, leitet seit 2012 das Referat
Europäische und regionale Netzwerke Ruhr und nimmt die Aufgaben des EU Beauftragten
des Regionalverbands Ruhr (RVR) wahr. Er arbeitet seit Mitte der 80er Jahre im Ruhrgebiet.
Im Mittelpunkt seiner Tätigkeiten stehen Strategien und Projekte der nachhaltigen Stadt-,
Standort- und Landschaftsentwicklung. Im polizentrischen Ballungsraum Ruhrgebiet ist dies
immer verbunden mit der Kooperation und Moderation kommunaler und regionaler Partner.
Dr. Claas Beckord
Claas Beckord hat an der WWU Münster Geographie studiert und an der TU Chemnitz promoviert.
Von 2007 bis 2014 war er beim Regionalverband Ruhr im Referat Regionalentwicklung
beschäftigt und leitete dort ab 2010 das Team Masterplanung. Im Mittelpunkt seiner
Tätigkeit standen neben regionalanalytischen Fragestellungen vor allem die Konzeption,
strategische Weiterentwicklung und Umsetzung des Regionalen Diskurses. Heute leitet
er bei der Stadt Osnabrück das Team Strategische Stadtentwicklung und Statistik.
Welche Rolle und Funktion hat bei aufgestellt, mit der Politik, Arbeitge-
diesen Prozessen die MetropoleRuhr ber- und Arbeitnehmervertretern als
als regionaler Akteur und Regisseur? Mitgliedern.
Wie würden Sie die Konstitution der
MetropoleRuhr beschreiben. Die gemeinsame Wirtschaftsförder-
ung MetropoleRuhr ist eine 100 %
Die MetropoleRuhr hat als Dachor- Tochter des RVR. Sie operiert national
ganisation zum Ziel neue wirtschaft- und international auf den Leitmärk-
liche Aktivität in neuem räumlichen ten, um die sich das Ruhrgebiet
Kontext zu stimulieren und zu organ- „kümmern“ muss. Hier agieren die
isieren. Dabei geht es uns um eine Kommunen gemeinsam nach außen,
internationale Neupositionierung als hingegen ist das operative Geschäft
Metropole. Gleichzeitig gehen wir des Pflegens eines Wirtschaftsstan-
damit aber auch den Weg des Struk- dortes nach wie vor lokal organisiert,
turwandels seit der IBA konsequent dies sehen wir als Stärke, weil nur
weiter und profitieren von unserer lokal die nötige Kenntnis über die
lange Erfahrung auf allen Ebenen. individuelle Situation der Betriebe
Wir haben ein gutes Netzwerk auf vorhanden ist.
politischer und administrativer Ebene.
Parallele operationelle Strukturen
In einem Gebiet mit großen lokalen gibt es auch beim Tourismus, hier
Unterschieden in der Entwicklungs- tritt national und international das
dynamik spielen wir unsere starken Ruhrgebiet zusammen auf, die Ruhr
Punkte konsistent aus: Offene und Tourismus GmbH organisiert diese
gut gesteuerte Prozesse, Vertrauen, gemeinsame Außendarstellung
Freiwilligkeit, Kooperation, Gute bereits seit 8 Jahren sehr erfolgreich.
Datengrundlagen, starke Identität und Auch die Kultur Ruhr GmbH die z. B.
Integrationsleistung. Wir sind eine die Ruhrtrienale organisiert, ist im
stabile Einheit mit starker Organisa- Prinzip so konzipiert: Nach Außen
tion und guten Instrumenten. gemeinsam agieren und im Inneren
Zusammenspiel der Städte der gesell-
Der Regionalverband als wichtiger schaftlichen Kräfte das Freiwilligkeits-
Träger der Regionalentwicklung ist prinzip pflegen.
von seiner Gremienstruktur sehr breit
59
Beyond Plan B
sie haben als Metropoleruhr die
Aufgabe übertragen bekommen
einen neuen Regionalplan zu er-
stellen. zeichnet sich hier ein Weg
zu einer - nach innen gerichteten -
stärkeren Institutionalisierung ab?
Der neue Regionalplan soll 6 be-
stehende Regionalpläne ersetzen.
Hierzu gibt es ein komplexes und sehr
breit aufgestelltes Modell zur Gov-
ernance der Planentwicklung. Von
Beginn an sind die Kommunen, ver-
schiedene Rauminteressensinhaber,
die Wirtschaft und der Umweltschutz
mit im Boot. Wir nutzen dabei offene
Formate, wie einen internationalen
Ideenwettbewerbe und einen breiten
Diskurs mit Bürgern zu ermöglichen
und einen Blick von Außen zu
integrieren. Der Regionale Diskurs
bringt neben den unmittelbar auf den
Regionalplan zielenden Inhalten eine
Vielfalt von Ideen und Aufgaben für
die Regionalentwicklung mit sich und
führt schlussendlich zu einer neuen
Form von strategischer Regional-
planung.
Wie kontrovers läuft dieser Prozess
ab?
Es zeigt sich derzeit, dass wir zur
Aufstellung des Regionalplans mit
dem Prinzip des regionalen Diskurses
den richtigen Weg gewählt haben.
60
Es gibt zum Beispiel einen sehr
breit aufgestellten Arbeitskreis mit
50 Teilnehmern der alle 6 Wochen
tagt. Hier beraten wir im Moment
gemeinsam eine der zentralen Fragen
der Regionalplanung: Wie viel Fläche
darf ich in den nächsten 15 Jahren
verbrauchen? Die Diskussion auf der
breiten internen Arbeitsebene läuft
im Moment so gut, dass es keine
Notwendigkeit zur Externalisierung
von Prozessen und Entscheidungen
gibt, also zum Beispiel in Form von
Planungsaufträgen oder umfan-
greichen Gutachten. Viele Nutzung-
skonflikte sind der hohen Dichtheit
geschuldet und zeigen sich erst im
Detail, deshalb müssen die direkt
Beteiligten die Ideen mit entwickeln
und mit tragen.
gerade bei der beschriebenen
Dichte und Komplexität läuft dieses
wahrscheinlich nicht ohne Konflikte
ab. Wie werden diese gelöst?
Die Städte behalten ihre volle Kom-
petenz über ihre Stadtgebiete. Es gibt
keine gemeinsame „Regierung“ der
Region. Somit sind kritische The-
men und Dissensen zunächst lokal
innerhalb der Stadtgesellschaften
verortet. Oberhalb dieser Säulen der
Eigenständigkeit ist die Organisation
des Zusammenwirkens freiwillig, was
nicht bedeutet, dass hier automatisch
Konsens besteht.
Beim Thema Verkehr besteht zum
Beispiel seit langem Einigkeit zwis-
chen den Städten darüber, dass das
ÖPNV–System unter Integration der
Straßenbahnen neu gedacht und
umgebaut werden müsste. Die große
Aufgabe wäre die Verknüpfung der
Radialsysteme. Da man jedoch lokal
die enormen Investitionen scheut,
ist man von konkreten Maßnahmen
noch weit entfernt. Eine Aufgabe die
die Kommunen bei einer sowieso
bereits höchst gespannten Haush-
altslange finanziell eigentlich über-
fordert, kann dazu führen, dass nach
dem Prinzip der Freiwilligkeit keine
Lösung entstehen kann.
Wie weit reicht denn die Solidarität,
wenn es etwas „zu verteilen“ gibt.
zum Beispiel bei Neuansiedlungen
von Gewerbe oder großmaßstäb-
lichen Einzelhandel?
Eine Kanibalisierung der Kommunen
können wir im Moment nicht beo-
bachten. Zum einen fehlen die typis-
che Anlässe, wie zum Beispiel neue
große Industrieansiedlungen, zum
anderen sind allen die zweifelhaften
Erfahrungen mit Opel, Nokia und
Siemens, um nur einige zu nennen,
noch sehr präsent.
Workbook IV Regions
Sehen Sie Ihre Nachbarregionen als Konkurrenten oder
Freunde? Wer sind am Rhein die wichtigsten Partner?
Der RVR bezieht seine Legitimation und Konstitution aus
einem Landesgesetz heraus. Damit ist die Länderebene,
die nächstgrößere Einheit für die MetropoleRuhr. Als
direkter Nachbarn ist sicher die Region Köln-Bonn für uns
wichtig, hier gibt es viele Kontakte.
Wir schauen uns aber auch grundsätzlich zu den anderen
Nachbarn um uns herum – vor allem um die Schnitts-
tellenproblematik gut abzustimmen. Auf dem größeren
Maßstab entlang des Rheins sind wir z.B. im CODE 24
organisiert, um über die Koordination und Abwicklung
des Schienengüterverkehrs nach der Fertigstellung des
Gotthardtunnels im Süden und der Betuwelijn im Norden
zu reden.
Projekte wie CODE 24 und der hohe Investitionsbedarf
im Kerngebiet der Europäischen Union, könnten die
Diskussion um Kern und Peripherie neu entfachen. Sind
dies Kategorien, die auch in Ihrer Praxis relevant sind?
Bei uns denke ich da vor allem an die starken inneren
Disparitäten. Wir haben Stadtteile mit Erneuerungsbe-
darf und großen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen,
gleichzeitig gibt es sehr wohlhabende Stadtteile. Die A40
ist dabei eine oft genannte Linie zwischen Nord und Süd.
Zentrum Peripherie definiert sich im Ruhrgebiet also
eher über stark und schwach als über leer und voll. Gibt
es Strategien, die vor diesem Hintergrund nicht auf eine
Angleichung der Verhältnisse abzielen?
Die Arbeit der MetropoleRuhr beruht eher auf einem
Ausgleichsgedanken, als auf dem gezielten Umgang mit
Disparitäten. Das hat sich zum Beispiel auch in einem
Interessanten Ansatz des Ideenwettbewerbs gezeigt, der
abweichend von dem Clustergedanken – stärken was
stark ist - gerade formuliert, wie man die Schwachen stark
machen kann. Das kann man erreichen in dem man an
deren Rahmenbedingungen etwas ändert. Vorgeschlagen
wurde zum Beispiel eine situative Bürokratie, also das
Aussetzen von Regeln.
Sie beschreiben die Entwicklung und die ökonomische
Stärkung als ein Ziel des Regionalplans.
Gibt es ein klar definiertes ökonomisches Profil, quasi
eine ökonomische DNA der Region?
Wie Eingangs schon erwähnt, greift der Versuch ein hoch
komplexes Gebiet mit wenigen Merkmalen zu ums-
chreiben, zwangsläufig ins Leere. Wir haben insgesamt
eine hohe Heterogenität mit starken logistischen und
industriellen Clustern der Energie, der Chemie und des
Baus. Dazu kommen aber auch die klassisch städtischen
wirtschaftlichen Aktivitäten der Dienstleistung.
Welche Rolle hat ‚die Wirtschaft’ bei der Gestaltung und
Finanzierung der regionalen Aufgaben? Wie funktioniert
die Abstimmung? An welcher Stelle nicht die Wirtschaft
Einfluss?
Im Kern gibt es den „Initiativkreis Ruhrgebiet“ der kein
„Lobbyverein“ ist, da er keine eigene Programmatik
vertritt. Es ist in erster Linie eine Versammlung von
Persönlichkeiten aus der Groß- und Mittelindustrie die ver-
schiedene Festivals und Kultur finanziert. Da sich die Fir-
men durchaus auch in gegenseitiger Konkurrenz befinden,
ist eine darüberhinausgehende Zusammenarbeit oder
direkte Einflussnahme nicht möglich, da es automatisch zu
gegensätzlichen Partikularinteressen kommen würde.
Darüberhinaus sind die Erfahrung mit der aktiven Teilhabe
in der Regionalpolitik wechselhaft. Vor einigen Jahren
wurden aus dem Initiativkreis heraus verschiedene große
Beratungsunternehmen damit beauftragt, zusammen eine
Zukunft für das Ruhrgebiet zu entwerfen. Im Ergebnis gab
es außer einigen öffentlichkeitswirksamen Veranstaltun-
61
Beyond Plan B
gen keinen besonders nachhaltigen
Effekt. Es fehlte insbesondere die
Umsetzungskomponente.
Außerdem kann ich im Moment nicht
beobachten, dass die großen Firmen
regionalplanerische Themen wie zum
Beispiel die marode Infrastruktur
auf ihre Agenda setzten und sie in
den politischen Diskurs einbringen.
Vielleicht ist dies wie schon gesagt
der Tatsache geschuldet, dass es
innerhalb des Ruhrgebiets nicht „die
eine“ Firma gibt, sondern immer
mehrere internationale Spieler
auf Augenhöhe. Das, schließt eine
partikulare öffentliche Standortpolitik
- zum Beispiel über die Industrie- und
Handelskammern - aus. Auf rein
kommunaler Ebene ist eine „eigen-
nützige“ Standortpolitik der großen
Betriebe sehr wohl zu beobachten.
Welche Bedeutung haben räum-
liche Strategien in ihrer Region im
Wettbewerb zwischen den Re-
gionen? Sie haben den Ideenwettbe-
werb genannt. Warum haben Sie
den Wettbewerb durchgeführt?
Der Beschluss zum Wettbewerb
wurde 2010, kurz nach dem uns die
Planungskompetenz für den Region-
alplan übertragen wurde, gefasst. Der
Verband war im Laufe der Zeit immer
mal wieder ein starker und dann
wieder ein schwacher Verband. Vor
dem Hintergrund kann ein solcher
Wettbewerb helfen zu zeigen, dass
62
man sich der Verantwortung bewusst
ist. Wir wollten kommunizieren:
Wenn wir über Leitbilder reden, dann
lassen wir uns von Außen helfen. Die
Ideen stellen wir dann zur Diskussion.
Die Arbeit des Verbandes lag in der
Vorbereitung des Wettbewerbs und
in der Formulierung der Aufgabe. Das
Finden, Formulieren und konsensual
Definieren der Herausforderungen
für die teilnehmenden Teams ist
komplex. Aus diesem Wettbewerb ist
eine große Dynamik mit viel, auch ins-
besondere öffentlichen, Diskussionen
entstanden. Die realen Ergebnisse
des Wettbewerbs sind so komplex,
dass man Sie nicht einfach im Sinne
einer Blaupause übertragen kann. Wir
haben deshalb auch keinen Sieger
gekürt, sondern es liegt jetzt eine
ganz große Bandbreite von Ideen auf
dem Tisch. Viele Themen müssen in
den nächsten Jahren, noch weit über
den Regionalplan hinaus, beleuchtet
und weiterentwickelt werden.
Der neue Regionalplan entsteht
in einem sehr breit aufgestellten
Prozess. Rückwirkend kann man
jedoch häufig in der Geschichte von
Regionen nachweisen, dass diese
stark und nachhaltig durch einzelne
Personen oder Konstellationen
geprägt wurden. Welche waren dies
in der MetropoleRuhr?
Die Internationale Bauausstellung,
die die jüngere Geschichte der
Transformation elementar geprägt
hat, ist das Werk von Professor Karl
Ganser. Er hat über 10 Jahre mit
der Bauaustellung einen Transform-
ationspfad eingeschlagen, der auf
der einen Seite experimentell in der
Praxis war jedoch aus einem großen
Erfahrungsschatz früherer Tätigkeiten
schöpfen konnte.
Für eine in diesem Maßstab noch
nicht da gewesene Transforma-
tionsaufgabe sind Lösungen und
Strategien aus der Begegnung mit
den realen Problemen entstanden
- so zusagen entwickelt „by doing“.
Dies ist eine andere Herangehens-
weise als das Anwenden eines
bestehenden Planungswerkzeuges
oder einer Theorie und damit in viel
höherem Maße abhängig von der
Person.
Er wurde häufiger gefragt, wie seine
Methode hieße, woraufhin er irgend-
wann den Begriff des Strategischen
Inkrementalismus erfunden hat, in
Anlehnungen an das amerikanische
‚Muddling through’ - einer Kombin-
ation von Strategie und Projekten.
Zurückblickend muss man feststellen,
dass der Erfolg dieser Herange-
hensweise natürlich auch von einer
großen politischen Rückendeckung
abhängig war. Von Minister Zöpel bis
zu Johannes Rau, der als Landesvater
die nötigen Spielräume für die IBA
geschaffen hat. Diese Räume gab es
sowohl finanziell, unter dem Motto
„Freies Geld für freie Köpfe“, als auch
was die Akteure betrifft, mit dem
Motto „Mehr Wettbewerb, interna-
tionaler und neue Spieler“.
Der industrielle Wandel hat die
Transformation angestoßen oder
unumgänglich gemacht. Sehen Sie
im Moment neue Entwicklungen
und externe Einflüsse, die die Met-
ropoleRuhr zum Handeln zwingen
werden?
Ein ganz konkretes Beispiel: Die
Betuwe-Linie als neue Güterverkehr-
sachse in den Niederlanden zwingt
uns nun – wenn vielleicht auch
reichlich spät – über die Verlängerung
bis mindestens Duisburg nachzuden-
ken. Wir unterstützen dabei unsere
Kommunen bei der Deutschen
Workbook IV Regions
Bundesbahn ein möglichst gutes Verhandlungsergebnis
zu erzielen. Vergleichbar mit dem Vorgehen beim CODE
24 Projekt ist unser Interesse – und auch das Anliegen
der Anrainerkommunen – unumgängliche Entwicklungen
lokal in ganz konkrete menschverträgliche städtebauliche
Lösungen zu übersetzten.
Als drittes Beispiel profitiert der Duisburger Hafen vom
massiven Ausbau des Rotterdamer Hafens. Als Dreh-
scheibe des Containerverkehr auf dem Wasser – sowohl
Richtung Süden als auch Osten - wird er ständig erweitert.
Wir sehen externe Einflüsse also nicht nur als Bedrohung
sondern auch als Entwicklungschance.
Welche Bedeutung haben Bilder und konkrete Entwürfe
für den Diskurs über die Zukunft der Region und in der
Rückschau auf 30 Jahre Strukturwandel?
Bilder haben eine große Rolle beim Strukturwandel
gespielt. Die Phase der IBA-Emscher Park macht dieses
sehr deutlich, indem seinerzeit formuliert wurde, dass
wir uns nicht nur auf die Stärken konzentrieren sondern
auch gerade auf die Schwächen; und das gerade hier die
Antworten durch Designqualität überzeugen müssen. Um
einen großen Sprung zu machen, bedarf es nicht nur „ein-
iger Reparaturen“ sondern viele Projekte. Diese müssen
mit hoher Qualität entworfen und ausgeführt werden,
deshalb brauchten und brauchen wir sicher Wettbewerbe,
auch auf internationaler Ebene.
Eine deutliche Ambition für die konkreten Entwurf-
saufgaben – aber wie sah die Arbeitsweise auf der
Leitbildebene aus?
Es gab einen Arbeitskreis bei der IBA mit Karl Ganser als
Chef, der sich regelmäßig traf, um zusammen zu überle-
gen, wie können wir das, was wir tun, noch stärker als Bild
formulieren. Ausgangspunkt war der Gebietsentwicklung-
splan GEP 66 mit seinem Bild von Grünzügen, die auf die
Pläne von Robert Schmidt aus den 20er Jahren zurück-
gehen, und mit dem Traum eines neuen industriellen
Bandes im Norden des Ruhrgebiets zusammenhängen. Als
Gesamtkonzeption für dann 8 Millionen Einwohner war
dies bestimmende Bild, der bestimmende Plan für mehr
als 15 Jahre. Der genannte Arbeitskreis hat zwar an einem
„Nachfolger“ gearbeitet, dieser ist jedoch nie entstanden
und auch später nach der IBA und wahrscheinlich auch in
der Zukunft wird es diesen nicht geben. Aus gutem Grund
nicht: Es gab und es gibt ganz viele einzelne Layer, aber
keine Synthese, denn dies würde es erfordern einen sehr
weitreichenden Konsens zu organisieren. Letztendlich war
es eine ganz bewusste Entscheidung im Rahmen der IBA
mit realen Einzelbildern von herausragenden, realisierten
Konversionen zu arbeiten. Dies sind letztlich die Bilder,
die sich auch beim Bürger stärker einprägen. Wenn
Bilder wirksam sein sollen, dann muss man sie als Serie
konzipieren und zeigen.
Wie sieht aus Ihrer Perspektive eine “State of the Art-Re-
gionalentwicklung“ aus?
Nicht wachstumsorientiert sondern smart, intelligent und
integriert:
Interkommunale freiwillige Interaktion ohne formale Legit-
imation – multi level governance – basiert auf dem Prinzip
der Absprache und der Erfahrung Dinge gemeinsam zu
tun. Diese Erfahrung haben hier zum Beispiel Arbeitgeber
und Gewerkschaften gemacht, sie ist aber auch direkt
in der täglichen Arbeit zum Beispiel unter Tage gelebt
worden. Somit ist es letztlich eine historische Kompet-
enz des Ruhrgebietes basierend auf Arbeitsteilung und
Verabredung, auf die wir nun beim neuen Regionalplan
aufbauen können: „Lass uns mal umdenken“ als Eigen-
motivation einer Region. Der neue Regionalplan muss
also schon als Prozess innovativ sein – er muss die Leute
mitnehmen. Das ist die emotionale Seite. Auf der institu-
tionellen Seite hat der Regionalverband Ruhr eine lange
Tradition des regionalen Managements und damit einen
strategischen Vorteil: Er kann innerhalb der gesamten
„Wertschöpfungskette“ von der Flächenfestlegung bis zum
Bau eines konkreten Radweges agieren und kann dabei
selbst auf eigene Budgets zurückgreifen.
Das sind im Kern die zwei Pfeiler der neuen Region-
alplanung und des regionalen Diskurses. Die formale
Dimension der Planungsinstrumente wird um informelle
Produkte und Methoden erweitert. So wird zum Beispiel
die infrastrukturelle Trassenplanung durch ein im Sinne
des Planungsrechts informelles Mobilitätsmanagement
ergänzt. Daneben entsteht ein strategisches Tourismus-
und Freizeitkonzept, das vornehmlich nicht nur market-
ing- oder flächenorientiert ist, sondern die Frage des
Tourismus als ganzes zum Gegenstand hat. Wir sehen also,
dass wir für all diese Initiativen und Projekte neben dem
Regionalplan ein zweites Produkt brauchen, als Arbeitstitel
nennen wir dieses den „Strategieband“, der die informel-
len Ansätze zusammenführt.
Neben diesen praktischen Strategien in der Umsetzung
haben wir zeitgleich die längerfristige Perspektive im
Blick. Hier geht es in Europa darum, dass zum Beispiel im
Moment neue Förderbedingungen für die nächste Periode
2014 - 2020 in Brüssel ausformuliert werden. Diese
werden die Genehmigungsgrundlage für zukünftige För-
dermittel sein. Wir als MetropoleRuhr aber auch andere
aktive Regionen, mischen uns ein und gestalten diesen im
Diskurs aktiv mit, damit die Förderprogramme optimal auf
die Bedürfnisse zugeschnitten werden und entsprechen
zielgerichtet abgerufen werden können.
63
 Beyond Plan B

Region
Köln-Bonn

↓↓introduction

Region Köln-Bonn e.V.

Cologne-Bonn is a relatively com-
plete metropolitan area. With a large
variety of cultural and economic
activities. Cologne and Bonn form a
double-core. The area consists of a
releatively large share of rural parts
with strong agricultural and tourist-
ically remarkable parts of the Rhine.
Region Köln-Bonn e.V. is part of a
greater agglomeration. The Region
Rhine-Ruhr, like the Deltametropolis
is divided into several regions and
alliances with varying formal status:
Region Köln-Bonn e.V., Dusseldorf
Metropolitan Region and Metropole
Ruhr. Other than the federal state
(Bundesland) of North Rhine-West-
phalia, no tier of government covers
these three regions. Cologne-Bonn
focusesBevölkerung
primarily on their managing Fläche
STATUS:
linked to the Rhine Region by means Starke Position erworben. Manager
of the Rhine Alpine Ten-T corridor, im ‚Bullseye‘ – aus einer Position
and therefore has good connections der Staerke heraus arbeitend –
with the Port of Rotterdam. The re- mit inhaltlichem drive und un-
gion is located centrally in European ternehmerischen ‚Spieltrieb‘ ueber
networks of people and goods, and die Region hinaus / Rhein.
in general terms has a diversified
economic basis. FORMELLE ROLLE:
KEINE / ist kein Ziel
IMPULS:
Haupstadtbeschluss / Bonn-Berlin
Gesetz / Strukturprogramm NRW-> INFORMELLE ROLLE:
Organisation der Regionalen Stark. Platform, Netzwerk, Koali-
tionen schmieden
ZIEL: Inhaltliche Produkte – Rhein
Regionalmanagement, Internationale Regionalen
Positionierung, Strategische Ausrich-
tung, inhaltliche Basis OPERATIONELLE ROLLE:
Bevölkerungsdichte BIP / Erwerbstätigem Hochschulen
Management Studierende
- hat Regionalen organ- Wertschöpfung

scope. An organisational form at isiert und schiebt Projekte

ASSETS:
the scale of Rhine- Ruhr is currently
only an inviting prospect. In terms of Erfahrungen aus den Regionalen –
€ € € €
100 Hochschulen
employment and Gross Value Added, Inhaltlich und qua Mitgliederschaft
€ €

the large7.847%
Millionen
share 8.287
of the industrial km²
sec- breit aufgestellt
941 / km² - Starker informeller
63.700 € 7 Universitäten 229.600 274 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
an den
von NL 20% von NL 36% von NL
tor of the Rhine-Ruhr region stands Einfluss auf Entscheidungen, Thema 7 Universitäten
opool
out. In terms of patent applications, Rhein. Starke kulturelle Identität.
ICT is the most important sector. The
density of public transport stations € € € €
14 Hochschulen
€ €
in both the entire region and in the
5.2 Millionen 255.457 134 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
4.435km² 1.160 / km² 58.260 €
Ruhr / urbanized area is high. The region
30% von NRW
is
13% von NRW
davon 76.000 an
der Fernuni Hagen
26% von NRW
nd Ruhr

€ € € €
€ € €
27 Hochschulen
113 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
3.6 millionen 4.415 km² 809 / km² 67.000 € 111.457 22% von NRW
20% von NRW
13% von NRW
onn

€ € € €
€ € € 22 Hochschulen
5.637 km² 410 / km² 66.000 € 90.000 78 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
2.3 millionen
gion
ckar
64
Workbook IV Regions

BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
BUNDESKANZLER
16 BUNDESLÄNDER

BUNDESRAT BUNDESTAG BUNDESREGIERUNG

MINISTER-PRASIDENT
BUNDESLAND
NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA VOTE

VOTE

LANDES-
MINISTERS LANDSTAG
APPOINTED

METROPOLITAN AREAS

REGION METRO-
DÜSSEL- POLE KEINE FORMELLE /
DORF RUHR DEMOKRATISCHE EBENE
REGION KÖLN-BONN ist ein
Verein (e.V.)
REGION
KÖLN
BONN

REGIERUNGS-
REGIERUNGSBEZIRKS PRASIDENT
ARNSBERG, DÜSSEL -
DORF, KÖLN

BEZIRK- REGIONAL
REGIERUNG RAT

REPRESENTATION
LANDKREIS LANDRAT

VOTE

KREISTAG

CITIES/ (OBER)
DISTRICTS BURGERMEISTER
VOTE

VOTE

(STADT)RAT
CITIZENS
Governance scheme Region Köln-Bonn

65
Beyond Plan B

Region Koln Bonn

↓↓urban / connectivity

66
Workbook IV Regions

Region Koln Bonn

↓↓landscape

67
Beyond Plan B
‘‘Bedarfe wahrnehmen
und Projekte realisieren’’
Herr Molitor, Herr Utzerath, was ist Ziel und Zweck des Region
Köln-Bonn e.V.?
Region KB: Ziel ist die regionale Kooperation innerhalb der
Region Köln-Bonn. Der Verein ist mittlerweile im 23. Jahr seines
Bestehens. Er hat 16 Mitarbeiter und einen Etat von durchschnit-
tlich 1,5 Millionen Euro. Wir arbeiten sehr stark management-
orientiert, kommunikationsorientiert, motivierend in Bezug auf
Kooperation und dahinterliegend auch auf die Fragen nach realen
Projekten. 16 Mitarbeiter, die hier in verschiedenen Disziplinen
arbeiten, verstehen sich als Motivatoren und Koordinatoren für
regionale Zukunft. Unsere Mitglieder sind die kreisfreien Städte
und die Kreise, die Industrie- und Handelskammern Köln und
Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, die Handwerkskammer zu Köln, der Deutsche
Gewerkschaftsbund, der Landschaftsverband Rheinland, die
Sparkassen der Wirtschaftsregion Köln/Bonn und –a ls Gast - die
Bezirksregierung Köln.
Horizontal wie vertikal sind dies keine passiven Mitglieder
sondern in jeder Hinsicht aktiv. Wir koordinieren die Kooperation
zwischen unseren Mitgliedern, wobei den 58kreisangehörigen
Kommunen eine Sonderrolle zukommt. Obwohl formal nur die
Kreise Mitglied sein können, nutzen diese den Verein als Berater,
Sprungbrett und Mittler.
Wir finanzieren uns durch Mitgliedsbeiträge, haben eine Mit-
gliederversammlung und legen einen jährlichen Tätigkeitsbericht
vor. Im Vergleich zu den anderen, stark formalisierten regionalen
Einheiten an Rhein und Ruhr sind wir managementorientiert.
Unser Institutionalisierungsgrad ist bewusst niedrig gehalten. Wir
schieben viele Projekte und werden jährlich an konkreten Ergeb-
nissen für unsere Mitglieder gemessen. Wir sind an dieser Stelle
nicht nur bedarfsorientierter „Aufnehmer“ von Themen, Veredler,
Realisierer und /oder Mithelfer, sondern in hohem Masse auch
Initiator, Motivator und Scout.
68
Interview with Dr. Reimar Molitor und
Markus Utzerath
Conducted by Helmut Thoele and Matthias Rottmann
30. April Köln
Was waren die wichtigsten Projekte der letzten 10 Jahre und
welche Themen stehen aktuell auf der Agenda?
Region KB: Für eine Regionalentwicklung sind alle Projekte
wichtig. Gerade auf unserem Maßstab kann es sein, dass die
Summe vieler kleiner Projekte eine große Transformation mit sich
bringt. Das zeigt sich z.B. beim Thema Innenentwicklung - eines
unserer Kernthemen für die Zukunft. Wir versuchen mit dem
Recycling von innenstadtrelevanten Arealen, egal, ob es eine
Baulücke oder eine 100 Hektar große Betriebsfläche ist, einen
Beitrag zur Entwicklung der Region zu leisten. Dabei geht es erst
mal um Wahrnehmungsmanagement. Das ist auch eine Parallele
zu Ihrem Maßstab des gesamten Flusslaufes. Mit Beyond Plan B
erzeugen Sie ein bestimmtes Bild, was dann in einem iterativen
Prozess erprobt wird. Dadurch erhält man verschiedene Perspekt-
iven, die sich wieder in einem neuen Bild verdichten – und auf
einmal ist das Bild eine Art Realität und handlungsleitend.
Es gibt ja kein festes Bild von Regionalentwicklung. Was wir
machen ist in einem hohen Masse eine Wahrnehmungsmanage-
mentkurve: Welche Bedarfe hat die Region?, Wie argumentieren
sie diese Bedarfe?, Und wie wird daraus reales Projektvolumen
vor Ort? Ein Beispiel: Die frühen Strategien der Regionale 2010
wurden auch so entwickelt. Zunächst wurden Bilder und eigene
Befunde angeboten und getestet. Im zweiten Schritt folgten
Bedarfs- und Chancen- sowie Defizitanalysen. Der Weg führte
weiter über die Definition konkreter Projekte bis zur Realisierung
in klaren Konsortien.
Dieser Prozess wird letztlich bei jedem übergeordneten Projekt
erneut durchlaufen. Daraus wird dann wieder eine Lernkurve:
motivierend, imitierend, adaptierend. Das vollzieht sich in Zyklen
– und nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel.
Workbook IV Regions
Die Regionale 2010 als Instrument war
erfolgreich. Ist sie auch die Methode für
die Zukunft?
Region KB: Wenn man Regionale 2010
dechiffriert, ist sie - genauso wie die Idee
der Kulturhauptstädte oder die Rhein-
Charta – ein Instrument zur anlassbezo-
genen Entwicklung in einem ständigen
Transformationsprozess.
ein Instrument zur
anlassbezogenen
Entwicklung in
einem ständi-
gen Transform-
ationsprozess.
Aus der Managementperspektive heraus
fragen wir: Läuft der Prozess oder wird
er gestaltet? Ist er passiv oder aktiv?
Unsere Aufgabe ist es, anlassbezo-
gene Entwicklungen für die Region zu
promovieren. Diese Aufgabe gehen wir
inhaltlich entlang verschiedener Themen-
linien an und versuchen Projektvolumen
für die Regionalentwicklung zu erzeugen.
Das war bei der Regionale so, war vor der
Regionale so und ist jetzt auch so.
Gab es andere externe Anlässe, wie z.B.
die aktuelle Wirtschaftskrise oder den
neuen Gotthardtunnel ?
Region KB: Ja, es gibt natürlich auch
externe Impulse. Der Gesamtzustand
unserer Infrastruktur kommt sicher
auf die Tagesordnung und natürlich ist
der Gotthardtunnel von Bedeutung für
unsere Nord-Süd -Infrastruktur und die
Funktionsfähigkeit des Transits. Diese
Themen haben Implikation weit in die
Binnenorganisation der Region hinein. Es
besteht auch die Frage, wie eigentlich ein
Organisationsmuster dieser Region in 20
Jahren aussieht. Natürlich wären wir gerne
zielsicherer in der Frage, welche heutigen
Entscheidungen morgen neue Anlässe
und Effekte generieren. Niemand kann
in die Zukunft schauen. Es ist momentan
vielleicht auch eine Zeit, die man nicht so
richtig lesen kann. Die Geschwindigkeit
des technologischen Fortschritts, die
Energiepreise und ihr Bezug zur Mobilität
zeigen an einem Megatrend, dass alles
zusammen zu hängen scheint. Anstatt
Dr. Reimar Molitor
Dr. Reimar Molitor ist Geschäftsführender Vorstand des Region Köln/Bonn e.V. Studiert
hat er an der Westfälischen Wilhelm-Universität Münster, an der er seinen Abschluss
als Diplomgeograph absolvierte. In der darauffolgenden Promotion wurde das Thema
„nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung in Europa“ der Auftakt für diverse berufliche
Stationen im Regionalmanagement und der Beratung von europäischen Regionen. Von
2000 bis 2003 bildete das Regionalmanagement der Regionale 2006 im Bergischen
Städtedreieck den Einstieg in die Regionalentwicklung in Nordrhein-Westfalen.
Von 2004 bis 2012 betreute er geschäftsführend das Strukturprogramm
Regionale 2010 in der Region Köln/Bonn.
MARKUS UTZERATH
Markus Utzerath ist Handlungsbevollmächtigter des Region Köln/Bonn e.V.
An der Universität Bonn hat der Geographie studiert. Nach zweijähriger freiberuflicher Tätigkeit
als Stadtplaner war er von 1992-1999 zunächst Projektleiter bei der Wirtschaftsförderung
Rhein-Erft GmbH und später Referent des Landrates Wirtschaft und Region des Erftkreises.
Seit 1999 arbeitet er an verschiedenen Stellen für die Region Köln/
Bonn, bis 2004 im Regionalsekretariat und dann bis 2012 als Vertreter
der Geschäftsführung der Regionale 2010 Agentur.
sich bei Entscheidungen von solchen Funktioniert Köln/Bonn als ein ‘daily
Megatrends abhängig zu machen, ist es urban system’ für die Menschen oder
vielleicht besser zu überlegen, was man müsste man die Region nicht direkt mit
selber gut kann und dann selbstbewusst Düsseldorf und der Metropole Ruhr
als Region zu sagen: „Wir machen das jetzt zusammen betrachten?
so, wie wir das für richtig halten. Den Rest
kann ich nicht beeinflussen.“ Region KB: Wir sind kein starres System,
sondern sehr fluide. Man kann sagen, dass
Wie sind die Zusammenarbeit und das das System dadurch anfällig und verletzbar
Management vor dem Hintergrund sich ist. Wir haben mittlerweile gute Erfahrung
überlagernder Grenzen von Verbänden, mit dem Perimeter: Köln und Bonn sind
Vereinen und Administrationen geregelt? in unserer Wahrnehmung zwei Sende-
masten, die eine Pumpbewegung in der
Region KB: Sie sind nicht geregelt sondern Region erzeugen. 80 bis 90 Prozent des
werden gemanagt. Management bedeutet Alltages eines jeden Menschen, der hier
das Organisieren von Dynamik. Jede Form im 30/40-km-Umfeld wohnt spielen sich in
von Dynamik, die wir hier im Augenblick diesem System ab.
haben, ist schwierig zu korrelieren mit Re-
geln. Unsere Mitglieder agieren teilweise
horizontal und teils vertikal, von ihnen
Wir sind kein
haben wir die Rolle des Dynamikmanage- starres Sys-
ments erhalten – dies ist unser Alleinstel-
lungsmerkmal. Die vertikalen Adminis-
tem, sondern
trationen sind im Staatsgefüge vor allem sehr fluide.
dafür zuständig, zu verwalten (und wenn
nötig mit Regeln) restriktiv direktiv zu Aus einer markrosystemischen Betrach-
steuern: geht/geht nicht, Gebot/Verbot. tung gibt es klar die Rheinschiene und
Aber die Maßstabsebene, auf der letzten nördlich die Ruhrschiene. Auch bei der
Endes Entwicklung organisiert wird, ist Frage der Zentrenfunktionseinheiten
nicht mehr durch diese Einheiten alleine haben wir eine ziemlich deutliche Dy-
abgebildet. namik rund um Köln/Bonn, insbesondere
was den Arbeitsmarkt betrifft. Düsseldorf
69
Beyond Plan B
funktioniert vom Grundgefühl eher an-
ders und ist relativ divers, weil es eben die
Landesdiktion hat.
In der Region Köln/Bohn beschränken
sich die innerregionalen Bewegun-
gen (Wohnen, Arbeiten, Sich Erholen,
Kultur, Bildung, Freizeit, Mobilität) auf
45 Autominuten rund um Köln - einem
dispersen Gefüge mit über 3,5 Millionen
Einwohnern. Das ist eine ambitionierte
Koordinierungsaufgabe, da wir ja auch
noch reale Projekte begleiten.
Gibt es bei Ihnen Konflikte zwischen Kern
und Peripherie oder, wie im Ruhrge-
biet, zwischen schwachem Norden und
starkem Süden? Verstehen wir richtig,
dass Sie gar nicht die formale Planung-
saufgabe anstreben, die z.B. der Region-
alverband Ruhr erworben hat?
Region KB: Planungshoheit ist keine
Voraussetzung um auf höchstem Niveau
zu gestalten. Bei den relevanten Projekten
sind wir beteiligt und formulieren die
nötigen Schritte horizontal und vertikal
mit. Daneben machen wir schon indirekt
formale Planung indem wir regionale
Strategien effizient zurück in die formale
Planung spielen. So ist die Rheincharta
offizieller Fachbeitrag des Regionalplans
ebenso wie unser Masterplan Grün.
Dies gilt auch für teilräumig ausdiffer-
enzierte Strategien. Mit dem Thema
Innenentwicklung gehen wir im Ober-
bergischen Kreis anders um als in der
Kölner Stadtmitte. Wir dechiffrieren also
das Thema Innenentwicklung auf einen
regionalen Maßstab. Es ist eine Überset-
zungsaufgabe, die natürlich auch mit dem
Thema Freiraum und landschaftlicher
Entwicklung zusammen gesehen wird. All
diese Projekte sind ein Beitrag zu einer
regionalen Gesamtthematik und einer
Strategie.
70
der Masterplan grün und das neue
Thema Innenentwicklung erhöhen den
druck auf die knappen Flächen in den
Städten. Ist die Region Köln/Bonn e.V.
dabei am Tisch oder wird das in den
großen Städten ausgehandelt?
Region KB: Wir etablieren uns weit-
erhin als Spieler. Wir stehen vor der
Aufgabe, dass die Rheinschiene enorm
wächst. Bonn wird in den nächsten zehn
Jahren noch ca. 20.000 Einwohner dazu
bekommen - in Köln werden es, absolut
gesehen, noch mehr sein. Auf der anderen
Seite müssen wir darauf achten, dass das
zentrenferne Umland weiterhin attraktiv
bleibt. Mobilität ist hierzu ein Schlüssel.
Wir müssen versuchen, Ausgleiche zu
schaffen. Die Städte im Kölner Speckgürtel
sagen zum Beispiel:„Wir wollen nicht mehr
wachsen.“
Hier muss auf allen Niveaus ein Problem-
bewusstsein entstehen und es müssen
- da sind wir schon fast auf Bundesebene
–Gespräche geführt werden, wie ein Aus-
gleich zu organisieren ist. Auf Dauer wird
der modus operandi in den Ballungsräu-
men nicht mehr funktionieren.
Unser Mehrwert
ist die regionale
Perspektive
Wir sehen bei den verschiedenen Re-
gionen entlang des Rheines unterschied-
liche Organisationsformen, vor allem im
Verhältnis zwischen Wirtschaftsförder-
ung und räumlicher Planung
Region KB: Ein nicht ganz einfaches
Thema, das jedoch mit einer klaren Arbeit-
steilung relativ konfliktfrei funktioniert.
Beim Unternehmensbereich und beim
Bereich Fachkräfte und Beschäftigung-
spolitik halten wir uns zurück – hier gibt
es Partner auf der regionalen Ebene, mit
denen wir kooperieren. Zur Raumthem-
atik gibt es die Zusammenarbeit mit der
Wirtschaftsförderung über die Abstim-
mung von Gewerbeflächenkonzepten im
Verhältnis zu Landschaftsentwicklungen,
im Verhältnis zu Siedlungsentwicklungen
und im Verhältnis zu regionaler Mobilität.
Die Mehrwerte liegen in den Schnittstel-
len.
In der Diskussion kumulieren und organ-
isieren wir die kollektive Wahrnehmung.
Unser Mehrwert ist die regionale Per-
spektive - ohne dass sich die individuelle
Performance ändern muss.
Diversität macht
uns krisenfester.
Wie formuliert ‘die Wirtschaft’ ihre
Interessen in der Region und wie wird
Einfluss auf die regionale Planung gen-
ommen?
Region KB: Das kann bei uns kein Re-
ißbrettdenken sein, denn wir haben sehr
heterogene Wirtschaftsstruktur in der
sich alle Leitmärkte konzentrieren. Die
Wirtschaft der südlichen Rheinschiene hat
bis dato darum auch nicht als selbstver-
ständliches Kollektiv operiert. Manchmal
bekommen wir die Fragen, ob es nicht
besser wäre, sich deutlicher zu fokussieren
nach dem Motto: „Entscheide Dich mal für
was!“ Bei uns ist aber das ganze Orchester
auf einmal da: Chemische Industrie,
Energie, Medien, IT und Gesundheit-
swirtschaft. Das ist gut, denn diese
Diversität macht uns krisenfester. Struk-
turbrüche wie sie z. B. das Ruhrgebiet zu
verkraften hatte, konnten wir bisher nicht
beobachten, da Krisen oft intern aufge-
fangen und abgefedert werden können.
Manchmal gehört einfach auch das nötige
Glück dazu.
Daneben geht es in unserem Alltag
überwiegend um kleine Flächen, kleine
Vorgänge. Es ist auch auf diesem Maßstab
sehr heterogen. Hingegen ist, wenn große
Flächen bei der Standortentscheidung
internationaler Konzerne die Stan-
dortentscheidungen diskutiert werden,
die regionale Ebene nur eine von vielen
Aspekten in einer sehr komplexen Logik.
Workbook IV Regions
Eine Frage zur Zusammenarbeit mit dem Bund – auch vor dem
Hintergrund des Investitionsbedarfes in Infrastruktur. Wie
gehen Sie mit ’Berlin’ um?
Region KB: Im Rheinland funktioniert die Arbeit nach Brüssel
manchmal besser als unsere Kommunikation nach Berlin - das
hat auch was mit Nähe zu tun. Den Bund, denken wir vielleicht
manchmal zu implizit mit, auch weil er lange Zeit hier war.
Gibt es strategische Kooperationen mit Partnerregionen
entlang des Rheins?
Region KB: Wir werden oft als Bindeglied der Regionen in
Nordrhein-Westfalen gesehen, denn wir bringen diese Regionen
miteinander in Kooperation. Wir haben Kooperationsvereinbar-
ungen mit dem Bergischen Städtedreieck und mit der Region
Aachen als direkte Nachbarn, in denen wir die Felder abstecken
und konkrete Agenden formulieren. Es gibt aber auch eine
Vereinbarung mit Ostwestfalen-Lippe zum Technologiebereich.
Am Rhein entlang haben wir uns über das CODE 24 Projekt
strategisch mit dem Regionalverband Rhein-Neckar verbunden
und nach Norden mit Gelderland in den Niederlanden. Die Bande
zum Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR) werden stärker, denn beide
Seiten denken, dass es jetzt - nachdem jeder für sich zehn Jahre
erfolgreich gearbeitet hat - auch mal Zeit ist zu fragen, was wir
zusammen besser machen können.
Auch das Ruhrgebiet verliert das Gefühl eine Insel zu sein und wir
sehen uns auch aus neuer Perspektive. Das Ruhrgebiet mit dem
Nadelöhr in Duisburg gleicht aus der Rheinperspektive einem
Workshop held in Cologne
rausgeschnittenen Tortenstück in Ost-Westausrichtung. Unsere
Lage am Rhein mit der herrschenden Nord-Süd-Ausrichtung ist
bei uns vielleicht nicht die einzige systemische Perspektive. Es hilft
beiden Regionen ihre Perspektiven zu erweitern.
Können Sie aus der Geschichte heraus Momente benennen, in
denen sich dieser regionale Gedanke z.B. durch Einzelpersonen
oder durch besondere Kräftekonstellationen deutlich weiter-
entwickelt hat? Stichwort: Karl Ganser.
Region KB: Das Rheinland ist nicht hierarchieaffin. Darum haben
wir auch seit Konrad Adenauer keine ikonisierten Macher . Wenn
sie hier jemandem 2 Milliarden Euro in die Hand gedrückt hätten
und dieser würde sagen: „Geh mal einen Schritt auf Seite, ich
mache Dir das hier nett.“ wäre die Antwort gewesen: „Ja, mach
das irgendwo und geh dahinten wieder raus.“ Das liegt dem
Rheinland nicht. Bei anlassbezogener Entwicklung wird über The-
men und Bedarfe und nicht über Personen oder Ikonen geredet.
Wir glauben, dass eine Strategie die nur über große Namen und
architektonische oder infrastrukturelle Ikonen funktioniert schnell
in einem Möchte-gern-‚Bilbao-Effekt’ endet.
Die Regionale 2010 war jedoch auch eine Strategie mit einem
hohen Qualitätsbewusstsein für räumliche Projekte, auch unter
dem Einsatz von Architekten und Planern.
Region KB: Sie ist aber in der Summe eine Mannschaftsleistung
mit einer klaren Philosophie im Sinne eines Gemeinschaftswerkes.
Der Hauptstadtbeschluss brachte Möglichkeiten und Geld. Das
Geld wurde strategisch eingesetzt. Wir haben vor allem an den
71
Beyond Plan B
Spieltrieb des Rheinlands appelliert und gesagt: „Jetzt tun wir mal
so, als ob wir machen können, was wir wollen. Was würden wir
dann machen?“ Das hat eine starke Dynamik entfacht. Wir haben
dann mit der Hilfe der Architekten und Planer Bilder für eine
bessere Zukunft erzeugt.
Wir haben dann mit der
Hilfe der Architekten und
Planer Bilder für eine
bessere Zukunft erzeugt.
Die Genialität von Karl Ganser korrelierte hingegen mit einer
anderen Situation im Ruhrgebiet. Da brauchte es vielleicht diesen
inhaltlichen Schöpfungsakt aus einer starken Vision heraus. Eine
zerfallende Zeche als Weltkulturerbe zu lesen ist so eine starke
Vision. Das ist aber nicht kopierbar. Wir haben auch Räume ge-
lesen, jedoch auf einem anderen Maßstab. Manchmal sind diese
vom Wirkungsgrad vielleicht auch passgenauer. Zum Beispiel
als Teilsegmente und Teilstrategien wie das Kulturlandschafts-
netzwerk im Masterplan. Die „Gärten der Technik“ tragen die
Idee, in technischen Standorten Innovationsstandorte zu lesen
und sie öffentlich zugänglich zu machen. Ein Vorgehen, das von
verschiedenen IBA’s als Referenz genutzt wird. Bei aller externen
Aufmerksamkeit interessiert uns letztlich aber immer, was die
Projekte für die normale Regionalentwicklung leisten. Unser
Antrieb sind die konkreten Investitionen und - noch wichtiger- die
Folgeinvestitionen.
Wir haben Beyond Plan B auch aus der Beobachtung heraus
um den Rhein herum gestrickt, dass Europa sich die letzten 15
Jahre vor allem auf seine Peripherie konzentriert hat. Ist der
Kern vernachlässigt worden?
Region KB: In der deutschen Debatte kann gerade beobachtet
werden wie sich der Kern im Hinblick auf den perspektivisch aus-
laufenden Solidarbeitrag reorganisiert. Dies wird Effekte bis in die
EU hinein haben. Vor dem Hintergrund der genannten Infrastruk-
turprobleme wird unser Rheinabschnitt enger zusammenrücken
und sich einmischen. Eine Art ’Pressurebox’ bestehend aus dem
Rheinland und dem Ruhrgebiet – wiederum ohne großen Institu-
tionalisierungsgrad – wäre für diesen Maßstab denkbar.
Wie sehen sie in diesem Zusammenhang das Projekt CODE 24?
Region KB: CODE 24 ist aus mehreren Perspektiven heraus
interessant für uns. Auf der einen Seite besteht generell Ge-
sprächsbedarf, weil der Gotthardtunnel und andere Projekte (ZA-
RA-Häfen) voranschreiten. Auf der anderen Seite sehen wir beim
Thema Gütertransport Chancen. In dieser Situation konkurriert
der Güterverkehr mit dem Öffentlichen Verkehr um eine jetzt
bereite sanierungsbedürftige Netzkapazität.
Weitere Trassen setzen enorme Investitionen voraus. Deshalb
sollte mehr Transport auf den Rhein verlagert werden, denn da
liegt noch Kapazität. CODE24 ist sehr eisenbahnfixiert und die
raumplanerischen Effekte beschränken sich im Wesentlichen auf
72
das Thema Lärm. Aus unserer Sicht sollte also mehr über den
Rhein - fast zwei Drittel des Korridors - und wesentlich intensiver
als bisher über die raumwirksamen Aspekte gesprochen werden.
CODE 24 wird aber insgesamt noch zu oft als Problem und nicht
als Lösung betrachtet. Wir werden dem Europäischen Verbund
für territoriale Zusammenarbeit beitreten, weil es der erste große
EVTZ im Kerngebiet ist. Am Abstimmungsprozess über Satzung
und Konvention beteiligen wir uns mit dem Ziel, dass nicht alle
in einer Art Panikreaktion anfangen teilräumliche logistische
Konzepte auf die Beine zu stellen und dann rufen: „Das muss
koordiniert werden.“
Wir haben eingeladen, um uns
gemeinsam als Regionen mit
unserem Fluss zu beschäftigen
- jenseits von Institutionen.
Lag den Rheinkonferenzen eine ähnliche Motivation zugrunde?
Region KB: Die ersten Rheinkonferenzen ab 2004 waren regionale
Konferenzen - jedes Jahr zu einem bestimmten Thema. Der Rhein
war zwar da, aber nicht präsent in den Köpfen. Mit den Rheinkon-
ferenzen wurde ein Bewusstsein für den Rhein geschaffen:
„Was ist das für ein Fluss? Was haben wir für Probleme und für
Möglichkeiten?“
Doch „der Fluss kommt irgendwo her und er fließt irgendwo hin“.
Und mit ihm die Touristen, die Waren und auch die Probleme:
Hochwasser, Niedrigwasser, klimatische Funktionen etc. Wir
haben eingeladen, um uns gemeinsam als Regionen mit unserem
Fluss zu beschäftigen - jenseits von Institutionen.
Es war uns wichtig einen Impuls zu geben – auch wenn er
vielleicht nur bei wenigen Regionen wirklich angekommen ist.
Wir sind das Risiko eingegangen und waren letztendlich – als
eine Art freiwillige Leistung - 2010 Gastgeber der Internationalen
Rheinkonferenz. Die berechtigte Frage nach dem Nutzen für
die Region Köln/Bonn muss deshalb vielleicht etwas abstrakter
formuliert werden. Wir haben uns mit der Regionale 2010 als
Ganzes – inklusive der Rheinkonferenz - einen großen Ver-
trauensvorsprung erworben.
Workbook IV Regions

73
 Beyond Plan B

Metropolregion
Rhein-Neckar

↓↓introduction
getragen hat.
The Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar agreement, the three federal states,
has a double-core with Man- expanded the jurisdiction of the joint STATUS:
nheim-Ludwigshafen. Next to that spatial development commission
Heidelberg is a renowed University to encompass the entire planning Kleiner und erfolgreicher Multip-
cluster. The region has a relatively spectrum of the metropolitan region. likator. Der Regionlplan ist fertigges-
high amount of rural areas and Its task is to coordinate the targets of tellt. Starke Position erworben. 10
forest. With a strong and diversified the respective supreme federal state Jahre Staatsvertrag - what‘s next?
industrial basis, the region belongs planning authorities. – Politische Energie? Leading Region
to Germany’s important business CODE 24 => EVTZ Energie / smart
locations. Internationally operating IMPULS: grids / Speichertechnologie als näch-
players and a large amount of small Aktion des Bürgermeisters von stes Thema
and medium-sized companies or Mannheim und des Vorstands BASF
start-ups belong to the portfolio. (Brandbrief zur Zukunft des Stan- FORMELLE ROLLE:
The main focuses of industry are the dortes aus Sicht von BASF)schnelle
automobile industry, biotechnology Der Verband hat Planungshoheit
Reaktion 3er Ministerpräsidenten
and life sciences, länderübergreifender Staatsvertrag
Bevölkerungchemistry, energyFläche Bevölkerungsdichte BIP / Erwerbstätigem Hochschulen Studierende Wertschöpfung
and the environment, IT, the cultural demokratisch legitimiertes ‘Herz
and creative economy, machine ZIEL: stück’
and plant engineering, nanotech- Vertretung nach Aussen Interna-
€ € € €
100 Hochschulen
nology and organic electronics A tionale Positionierung, Interessen-
€ €
INFORMELLE ROLLE:
very special legal basis is the state
7.8 Millionen 8.287 km² wahrnehmung,
941 / km² Management,
63.700Stan-
€ 7 Universitäten 229.600 274 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
47% von NL 20% von NL Zukunft Metropolregion an e.V.
den (1000
36% von NL
treaty signed by the federal states dorte erhalten und Weiterentwickeln 7 Universitäten
ropool Mitglieder)
of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and
2 x jährlich strat. Dialog
Rhineland-Palatinate on July 26th,
ASSETS: 2 x jährlich Vorstandstreffen
2005. This marked the founda- € €
Deckungsgleichheit Metropolregion
€ €
thematische Verteilung
14 Hochschulen
tion of the Rhine-Neckar Regional € €

5.2 Millionen
Association. The 4.435km² und Verband über 3 Länder.
1.160 / km² Staats-
58.260 € 255.457 134 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
Ruhr / 30% von NRWcore declaration of davon 76.000 an 26% von NRW
13% von NRW
and Ruhr the document states that regional vertrag, Kooperationsbereitschaft OPERATIONELLE ROLLE:
der Fernuni Hagen

planning and development tasks in + klare Hierarchien und Strukturen, Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar GmbH
the metropolitan region are to be excellente Forschung, regionale Regionalentwicklung / Management
jointly performed on an inter-state identät die ueber 3 Landesgrenzen
€ € € €
Wirtschaftsförderung / Marketing
€ € €
27 Hochschulen
basis. Within the scope of the Projekte 113 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
3.6 millionen 4.415 km² 809 / km² 67.000 € 111.457 22% von NRW
20% von NRW
13% von NRW
Bonn

€ € € €
€ € € 22 Hochschulen
5.637 km² 410 / km² 66.000 € 90.000 78 Miljarden Euro /Jahr
2.3 millionen
egion
ckar

74
Workbook IV Regions

BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
BUNDESKANZLER
16 BUNDESLÄNDER

BUNDESRAT BUNDESTAG BUNDESREGIERUNG

MINISTER-PRASIDENT
3 BUNDESLÄNDER
RHEINLAND PFALZ VOTE
HESSEN
BADEN-WÜRTEMBERG

VOTE

LANDES-
MINISTERS LANDSTAG
APPOINTED

REGIONALVERBAND RHEIN-NECKAR
METROPOLREGION
RHEIN-NECKAR
REGIONALVERBAND
IST DURCH STAATSVERTRAG
DEMOKRATISCH LEGITIMIERT /
PLANUNGSHOHEIT
METROPOLREGION DECKUNGS-
GLEICH

-
VERTRETUNG
LÄNDER (3x)

BÜRGERMEISTER LANDRÄTE

REPRESENTATION
LANDKREISE LANDRAT

VOTE

KREISTAG

CITIES/ (OBER)
DISTRICTS BURGERMEISTER
VOTE

VOTE

Governance scheme Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar (STADT)RAT

CITIZENS

75
Beyond Plan B

Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar
↓↓urban / connectivity

76
Workbook IV Regions

Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar
↓↓landscape

77
Beyond Plan B
‘‘Weiterentwicklung
aus der eigenen
Identität heraus’’
Wofür steht die Region Rhein-Neckar?
Die Struktur der Region Rhein-Neckar als eine der elf
Metropolenregionen in Deutschland unterscheidet sich
von der Struktur anderer Regionen. Die Region ist eine
der Jüngeren, eine der Kleineren und aber auch eine der
Erfolgreichen. Erfolgreich im Sinne von Konstituierung ,
Zusammenarbeit und Zielorientierung.
Erfolgreich im Sinne von
Konstituierung , Zusammen-
arbeit und Zielorientierung.
Die ursprüngliche Kurpfalz als zusammenhängender, his-
torischer Kulturraum wurde durch die Alliierten mit dem
Rhein als Grenze unterschiedlichen Ländern zugeordnet.
Mit dem Nukleus Mannheim-Ludwigshafen ist die Region
insofern relativ früh nach dem 2. Weltkrieg sozusagen
zwangsläufig in eine Kooperationsstrategie eingestiegen.
Das war eine der Grundvoraussetzung für den Prozess,
der letztendlich in die Anerkennung als Metropolregion
und die Gründung des Verbandes Region Rhein-Neckar
mündete. Es bestand eine grundsätzliche Bereitschaft in
drei Bundesländern (Hessen, Baden-Württemberg und
Rheinland-Pfalz) Zusammenarbeit zu unterstützen, dabei
teilweise Kompetenzen aufzugeben und Abstimmungen
zu ermöglichen,die sonst ländergrenzenüberschreitend so
nicht stattfindet. Dies führte letztendlich zu einem Staats-
vertrag zwischen den drei Bundesländern, einmalig in
Deutschland, der es erlaubt einen gemeinsamen Region-
alplan aufzustellen über Bundesländergrenzen hinweg.
Die Anerkennung als Metropolregion wurde parallel s
78
Interview with Christoph Trinemeier
Conducted by Helmut Thoele and Matthias Rottmann
March 26th 2014, Mannheim
mit der politisch verwaltungstechnischen Fragestellung
der einheitlichen Planung und des dafür notwendigen
Staatsvertrags vorangetrieben. Diese Zweigleisigkeit ist für
die Entwicklung unserer Region entscheidend. Ergebnis
ist, dass das Mandatsgebiet des Verbandes der Region RN
als Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts deckungsgleich
mit der Metropolregion RN ist.. Auch das ist einmalig
in Deutschland. Damit ist ein reibungsloser Wechsel
zwischen der politischen Ebene des Verbandes Region
Rhein-Neckarund der operativen Ebene der Metropolre-
gion Rhein-Neckar möglich, je nach Erfordernis der disku-
tierten Themen.
Was sind die wichtigen laufenden Projekte und
Prozesse?
Wir haben im Herbst 2013 den neuen Einheitlichen
regionalplan Rhein-Neckar fertiggestellt. (Anmerkung:
seit 15.12 2014 rechtskräftig). . Die klassischen Themen
wie Siedlungsstruktur, Raumstruktur und die sinnvolle
Verteilung von Gewerbe- und Wohngebieten sind der
Kern des Regionalplans. Infrastruktur als wichtiges Thema
konnte nur eingeschränkt behandelt werden, da hier die
Kompetenzen auf Länderebene liegen, beziehungsweise
durch z.B. den Bundesverkehrswegeplan klare Vorgaben
gemacht werden. Der zweite große Themenbereich
ist der Freiraumschutz, also überregionale Grünzüge,
Schutzbereiche für Forst- und Landwirtschaft, wie auch
der Hochwasserschutz. Damit ist der Einheitliche Region-
alplan in seiner Struktur inhaltlich keine ’Neuerfindung’.
Er lotet vielmehr die Grenzen der kommunalverfassten
Regionalplanung aus, die all zu häufig gezwungen ist, den
kleinsten gemeinsamen Nenner als tragfähigen Kom-
promiss zu suchen.
Workbook IV Regions

Gibt es nach der Aufstellung des Re-

gionalplans schon erste Ideen für die
weitere Agenda? Was sind mittel-
und langfristig die großen Themen
und Aufgaben hier in der Region?
Wir haben kürzlich ein
Strategiepapier entwickelt, das
die mittelfristigen Themen erfasst
und vier Schwerpunkte formuliert:
Verkehr/Mobilität, Demographie,
Energie und regionale Identität.
Christoph Trinemeier
Christoph Trinemeier ist seit dem 1.10.2007 Leitender Direktor des Verbandes Region
Rhein-Neckar. Der Diplom-Ingenieur lebt mit seiner Familie in Landau. Nach seinem
Studium der Raum- und Umweltplanung an der TU Kaiserslautern arbeitete er zunächst
als Stadtplaner im Planungsbüro Bachtler, Störtz und Partner und wechselte dann
über ein Referendariat beim Land Baden- Württemberg in den Staatsdienst. Vor seiner
Ernennung als Leitender Direktor des Verbandes Region Rhein-Neckar arbeitete er
16 Jahre als Baudirektor im Regierungspräsidium Land Baden-Württemberg.

Erstens: Der Frage der Mobilität

ist eng mit den demographischen
Entwicklungen verknüpft. Wir ver-
suchen ein Konzept zu entwickeln,
das im Sinne eines Mobilitätsver-
bundes deutlich über das Thema des
„klassischen“ Nahverkehrs hinaus-
geht. Hieran arbeiten wir gemeinsam
mit dem Nahverkehrsträger VRN
(Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar),
dessen Gebiet jedoch weit über die
Grenzen der Region hinaus geht. Wir
brauchen nicht nur die Vertaktung
und Vernetzung an der Haltestelle,
sondern müssen zum Beispiel auch
ein gemeinsames und einheit-
liches Konzept für Car-Sharing und
E-Mobility entwickeln und regional
integrieren. Hierbei gilt es viele
Einzelaspekte eines sehr weit ge-
fassten Mobilitätsbegriffes zu einem
vielschichtigen Konzept miteinander
zu kombinieren.
Zweitens: Innerhalb des Themas der
demographischen Entwicklung gibt
es z. B. bei der Anwerbung von Fach-
und Führungskräfte verschiedene
Initiativen auf unterschiedlichen
Ebenen. Es besteht z.B. ein Netzwerk
‚Dual Career’, das Kooperationen
vorantreibt zur Karriereunterstützung
der Partner der angeworbenen Fach-
kräfte. Eine andere Initiative wirbt
in Spanien gezielt um ausgebildete
Fachkräfte für die Region. Selbstver-
ständlich hat das Thema „demo-
graphischer Wandel“ auch vielfältige
Auswirkungen und Verknüpfungen
mit den klassischen Themen der
Regionalplanung.
Drittens: Ein weiteres großes
Thema ist die Energiewende und
die CO²-einsparung. . In diesem
Bereich haben wir ein regionales
Energiekonzept entwickelt mit
Verbrauchs- und Potentialanalysen
und einem davon abgeleiteten
umfangreichen MaßnahmenKatalog.
Wichtiger Bestandteil ist ein Konzept
für Windkraftstandorte , das wie
andernorts auch kontovers disku-
tiert wird. Als weiteres wesentliches
Thema für die Zukunft wird die
Frage der dezentralen Netze (smart
grids) behandelt. Hierzu ist auf der
Plattform der Region (Metropolregion
Rhein-Neckar GmbH) ein Cluster mit
Wirtschaftsunternehmen entstanden.
Obwohl der entsprechende Förder-
antrag unter dem Titel ’StoREgio’
leider nicht zum Erfolg geführt hat,
wurde das Cluster fortgeführt und
es arbeiten nun trotzdem ver-
schiedene Firmen zusammen. Die
Komplementarität des Know-how
führt zu besseren Lösungen und zur
Innovation und technologischen
Entwicklung.
Die Komplementar-
ität des Know-how
führt zu besseren
Lösungen und zur
Innovation und
technologischen
Entwicklung.
Viertens: Die Frage nach der re-
gionalen Identität liegt z.B. dem Mas-
terplan Regionalpark Rhein-Neckar zu
Grunde unter dem Titel ’Landschaft
in Bewegung’. Der Masterplan soll
die Region nach innen zusammen-
führen und sichtbar machen, Identität
schaffen und widerspiegeln, worin die
Vorzüge dieser Region als Wohn- und
Lebensraum liegen. Wir erschließen
beispielsweise die Region für den
Binnentourismus, aber auch für
externe Gäste durch sog. „Regional-
parkachsen“. Diese mit dem ÖPNV
verknüpften Fahrradrouten bauen
im Wesentlichen auf den Bestand
auf, bilden aber ein Netzwerk um die
Region als Ganzes wahrzunehmen.
Sie haben eingangs den ´Metro-
polenstatus `beschrieben. Welche
Bedeutung hat er bei der Gestaltung
der vier Themen?
Wir treten insbesondere nach außen
als “Metropolregion“ auf und werden
entsprechend wahrgenommen. Dabei
stehen nicht Einzelinteressen z.B. der
großen DAX-Firmen im Fokus sondern
Bedürfnisse und Interessen, die für
die gesamte Metropolregion RN von
Bedeutung sind. Als Metropolregion
bekommen Sie keine Fördermittel
aus Europa oder vom Bund. Der
Metropolenstatus ist vielmehr ein
Label oder Zertifikat, das einen
bestimmten Raum identifiziert als
einen Raum, der bestimmte Funk-
tionen in bestimmter Form bündelt
- Stichwort Gateway. Die Anerken-
nung als Metropolregion dient damit
als Vehikel des Standortmarketings.
Bezogen auf das Thema der Demo-
graphie bedeutet dies ganz konkret:
Wir stehen in direkter Konkurrenz
mit allen deutschen und auch
europäischen Großstädten und Met-
ropolen, unabhängig der jeweiligen
Wirtschaftsstruktur. Es geht dabei
branchenunabhängig um die besten
Köpfe für die Region!

79
Beyond Plan B
Nach außen gerichtet eine starke
Familie - Gibt es auch Konfliktthe-
men?
Das Thema Infrastruktur, z.B. der
Bau neuer Straßen und Brücken oder
die Diskussion um einen möglichen
Regionalflughafen sind Beispiele.
Dass es hier zu Konflikten kommt
ist logisch. Aus Wirtschaftskreisen
wird häufig die Bedeutung dieser
Verkehrsinfrastruktur für den Stan-
dort Rhein-Neckar hervorgehoben,.
Die Regionalpolitik und -planung, die
immer mehrdimensional und integral
sein muss, hat hier die Aufgabe
abzuwägen und auszugleichen.
Der Regionalplan ist im Konsens
entstanden und in der Umsetzung
direktiv – steuernd?
Wir nehmen auf der Ebene des
Regionalplans eine Flächensteuerung
vor als ordnende Richtschnur. Die hier
festgelegten Ziele des Regionalplans
sind für die Kommunalen Planung-
sträger bindend. Die Zielvorgaben
stehen im Einzelfall allerdings auch
unter politischem Druck. Am deutlich-
sten ist dies bei gewerblichen Erweit-
erungs- oder Umsiedlungswünschen
innerhalb der Region, bei denen
lokale Egoismen immer wieder eine
dominante Rolle spielen. Die Frage
der Flächenkonkurrenzen bei der
Neuansiedlung großer international
tätiger Firmen hat sich aber in diesem
Zusammenhang bisher nicht gestellt.
Eine gesunde
Konkurrenz zwis-
chen den kom-
munalen Partnern
innerhalb der
Region bei Gewer-
beansiedlungen ist
allerdings sinnvoll
und gewollt. Hier
halten wir uns als
Planungs-Verb-
and zurück.
80
In der Region geht es vielmehr
darum, die großen Standorte attraktiv
zu halten und weiterzuentwickeln,
auch vor dem Hintergrund der
Attraktivität für Fach- und Führung-
skräfte. Eine gesunde Konkurrenz
zwischen den kommunalen Partnern
innerhalb der Region bei Gewer-
beansiedlungen ist allerdings sinnvoll
und gewollt. Hier halten wir uns als
Planungs-Verband zurück.
Bei der Gewerbe- und Standpolitik
sind die eigenen Stärken Trumpf,
manchmal braucht man jedoch
starke Partner. Wie positioniert sich
die Region Rhein-Necker im Verhält-
nis zu Nachbarregionen am Rhein?
Sehen sie sich als Konkurrenten oder
Partner?
Die Region Rhein-Neckar hat schon
relativ lang eine formelle Koopera-
tionsvereinbarung mit der Technolo-
gieregion Karlsruhe und dem Verband
Mittlerer Oberrhein, also mit dem
südlich angrenzenden Nachbarn, seit
2 Jahren auch mit der Planungsge-
meinschaft Westpfalz und dem dort
angesiedelten Verein für Wirtschaft-
förderung. Perspektivisch gilt es
auf dem größeren Maßstab mit der
Region FrankfurtRheinMain und mit
der Region Stuttgart zusammen zu
überlegen, wie aus einer Kooperation
der komplementären wirtschaftlichen
Strukturen der drei Metropolre-
gionen Vorteile zu generieren sind.
Betrachtet man die drei Regionen
nämlich als einen Wirtschaftsraum, so
kann dieser theoretisch auf dem Level
von Greater London oder Paris in
Europa agieren. Wie und ob sich ein
solcher Schritt sinnvoll ist wird lang-
fristig zu prüfen sein,, auch vor dem
Hintergrund, dass damit die Grenzen
des heutigen ‚daily urban system’ mit
seinen funktionellen Zusammenhän-
gen weit überschritten werden.
Je größer ein System wird, desto
größer werden auch die Disparitäten
nach Innen und Außen. In wieweit
ist das Thema Kern und Peripherie in
Ihrer Praxis heute relevant?
Obwohl als Gesamtregion im
europäischen Maßstab sehr zentral
am Rhein gelegen, ist innerhalb un-
serer Region natürlich die bekannte
Diskussion zwischen Peripherie und
Kern zu beobachten. Die Region
besteht aus drei Oberzentren Heidel-
berg, Mannheim und Ludwigshafen
und periphereren Bereichen wie dem
Neckar Odenwald oder der Südpfalz.
Wenn, wie bei der vorigen Frage
angeschnitten, die Region räumlich
weiter gefasst wird, ist zu erwarten,
dass der Interessensausgleich zwis-
chen dem Kern und den peripheren
Orten innerhalb Regionsgrenzen
schwieriger wird. In der Region
Rhein-Neckar wird der notwendige
Ausgleich zwischen den unterschied-
lichen Strukturräumen als eine
wesentliche Aufgabe der Regional-
planung und -entwicklung gesehen.
Um noch einmal auf das operative
Geschäft des „Regionalen“ zurück-
zukommen. Wie organisieren sich
die Akteure und Projekte und
Strategien im Kräftefeld zwischen
Politik, Wirtschaft und räumlicher
Planung - wie funktioniert die
Abstimmung und der Interessenaus-
gleich?
Wir als Verband Region Rhein-Neckar
– der Begriff Metropolregion RN
wird häufig und zurecht als Synonym
benutzt, da eine räumliche Deck-
ungsgleichheit gegeben ist - arbeiten
im Sinne einer Public-private-Part-
nership (PPP) auf drei wesentlichen
Säulen: Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar
GmbH, Verband Region Rhein-Neckar
und Zukunft Metropolregion Rhein-
Neckar e.V. Der Verband Region RN
ist das demokratisch legitimierte,
politische Herz der Region. Er hat als
Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts
das staatsvertraglich verbriefte Recht
Regionalentwicklungsaufgaben auf
Dritte zu übertragen. In der Re-
gion Rhein-Neckar wurde dazu die
Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar GmbH
als zweite Säule gegründet, die mit
ca. 40 Mitarbeitern als operativer
Arm der Region in den Bereichen
Regionalentwicklung, Regionalman-
agement, Standortmarketing und
Wirtschaftsförderung ganz konkrete
Projekte umsetzt.. Die dritte Säule ist
der „Zukunft Metropolregion Rhein-
Neckar e.V.“, der bereits in einer Vor-
gängerversion existierte und heute
Workbook IV Regions
Christoph Trinemeier und Matthias Rottmann
ca. 1000 Mitglieder aus Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft, Kultur
,Politik und Verwaltung zählt. Auf der Ebene des Vereins
findet der ’strategische Dialog’ in der Region statt. Was
bedeutet das? Der Vorstand des Vereins, in dem die drei
Oberbürgermeister der Oberzentren, Landräte, diverse
Vorstände der Industrie, die Rektoren der großen Uni-
versitäten, die Industrie- und Handelskammern, aber auch
die lokalen Medien vertreten sind, trifft sich mindestens
zweimal jährlich zu einem Arbeitstreffen. Hier kommen
also wichtige Akteure aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen
und mit verschiedenen Perspektiven zusammen, die sich
sonst in dieser Konstellation nicht treffen würden. Die Mit-
glieder bereiten diese Sitzungen selber vor, wobei jeder
ein eigenes Themenfeld als sog. Thementreiber vertritt
und vorantreibt. Dadurch findet ein intensiver, aber nicht
formalisierter Austausch statt zwischen Politik, Wirtschaft
und Wissenschaft, der neue Ideen und Anstöße für die
Entwicklung der Region generiert.
Welche Rolle hat die Wirtschaft bei der Gestaltung und
Finanzierung der regionalen Aufgaben?
Die Wirtschaft ist zum einen in einer fordernden Rolle z.B.
beim Thema zusätzlicher Infrastukturen. Die regionale
Wirtschaft bringt sich aber auch mit einem erheblichen
finanzielellen und personellem Beitrag in die Arbeit der
MRN-GmbH ein. Hier werden eigene Themen gesetzt,
aber gleichzeitig auch gesamt-regionales Commitment
gegeben. Denn nur Projekte die Region insgesamt voran
bringen werden von der MRN GmbH aufgegriffen, wieter-
entwickelt und umgesetzt.
Gibt es ein klar definiertes ökonomisches Profil - eine
ökonomische DNA - der Region aus der die Wirtschaft
heraus argumentiert. Erwarten Sie hier Veränderungen?
Die ökonomische Kraft der Region beruht auf dem
verarbeitenden Gewerbe, der Industrie und der Chemie.
Wir beobachten an vielen Stellen einen hohen Innov-
ationsdruck und –drang. Dabei geht es jedoch nicht
um ein generelles Umsteuern sondern um eine Weit-
erentwicklung der bestehenden Stärken. Neben den
DAX-Unternehmen sind die vielen Mittelständischen
Unternehmen das wirtschaftliche Standbein der Region.
Wir beobachten an vielen
Stellen einen hohen Innov-
ationsdruck und –drang.
Wie sieht es rückblickend aus? Was waren wichtige Mo-
mente und Wendepunkte in der Region Rhein-Neckar?
Für die Entwicklung der heutigen Metropolregion
Rhein-Neckar und den Staatsvertrag zur Gründung des
ländergrenzen übergreifenden Verbandes Region Rhein-
Neckar spielt der damalige Vorstandsvorsitzende der
BASF, Eggert Voscherau, eine entscheidende Rolle. Er
nutzte seine Funktion und sein Charisma um die Region
auf das entscheidende Gleis zu setzen. In einem ‚Brand-
brief’ stellte er in Frage, dass die BASF für die Zukunft
des Standortes Ludwigshafen in der seinerzeitigen Form
garantieren könne, wenn sich nicht die Formen der re-
gionalen und politische Zusammenarbeit in Rhein-Neckar
verbessern würden. Er hat alle wesentlichen gesellschaft-
lichen Akteure mit seinem Aufruf wachgerüttelt: „Setzt
euch an einen Tisch und redet endlich über die wichtigen
Themen zur Zukunft der Region.“ Im Ergebnis der fol-
genden Diskussionen wurde in enger Abstimmung mit der
Region, innerhalb eines Zeitfensters von nur einem Jahr
der Staatsvertrag Rhein-Neckar erarbeitet und ratifiziert.
In 2015 feiern wir das 10 jährige Bestehen der Metro-
polregion und des Staatsvertrags.
81
Beyond Plan B
Damals war es ein Brandbrief aus
der Wirtschaft, der den Anstoß
lieferte - wie reagieren Sie heute auf
sich ändernde Rahmenbedingungen
und externe Einflüsse? Welche sind
besonders wichtig?
Ein interessantes Beispiel ist der neue
Gotthard-Basistunnel, der 2017 ans
Netz gehen soll. Der Schienenverkehr-
skorridor am Oberrhein von Basel bis
Mannheim und weiter bis Rotterdam
ist hierauf nicht vorbereitet. Die
vorhandene Verkehrsinfrastruktur
ist nicht in der Lage den Verkehr, der
dann entstehen wird, abzunehmen.
Dies gilt für unsere Region, aber auch
für viele andere. Hier wurde schnell
klar, dass es sich um eine Fragestel-
lung von europäischer Dimension
handelt und es sich anbietet diese im
Rahmen einer INTERREG-Förderung
ganzheitlich entlang des Korridor
zu bearbeiten und zu koordinieren.
Das von der Region Rhein-Neckar
federführend erarbeitete INTER-
REG-Projekt CODE24 bildet dafür der
entsprechende Rahmen. Nun nach
5 Jahren Zusammenarbeit mit fast
20 internationalen Partner soll auf
der Schlusskonferenz von CODE24
ein EVTZ (Europäischer Verbund
für territoriale Zusammenarbeit
82
(Zweckverband nach europäischem
Recht)) gegründet werden, der diese
erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit ver-
stetigen und konkrete gemeinsame
Förderprojekte entlang der Rhein-
achse initiieren soll. Der EVTZ soll mit
finanzieller Unterstützung aus Brüssel
den Korridor als Ganzes denken und
insbesondere die regionalen Belange
in die Koorridorentwicklung einbrin-
gen. Dabei geht es um Vernetzung
im weitesten Sinne. Eine konkrete
Maßnahme, um die neuen Verkehrs-
mengen in Zusammenhang mit dem
Gotthard-Tunnel zu antizipieren, ist
hier in der Region der geplante Bau
zwei neuer Gleise zwischen Frankfurt
am Main und Mannheim. Nach dem
Vergleich verschiedener Varianten
scheint es auf eine Kombistrecke
hinauszulaufen, die tagsüber durch
ICE- und nachts durch Güterverkehr
genutzt werden kann: Ein integ-
riertes Konzept und ein grundlegend
anderer Vernetzungsgedanke, der
im Rahmen von CODE24 entwickelt
und abgestimmt wurde haben damit
den Vorzug vor einer reinen Höchst-
geschwindigkeitsstrecke erhalten.
sie beschreiben einen diskurses
möglicher verkehrstechnischer
Alternativen. Welche Bedeutung
haben räumliche Strategien allge-
mein in ihrer Region und im Wettbe-
werb zwischen den Regionen?
Wir nutzen räumliche Strategien
in Kombination mit der Re-
gionalentwicklung zur Stan-
dortentwicklung in regionalem Sinne.
Die Region als Ganzes muss attraktiv
sein, als Wirtschafts- und als Lebens-
raum.
Die Region als
Ganzes muss at-
traktiv sein, als
Wirtschafts- und
als Lebensraum.
Welche Bedeutung haben konkrete
entwürfe und bilder für diese
Arbeit?
Die Kraft von Bildern, Entwürfen und
konzeptionellen Narrativen kann sehr
stark sein. Wir haben uns – auch
vor dem Hintergrund eines sehr
engen Zeitrahmens - für unseren
Einheitlichen Regionalplan vor allem
in die formale Basis, investiert. Die
erfolgreiche Erarbeitung eins Einheit-
Workbook IV Regions

lichen Regionalplans, im Moment vor allem ein wichtiges
politisches Signal. Die Tatsache, dass jetzt ein Bürger-
meister an der Weinstraße denselben Plan aufschlägt
wie ein Bürgermeister im Odenwald hat eine politische
Bedeutung und Tragweite für das Bild der Region, die
über die inhaltliche Ebene deutlich hinausgeht. Inhaltlich
ist der Regionalplan eine Art Leitplanke für die räumliche
Entwicklung der Region.
Dabei liegt seine eigentliche
Leistung wahrscheinlich mehr
in einer gemeinsamen umfan-
greichen Grundlagenerhebung
von Risiken und Potentialen
als in planerischen Vorgaben.
Sie haben eindrücklich die Geschichte, Strategie und
derzeitige Arbeitsweise beschrieben. Wie würden sie
Ihre Art der Regionalentwicklung beschreiben?
Wir, als Region und Verein, sind Multiplikator in dem wir
die richtigen Personen und Firmen miteinander vernet-
zen. Damit will ich sagen, auf regionaler Ebene ist gelebte
Zusammenarbeit und das realisierte Projekte – unab-
hängig der Art und Größe - wichtiger als klassische top-
down Planung. Obwohl natürlich die Komplexität ständig
zu zunehmen scheint bedeutet dies, dass gerade die
Bearbeitung von Einzelthemen vor diesem Hintergrund in
Zukunft noch wichtiger werden wird. Gleiches gilt für eine
Bürgerpartizipation auch auf regionalen Maßstäben.

Dabei liegt seine eigentliche Leistung wahrscheinlich

mehr in einer gemeinsamen umfangreichen Grundlagen-
erhebung von Risiken und Potentialen als in planerischen
Vorgaben. Vielleicht ist hier die Wirkung von strategischen
Projekten wie z.B. dem Regionalpark mit seinen hinter-
legten Funktionen und Identitäten stärker steuernd als die
klassische Regionalplanung in einem formalen Planwerks.
Wir sehen im nächsten Schritt durchaus die Aufgabe
diesen Aspekt stärker in die laufenden Prozesse zu
integrieren. Eine Strategie könnte sein, dass wir mit Teil-
bereichen und konkreten Einzelthemenbeginnen die gute
Basis weiter auszubauen. Dabei sind dann sicher auch die
entwerfenden und kreativen Disziplinen wichtige Partner.

83
Beyond Plan B

84
Workbook IV Regions

4
governance

85
Beyond Plan B

Comparable
challenges?

↓↓FIrst obserVAtIons ↓↓An ongoIng CyCle ?

Altough the regions differ a great deal from each other,
all of them have the common task to continously
activate and convince stakeholders of processes and
projects. In this process the negotiation of a new balance
between formal planning instruments, such as plans and
long-term fixed policy guidelines, and informal ones,
aiming at communication and a broader legitimation of
metropolitan planning, is an important issue. The quest
for a broader involvement of governmental, scientific and
economic players, but more and more towards the civic-
society and the individual citizen (the ‘quadruple helix’) is
approached differently by the four regions.
All regions agreed that the perimeter they are most
efficient is directly related to their daily urban system.
Often around 50 km radius. However all of them are busy
with positioning themselves more proactivly towards
the next formal levels on national and european scale.
Although still reluctant to get formalised we see first
coalitions on a bigger scale. These are clearly based
on common interests on international connectivity
and investment in related infrastructure - less from
theoretical concepts on complementarity and ‘borrowed
size’ in relation to agglomeration benefits. It is also
visable that there is not a clearly cristalised approach to
think about urban agglomerations on a european scale
yet. ‘Brussels’ still more important for (sectoral) lobby-
trajectories, than for strategic coalitions.
The way regions are developing strategies and are
acting on urgent questions relates to different phases of
development and context. We see 4 main phases which
seemed to have an important impact:
1 get in touch
The urgency for action works as a trigger to look out for
possible alliances
2 Building coalitions
Matching agenda’s and networks
3 Formalising instruments
Getting institutionalised
4 Balancing
A high level is reached when regions can efficiently
develop and carry out plans and projects.
With new urgencies, societal challenges and transitions
it is possible that the cyclus will start again. A region that
has been able to set a good fundamental in former cycles
will not have to start from scratch, but can reach the ‘next
level’.

Common sense was reached on two important topics

for the future development: 1. The regional DNA,
that refers to modes of development, core economic
fields, typologies, landscape potentials etc. that have
guided processes in a region over longer periods. 2.
The ‘plan b capacity’ is defined as the ability of decision
makers to derive valid long-term objectives from these
pre-conditions and to achieve them set on adaptable
strategies.

86
Workbook IV Regions

↓↓optimising assets

Based on the interviews the relevance and urgency of
issues in regional development are compared with each
other. Timewise we are looking in two directions. What
topics have determined the past till now and what issues
do the regions see as their main field of activity for the
medium and long term future?
It does not make a difference whether a topic is getting
more relevant or irrelevant. In both cases, it can be
assumed that known formats, contents and projects
have to adapt to the changed financial framework which
comes along with changed relevance.

Especially in the fields in which a strong shift of

importance could be observed, new projects and
strategies will need to be developed.

Beyond Plan B Workbook I Project Analysis

→ Agenda der Regionen

Infrastruktur
Technologische    Stadtentwicklung   Arbeitkräftemangel   Kohäsion  und   Expansion  und  
Kultur
Innovation und  Soziales und  Demographie Identität Maßstabssprung
Energie Schiene   Straße Wasser

o -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ + -­‐ + ++ o

++ ++ ++ -­‐ + -­‐ ++ + + Main-­‐Core

o o o + o -­‐ o o -­‐

o + ++ o + ++ + o -­‐ Rheinregion

o o o ++ -­‐ ++ -­‐ + +

o o o ++ -­‐ ++ -­‐ + ++

o ++ ++ o o -­‐ -­‐ + -­‐

++ o -­‐ ++ + + -­‐ o -­‐ plus  Eindhoven

2 11 21 2 3 1 1 3

This topic will be discussed further in workbook V - towards project conclusions

87
Comparable challenges?
mittel-/lang-
Wann/Warum Planungshoheit Wichtige Wichtige Verhältnis zum
fristige
gegründet? /Formaler aktuelle mittel-/lang- nächstgrößeren
Aufgaben/Heraus-
Status Projekt fristige Maßstab
forderungen
Projekte

2005 Besitzt ● Erstellung ● Energie ● die großen Gemeinsam mit

Ziel ist die Planungs-hoheit. einheitlicher ● Demographie Standorte at- Region Frankfurt
Reali-sierung einer Verdichtungs-/ Regionalplan ● Verkehr/ traktiv halten Rhein Main und
länderübergre- Wirtschaftsraum (seit Ende Mobilität und weiter- Region Stuttgart
ifenden Region- und zugleich 2014 recht- ● Regionale entwickeln Strategien en-
alpolitik. Den Planungsregion skräftig) Identität ● Investieren in twickeln, wie aus
Impuls für diesen rund um das ● Landschaft Strategie und komplementären
Kurswechsel Dreiländereck Konzept nach wirtschaftlichen
der regionalen/ Baden-Württem- der formel- Strukturen
politischen berg, Rhein- len ‘Pflicht’ Vorteile zu generi-
Zusammenarbeit land-Pfalz und (Regionalplan) eren sind.
gab der damalige Hessen.
BASF Vorstands-

1992 Besitzt keine ● Innen- ● Infrastruktur ● Attraktiv Im ‘daily urban

Ziel ist es, Planungshoheit. entwicklung ● Funk- halten des system’ bes-
die regionale (Recycling tionsfähigkeit zentrenfernen chränkt sich
Zusammenarbeit Regionalmanage- von innen- Transit/ Umlandes Bewegung auf 45
zu stärken und ment-Einheit der stadtrelevanten Nord-Süd-In- ● CODE 24 Autominuten um
gemeinschaftlich Dienstleister für Arealen) frastruktur Beitritt in den Köln, was für Ver-
eine strategische interkommunale, ● Bilder entwi- ● Frage nach EVTZ ein als Koordinier-
Ausrichtung der interregionale und ckeln für Regio- Organisa- ungsaufgabe
Region Köln/Bonn internationale nalenwicklung tions-muster ausreichend ist.
zu intensivieren. der Region in
der Zukunft

Ziel ist es neue Besitzt ● neuer Region- ● Strukturwan- ● Weiterarbeiten Länderebene

wirtschaftliche Planungs-hoheit. alplan del am Emscher nächstgrößerer
Aktivität in ● Emscher Land- ● Energie Landschafts- Maßstab, weil
neuem räum- Es wird via neuem schaftspark ● park RVR Legitimation/
lichen Kontext zu Regionalplan (inkl. ● „Konzept Ruhr ● Infrastruk- Konstitution aus
stimulieren und Ideenwettbew- “ tur (ÖPNV Landesgesetz
zu organisieren erb) und ständig ● „Wandel als - vernetzen bezieht. Als
(internationale verbesserten Chance“ der einzelne direkter Nachbar
Neupositionierung Prozessen weit- Region Köln/
als Metropole). ergearbeitet. Bonn wichtig.
Auf Rheinschiene

1998 Besitzt keine Der Verein arbeitet ● Entwicklung ● Entwickeln von Internationale
Transformation Planungshoheit. ein neues Arbeit- neuer Instru- konkreten und Zusammenarbeit
der Randstad in sprogramm aus. mente experimentel- mit anderen Re-
ein städtisches Verein, der Platt- Das ‘Jaar van de ● Umgang len Projekten gionen stimulieren
Gebilde von form/Laborator- Ruimte’, Trans- mit immer ● Strategien en- (Arbeitsbesuche).
internatio-nalem ium/Ideenpool it-Orientated schnelleren twickeln zum Bezügl. Arbeits-
Format. für die Deltamet- Development und Veränder- Umgang mit markt bedient
ropole darstellt eigene Studien ungen schnelleren Region auch Teile
außerhalb der gel- (oft in Zusammen- ● Neubewer- und flexibleren Nordbrabants,
arbeit mit den Mit- tung Finan- Planungs- Gelderland,
gliedern) zierung von prozessen Overijssel - rücken
dadurch in Fokus.

88
 A Synopsis
Verhältnis zum na- Verhältnis zum Rolle der Glaube an “Mach- Aktiv auf Relevanz des
tionalen Maßstab europäische/ entwerfenden barkeit” einer Rhein-Niveau? Themas Rhein für
internationalen Disziplinen Region durch Warum? die Zukunft
Maßstab Projekte

Wurde nicht Federführend ● Ausformu- Im Vordergrund ● Initiator ● Rhein als

angesprochen. wurde IN- lierung von stand erstmal die CODE24 Ausweichmög-
TERREG-Pro- Teilbereichen große Aufgabe (konkrete lichkeit für
jekt CODE24 ● Ausformu- eine formale Basis gemeinsame Güterverkehr
erarbeitet, der in lie-rung zu legen. Förderprojekte nicht
EVTZ (Europä-is- konkreter entlang der präsent
cher Verbund Einzelthemen Rheinschiene)
für territoriale
Zusammenarbeit)
mit 20 interna-
tionalen Partnern

Wurde nicht Kontakt mit ● Leitbilder Gefahr eines ● Arbeitskreis ● Rhein wird als
angesprochen. Brüssel, auch entwickeln Möchte-gern- Rhein Rückrad der Re-
auf Grund von ● hohe Qualität ’Bilbao-Effekts’. ● ‘Rheincharta’ gion betrachtet
räumlicher Nähe, bei räumlichen Glaube an Ge- ● jährliche ● Man will mehr
manchmal besser projekten meinschaftsleis- Rhein-konferen- Transport auf
als mit Berlin. liefern tung. Antrieb sind zen Rhein verlagern,
Beitritt in den konkrete Invest- ● CODE24 (will weil Trassensys-
EVTZ itionen und Fol- Rhein mehr in tem am Limit
(CODE 24) geinvestitionen. Mittelpunkt und Ausbau
rücken und kostenintensiv.
logistische
Konzepte

Wurde nicht Längerfristige ● Leitbilder Glaube an Bilder. ● Profitieren

koordinieren)
angesprochen. Perspektiven entwickeln Wandel/Umbau vom Ausbau
auf größerem ● konkrete ist nur möglich des Rotter-
Maßstab im Blick. Projekte durch viele Pro- damer
Aktuell: Einfluss- entwickeln mit jekte mit hoher Hafen (Ausbau
nahme in Brüssel hoher Design- Qualität. Duisburger
bei Förderbedin- und Aus- Hafen) sind
gungen Periode führungs-qual- aber selber
2014-2020 ität nicht aktiv.

Einflussnahme auf Aktives Umge- Verein arbeitet Nicht wie füher Wurde nicht Wichtiger Kontext
Nationale Raum- bungsmanage- mit ‘research (1950 -2000) angesprochen. für die Infrastruk-
entwicklung und ment im Bezug by design’ als aber Projekte tur des 21.
Infrastruktur- auf inte-ressante Methode. Ist und Investitionen Jahrhunderts und
entscheidungen. Partnerregionen. wichtiges Ele- bleiben eine wichtig für die
Auftragnehmer Ambitionen ment der Arbeit wichtige Aufgabe Diskussion über
von Modera- sich besser zu (hauptsächtlich für den Staat. EU-Zukunft und
tionen, Studien positio-nieren/ agendasetting). Projekte werden Werte.
und Beratung Präsenz zu aber anders
von Nationalen koordinieren in entwickelt.
Projekten. Brüssel.

89
Beyond Plan B

Symposium
‘Regions & Projects’
Cologne
17.07.14, 14-18 h
Haus der Architektur

A video registration of the symposium can be viewed at

www.beyondplab.eu/articles

The Symposium was led by Christoph Grafe.

The workshop ‘Regions and Projects’ focused on

the bigger picture of the Rhine-Region and the
characteristics and strategies of our partner regions
with the aim to link both scales to the results of the
research on projects, which were presented during
the workshop.
Symposium report by Isabel Neumann

90
Workbook IV Regions

Symposium
Programme
16:00 Pause
13:30 BLOCK 1 - Rhein-Core BLOCK 2 - Projekte und Governance
Empfang im Haus der Architektur
14:30 INPUT “Core and Periphery” 16:30 INPUT “Project Research”
14:00 Theo Deutinger, Beyond Plan B Matthias Rottmann, Beyond Plan B
Begrüßung
14:45 INPUT - ‘4 Regionen’ ein Vergleich 16:45 INPUT “Deutschland Szenarien” /
14:10 Keynote Helmut Thöle, Beyond Plan B Atlas Baukultur
“Economic potentials of the Rhine Stefan Carsten
corridor - Myths and realities” 15:00 STATEMENT Raumtaktik
Frank van Oort Dr. Reimar Molitor / Markus Utzerath
Region Köln - Bonn e.V. 17:00 DISKUSSION
Prototypen regionaler Projekte
15:15 STATEMENT
Paul Gerretsen 17:30
Vereniging Deltametropool Ausklang / Borrel

15:30 STATEMENT
Christoph Trinemeier
Verband Region Rhein-Neckar

15:45 STATEMENT
Michael Schwarze-Rodrian,
Regionalverband Ruhr

91
Beyond Plan B

Block 1
Rhein - Core

Keynote by Frank van Oort

↓↓keynote: FrAnk VAn oort

“Economic potentials of the Rhine corridor – myths and

realities”

The presentation discussed the specificities of the Rhine

Corridor , mainly it’s decentralized character and outlined
the mechanisms of ‘borrowed size’ and how collabora-
tion within a region can function. *

↓↓InPUt: tHeo deUtInger

The Core of Europe
“Core and Periphery”

Theo Deutinger presented his research attempting to

define a European core and periphery and discussed the
terms on different scales. He also showed different ap-
proaches to define the Rhine-region according to cultural
characteristics, such as the use of specific terminology
and reference to common narratives. *

↓↓InPUt: HelMUt tHoele

“4 regions, one comparative approach”

Based on the content of several interviews conducted

in the course of the project, the four partner-regions
are confronted with statements of their counterparts,
attempting to define differences and commonalities in
approach. *

92
Workbook IV Regions
Discussion
Block 1
Helmut Thoele’s input sets the
starting point for a discussion of
current means in metropolitan
development in the four partnering
regions. Despite the broad range of
issues partners bring to discussion
individual concerns clustered around
a certain thematic core.
All partners describe a significant
shift from mainly physical planning
tasks with a technical plan as the
central instrument to new assign-
ments in the context of metropolitan
development.
Shift from physical
planning tasks to
new assignments
of metropolitan
development.
This shift extends from broadened
communication schemes for the
idea of metropolisation, up to the
adoption of new fields of action, set
outside traditional planning agendas,
such as education (Rhein-Ruhr). In
this shift the orientation on strategic
objectives is discussed as a strong
hold for metropolitan planning.
Flexible approaches are considered
to be the means to achieve them. In
this process the negotiation of a new
balance between formal planning
instruments, such as plans and long-
term fixed policy guidelines, and
informal ones, aiming at commu-
nication and a broader legitimation
of metropolitan planning, is an
important moment. Related to this
re-orientation there is also a quest
for a broader involvement on metro-
politan planning.
Whereas some regional planning
organizations seek direct and strong
relations to people in the area also in
strategic matters (Rhein-Ruhr, Rhein-
Neckar); others build on vernacular
knowledge of decision makers and
seek the feedback of the end users
more with regard to concrete pro-
jects (Köln-Bonn). However, all par-
ticipants agree that the region is not
‘one big thing’, but that it is made
up by single entities that contribute
with their particular qualities to a
metropolis.
Lecture by Theo Deutinger
As a final conclusion of the discussion
stands on one hand the term of the
regional DNA, that refers to modes of
development, core economic fields,
typologies, landscape potentials
etc. that have guided processes in
a region over longer periods. On
the other hand ‘plan b capacity’ is
defined as the ability of decision
makers to derive valid long-term
objectives from these pre-conditions
and to achieve them set on adapt-
able strategies.
The region is not
‘one big thing’,
but it is made up
by single entities
that contribute
with their partic-
ular qualities to
a metropolis.
93
Beyond Plan B

Block 2
Projects and Governance

Lecture by Stefan Carsten

BEYOND PLAN B
Beyond Plan B BEYOND PLAN B Workbook I Project Analysis

November 2013 November 2013

→ Räumliche Sichtbarkeit / Objekt / Struktur / Icone
BEYOND PLAN B BEYOND PLAN B ↓ PROJECTS
↓ OBJECTIVES ↓ OBJECTIVES ↓ PROJECTS ↓↓ SIZE
SIZE ↓ WORLD ↓↓ WORLD
NATIONAL ↓ REGIONAL
↓ NATIONAL ↓ REGIONAL
November 2013 November 2013
↓ OBJECTIVES ↓ OBJECTIVES
↓ PROJECTS ↓ PROJECTS ↓↓ SIZE
SIZE ↓ WORLD ↓↓ WORLD
NATIONAL ↓ REGIONAL
↓ NATIONAL ↓ REGIONAL

↓↓input: Matthias rottman

NEW CENTRALITY

REPROGRAMMING

IMPULSEIMPULSE

NEW CENTRALITY

REPROGRAMMING

IMPULSE
CONNECTING

OPTIMIZATION

CONNECTING

OPTIMIZATION
NEW CENTRALITY

REPROGRAMMING

NEW CENTRALITY

REPROGRAMMING

IMPULSE
CONNECTING

OPTIMIZATION

CONNECTING

OPTIMIZATION
CORE CORE
CORE CORE CORE CORE
“Project Research” Guggenheim Bilbao Guggenheim Bilbao
BUCKSHOTS BUCKSHOTS
Dublin Docklands Dublin Docklands CORE CORE
CORE CORE CORE CORE
Barcelona Olympic Games Barcelona Olympic Games
BUCKSHOTS BUCKSHOTS
Guggenheim
Opel Bilbao
plant Bochum Guggenheim
Opel Bilbao
plant Bochum SS
Dublin
Zuidas Docklands Dublin
Zuidas Docklands
Barcelona Olympic Games Barcelona Olympic Games

The precedent projects of the research are presented in SS

Kop van Zuid Kop van Zuid
Opel plant Bochum Opel
Blauweplant
StadBochum
Blauwe Stad
Zuidas Bridge Zuidas Bridge
MM
Oresund Oresund
CONNECTORS CONNECTORS Kop van Zuid
Kralingse Plas Kop van Zuid
Kralingse Plas

a concise manner and clustered according to different MM SEMI SEMI

SEMI SEMI SEMI SEMI
Blauwe
Nota Stad
Industriespreiding BlauweIndustriespreiding
Nota Stad
Oresund Bridge Oresund Bridge
CONNECTORS CONNECTORS
Dubai
Kralingsevision
Portland Plas PDX
Dubai
Kralingsevision
Portland Plas PDX LL
SEMI SEMI
SEMI SEMI SEMI SEMI
aspects, such as approach, objectives and scale.
Nota Industriespreiding
Emsher Park Nota Industriespreiding
Emsher Park
Dubai
Grand Lyon
Portland
Dubai
Grand Lyon LL
Crisis- envision PDX Portland
Crisis- envision PDX
DEFIBRILATOR DEFIBRILATOR
Emsher
Bonn
herstelwet
Park
Berlin-Act Bonn
herstelwet
EmsherBerlin-Act
Park XLXL
Grand LyonValley Authority
Tennessee Grand LyonValley Authority
Tennessee
Crisis- en herstelwet
Hanseatic league Crisis- en herstelwet
Hanseatic league XLXL
DEFIBRILATOR DEFIBRILATOR Bonn
Great Berlin-Act
Leap Forward
Tennessee
Bonn
Great Berlin-Act
Leap Forward XXL
XXL
Natura 2000Valley Authority Tennessee
Natura 2000Valley Authority
Hanseatic league
Marshall Plan Hanseatic league
Marshall Plan
GreatDeal
New Leap Forward GreatDeal
New Leap Forward XXL
XXL
RISING STAR RISING STAR Natura 2000
Deng Xiaoping's SEZs Natura 2000 s SEZs
Deng Xiaoping'
Marshall Plan Marshall Plan
New Deal New Deal PERI PERIPERI PERI PERI PERI
RISING STAR RISING STAR Deng Xiaoping's SEZs Deng Xiaoping's SEZs

PERI PERIPERI PERI PERI PERI

NEw TECh ?
Projects without allocation Projects without allocation

Projects without allocation Projects without allocation

↓↓input: stefan Carsten

“Germany: Future scenarios”

Stefan Carsten presents a preview of the Baukultur-

atlas Deutschland 2050 and describes the three main
paradigms that the future will most likely bring. Those are
distributed manufacturing, new energy landscapes and
new models of prosperity.

94
Workbook IV Regions
Discussion
Block 2
The discussion readopts current
shifts in planning as the central
topic. Projects are highlighted as a
means to facilitate this re-orienta-
tion practically and to establish new
structures and objectives. Opposed
to the perpetuation of old plan-
ning guidelines they can be used
to develop new topics and areas
of intervention.These projects are
vehicles and catalysts for regional
development, because they help
stakeholders to gain a common
picture of a region and to elaborate
joint planning objectives for it.
Embeddedness
of planning pro-
jects in their so-
cietal context.
Projects stand also for the highly
complex organisational patterns in
which planning takes place. The pro-
fessional management and commu-
nication of processes is stressed not
to be an end in itself, but rather as
a means to achieve a high embed-
dedness of planning projects in their
societal context. This is considered
an important success factor.
Christoph Grafe
The general increase of bottom-up
projects is discussed positively. How-
ever, decisive for the success of met-
ropolitan strategies is the effective
interplay of different governmental
levels, corporative agendas and
initiatives. Respectively multi-level
governance remains at the core of
metropolitan development.
Decisive is the
effective interplay
of different gov-
ernmental levels,
corporative agen-
das and initiatives.
The concluding words clarify that
there is no alternative solution apart
from the regional one. To achieve the
goals of metropolitan development
and gain a common understand-
ing on these goals, projects are an
important driver. Spatial quality
on a bigger scale is gained in these
processes by introducing a regional
design perspective.
95
Beyond Plan B
Reflection
Profiles of the regions
Beyond the topics brought-up, the
different institutional set-ups and
conceptions of the metropolitan
bodies are reflected in issues they
handle and approaches they apply.
This also characterises the debate.
Build policies on
the rich history of
regional planning;
strong focus on
project making.
The Regionalverband Ruhr builds
current policies on the rich history
of regional planning in the Ruhr area
and a particular strong focus on
project making on a metropolitan
scale. Structural change and the
requirements this brought-up for
the physical constitution of the area
have been the central fields of action
for metropolitan planning earlier.
Today the regions socio-economic
make-up gains increasing
96
importance as a development aim
and is approached in the particular
working field of education policies.
In the Region Köln-Bonn
metropolitan development rests
highly on the capitalisation of the
intrinsic potentials of the area and
the understanding of it as a highly
successful cultural landscape with
many small and medium sized urban
cores, whose history traces back to
Roman times. More recently the
region managed to deal positively
with the relocation of governmental
functions from Bonn to Berlin.
The setting of a metropolitan or
rather regional agenda in the Rhein-
Neckar-area followed the initiative
of companies such as BASF. The
regional development agency is also
largely funded by companies settled
in the area. At the same time it is
politically legitimised by all three
federal districts it cuts across.
In setting regional development
aims it acts in the tension between
corporative interests and the
development agendas of three
legitimised governments.
Vereniging Deltametropool operates
currently in a situation where
planning in the Netherlands, as an
effect of governmental cut backs,
is stripped down to core tasks. As a
result the discussion on concepts,
such as the Deltametropolis or the
Randstad at decision making levels is
currently rather low.
In this situation the Vereniging seeks
to set impulses for region building
by the generation of knowledge
and the set-up of concrete projects
in the fields of transport-oriented-
development and the metropolitan
landscape and by initiating a
discussion on the character of the
metropolis.
Workbook IV Regions

97
Beyond Plan B
It should be a goal
that one allows “air
for breathing”
Keywords
Criteria for legitimacy / Ideal circumstances vs. political
feasibility / Relationship between the economy and the
state / Continual necessity of making fine adjustments
Focal points of the interview
• Actors and players on the sides of the state and the
corporations
• Economic history perspective on the Rhineland and
entire river basin
• Spatial effects and bases of various economic-spatial
identities, for example, Rhine capitalism
We would like to begin with an observation from the
last National Urban Development Congress in Man-
nheim on the theme of “Trade in the City – The Role
of Industry.” It was evident that the representatives of
industry that were present have withdrawn from any
discussion and public position on the relevant themes,
such as local politics and conditions for competition. Do
you have an explanation for that?
I believe that such questions are addressed on an entirely
different level; they are not aired publicly. The discussion
presumably takes place hidden in the local spaces, that
is to say, in the form of informal conversations between
companies and the department heads at the local level.
Representatives of industry usually only involve them-
selves in public or political discourse in the form of gener-
ally synthesised statements.
Is that not somewhat paradoxical in view of the fact that
there is an intense debate regarding participation and
the involvement of citizens? Is it not the case that the
desired transparency is difficult to achieve given such a
process?
98
Interview with Boris Gehlen
Conducted by Helmut Thöle and Matthias Rottmann
on 12 July 2013 in Cologne
That appears to me to be normal in the case of political
processes. The earlier a project is made publicly known,
the more likely it is that there will be critics; there are crit-
ics in the case of any project. For those people who are
largely in agreement with regard to the justifiability of a
project, it can be correspondingly more valuable to stake
one’s claims from the outset and identify resistance.
Basically, the search for and demand for transparency
in political planning processes lead to a greater lack of
transparency in the beginning of these processes. But in
the final analysis these are in particular informal planning
spaces that to a very great extent are inaccessible to
historians.
Does this mean that such projects are therewith inac-
cessible to a comparative economic perspective?
That is difficult to judge. Normally the local usefulness
on the demand side is evident. Whether this will lead to
an economically efficient solution is a question that only
becomes particularly relevant in the case of large projects
such as airports or exhibition halls. This is a consequence
of the lack of congruency between economic spaces and
organisational spaces. This can automatically create other
kinds of logic. Thus one could argue that the new Berlin
airport, as an international connection point for Berlin
industry, has positive effects (and is therefore desired by
the municipality), but from the point of view of national
economic policy a third or fourth international hub does
not appear to be necessary.
If one considers the playing field for organisational
spaces and economic spaces historically, have there
historically been clear lines and demarcations between
industry and politics?
If we think of the development of the industrial cities of
the Ruhr region, then development there was very clearly
driven by the companies. The companies settled there
at a point in time at which cities as organisational spaces
Workbook IV Regions
did not yet exist. They have only come into existence
through the massive industrialisation of the space since
1850. In industrial cities such as Leverkusen, Ludwig-
shafen, or Wolfsburg, the city administrations were, if one
sees it maliciously, an extension of the companies. On
the other hand, the state has also attempted to harness
private companies for its purposes. A good example are
the railroad networks or communication networks, for
the construction of which private financing was used to
a certain extent. These private investments, however,
were regulated by the state – particularly with regard to
secured profit guarantees. The motivating factor at that
time was already, as it is today, a tight budget situation
that more or less excluded the possibility of complete
state financing.
This raises a central question: What incentives does the
state offer to private investors, and how can the state
guarantee that on the one hand processes of spatial
concentration are not intensified to such an extent that
they produce social costs, and on the other hand ensure
that all areas are supplied with infrastructure? That is
the classical problem of infrastructure networks: There
are always areas and lines that are highly lucrative, while
for the most part it is not possible to recover the costs
of investment in the medium or indeed in the long term
in rural regions.For this reason it is necessary to find
instruments so that private-sector parties can contribute
in the interests of the state. As an example one can take
the discussion regarding the availability of broadband
connections in rural areas. There are cases in which local
companies and communities have wanted to participate
in the expansion of telecommunications networks in
rural areas. This is comparable to the approach in earlier
processes for the construction of telegraph networks in
the nineteenth century. However, this is today blocked by
EU procurement guidelines (impermissible subsidising of
individual companies).
How should one view the restructuring of energy
policies and the decisions that are associated with it?
In the case of the restructuring of energy policies there is
the suggestion that the impacted parties should partake
of the profits from the networks so that it is possible to
achieve a greater degree of acceptance of the construc-
tion of power lines and wind power facilities, which are
perceived as disruptive. Whether this will succeed is diffi-
cult to judge, since in a post-materialistic world we have
a situation in which money is not everything: an unres-
tricted view is even more important. These phenomena
too, however, have occurred again and again historically.
As soon as the concrete interests and the realities of the
lives of individual citizens are affected by an infrastruc-
ture measure, even one that may be quite well justified in
terms of the national economy, there is resistance.
Is there a historical example of such compensation?
dr boris gehlen
Born in 1973. Studied constitutional, social, and economic history; political
science; and modern history in Bonn. Currently a research fellow at the
University of Vienna.
The construction of the power industry in Cologne,
where Rhineland lignite, which was the cheapest source
of energy given the state of technology at that time and
which was available at the lowest prices, can be seen
as an example. There was a long-term energy-supply
contract between the representatives of Rhineland lignite
mining and the city of Cologne which enabled the city of
Cologne to profit from very low energy prices in compar-
ison to other communities. On the other hand, lignite
technology was a very “dirty” technology. Lignite dust
in particular had a negative effect on the living environ-
ment of the areas on the edge of the city of Cologne. In
accordance with this it is possible to clearly characterise
the conflict between cleaner air and cheaper energy. The
compromise that was reached meant that the costs of
filter technology could be added to the price of electri-
city, but given the fiscal situation at that time and energy
costs that were generally in steep decline, this hardly had
noticeable effects on prices paid by end users.
Energy restructuring is not only public-private partner-
ship construction in the broadest sense; it also makes
the consumer a producer. In this case the willingness
to finance was created in a large part of the popula-
tion via the leverage of the Renewable Energy Law
[Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG]. Does this create
a new player between the two poles of industry and
politics?
Such constellations or roles have already played a role
historically. Consumer protests and consumer organisa-
tion are a phenomenon that basically already existed in
the German Empire, dependent though it might have
been on areas closely associated with the conditions of
day-to-day living such as increases in the costs of food-
stuffs and food safety. Already at that time, this occurred-
was effected through political articulation – in the sense
in which this was demanded by social democracy – but
also in a practical variant, as exemplified by purchasing
associations.
Today, the problems and tasks that have been addressed
from the consumer side have attained entirely differ-
ent dimensions and an entirely new valuation because
the thinking with regard to concrete problems has also
changed. It is no longer the people’s daily bread but
rather sustainability and the shaping of the future that
increasingly determine the discourse. This factor must
therefore be taken into consideration to a greater extent
99
Beyond Plan B
when political decisions are made. A non-material dimen-
sion is therewith added to the pure cost-benefit relation-
ship.The massive subsidising of solar energy – to date
the most expensive regenerative technology – can be
seen as an investment for the sake of a good conscience;
economically it is extremely questionable.
It is no longer the people’s
daily bread but rather
sustainability and the shaping
of the future that increasingly
determine the discourse
Increasingly, public-private partnership models are
assigned a new role in connection with large private-
sector projects. By virtue of their capital resources, they
are to be guarantors of the economic feasibility claims
made by the public sector; they are to check the validity
of such claims, as it were. If private investors pull out
of a project, this points up the particular risks inherent
in the conception of the project. Industry as the state’s
watchdog?
Actually, it should be the other way around. In connection
with planning in this area, it is desirable to acquire usable
financing scenarios in an early planning stage. Here one
can justifiably attribute advantages to private industry be-
cause it employs other planning criteria and never loses
sight of profitability. Whether the institutional framework
is functional in this connection remains questionable,
since in the case of large projects one cannot rule out
the possibility of political influence from both sides. The
separation of the subsystems of state and industry is not
clearly possible. Again and again there are diffuse rela-
tionships in which the companies have only an indirect
interest as far as profitability is concerned.
Both for the state and for the companies it is a question
of making decisions for the future, so that a project that
does not actually appear to be profitable may appear to
be a good opportunity for private industry, for example
due to the payment of kickbacks in other areas of busi-
ness.
In connection with many of today’s projects, the coding
of problems and interests leads to discussion in which
pragmatic expressions of will and goals are no longer
recognisable. Has this been different at some point in
the past?
From a historical perspective, one can note that until well
into the 1970s there were few legal boundaries limiting
the actions of politicians and businesspeople. There
was a possibility of more direct communication. The
interests of the parties that were directly involved could
be harmonised in closed rooms with much less friction
100
because these could be realised in cooperation with
industry or despite its resistance. For example, Adenauer
in 1920s Cologne, as a strong man, could realise large
projects well adapted to future needs both in cooper-
ation with the private sector and against its resistance.
The green belt or the preferential treatment afforded
Cologne construction companies in connection with
the construction of the Mülheim bridge as a stimulative
project for the Cologne economy in the context of the
world economic crisis, the construction of the exhibition
hall, the Müngersdorf sports park and also the Niehl
harbour are projects that were realised within a very
short period of time – not even ten years. Adenauer,
who possessed the requisite political power, achieved
this together with the city planner Fritz Schumacher.
Naturally, a process such as that in which a financially
inferior offer was given preference in connection with the
construction of the Mülheim bridge in order to support
the economy in one’s own region is no longer conceivable
today because such projects must be put out to tender.
Schumacher-Adenauer – can one, in such a situation,
speak of a Dream Team consisting of a strong regional
representative and a powerful politician?
Certainly one can speak of a Dream Team, and in this
connection the decisive component is having politicians
who are in a situation in which they can work conceptu-
ally. That is somewhat more problematic at the moment
because we find ourselves in a situation perceived as a
latent crisis, in which politicians often attempt to solve
problems retroactively. Under today’s general conditions,
the politics of conceptual infrastructure are significantly
more difficult than might have been the case in a special
situation after the First World War, when new construc-
tion was basically borne by a new democratic spirit and
by the stronger position of the mayor within the institu-
tional structures. At the same time, one must not forget
that the inflation of that time created very advantageous
conditions for public investments.
We find ourselves in a situation
perceived as a latent crisis, in
which politicians often attempt
to solve problems retroactively
The projects in effect financed themselves via inflation.
With the debt cut of 1924, the investment costs for the
city were in fact retroactively reduced to zero, which
from the perspective of economic history can be seen to
have had both positive and negative effects. The projects
surely had a positive effect on the development of the
city of Cologne, but how they would have affected the
city budgets in the long term under different financial
conditions is not known; despite the debt cut, Cologne
was bankrupt by 1931.
Workbook IV Regions
This serves to make it clear that it is difficult for politicians
who wish to be re-elected to think in terms of longer
periods of time than election cycles. A city development
concept would ideally encompass 50 to 100 years, at least
if one conceives of it in the dimensions that were charac-
teristic of Adenauer’s concept.
Does this also require a different idea or a different
paradigm for the equal treatment of areas and re-
gions? Or would it make sense to control the shrinking
by bits and pieces of missing sections of motorway in
accordance with the principle of equal shares for all via
the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan rather than
determining infrastructure by means of clear decisions
and building in the context of a measure so that these
missing sections immediately become functional? Even
if this means, for example, that in the new federal states
it would be impossible to build many ring roads due to a
lack of funds or due to economic necessity?
Must we give up the paradigm of equal treatment in
order once again to be able to implement strategic infra-
structure policies?
If one thinks in purely economic terms and represents the
premise that capital will always seek out the most advant-
ageous investment opportunities and profits, it is surely
more rational to invest in economically strong areas and
not to support the rural areas to such an extent even if
one accepts that living conditions there will not develop
as well as a consequence. This is, however, a fundamental
violation of the constitution. This is therefore only a
theoretical question, particularly because the mechanism
can be duplicated at the EU level.
Can it be proved from a historical perspective that this
equality can be created? Are we not under the influence
of a misconception in that regard?
There are certainly positive examples to be found,
although it is unclear whether this is to be attributed to
politics or to secular processes of economic structural
transformation or to the effects of special circumstances
such as the division of Germany. The current economic
power of Munich and Bavaria in comparison with the
1920s is positive evidence of a reversal of conditions. In
the 19th century, parts of the rural regions of the south-
west area of the republic in Baden-Württemberg, which is
today a wealthy region, still evidenced emigration that to
a great extent was a consequence of poverty.
It would be incorrect to assume
that economic development
can be practically forced to take
place
In connection with the equalisation of living conditions
the question of which region is to be addressed should
be asked. If the same demands as in pulsating big cities
are made with regard to infrastructure in every remote
village, then this is a misconception. In connection with
sustainable structural development it is certainly of cent-
ral importance to consider what potential certain regions
have. The chosen means, which can range from direct
investments to mechanisms for financial stimulation and
subsidies for private industry, are extremely various and
complex. However, it would be incorrect to assume that
economic development can be practically forced to take
place; this has not worked historically either.
The economic potential
of certain regions can be
traced back into the Middle
Ages. Strong and weak
areas were very similar
then as they are today.
Friedrich List’s ideal conception of the German railway
network in the 1840s as one based on central sites is
relatively identical to the network structure that was real-
ised by 1900, despite the fact that this occurred under en-
tirely different general conditions. He thus foresaw where
the central sites would be created and how they would
be connected to each other. A long-term perspective on
and prediction regarding the spatial effects of economic
activity was thus confirmed—which supports the thesis
that statements to the effect that certain regions will not
develop into motors of economic development for a long
time are permissible.
If the principle “one size fits all” is not true with regard
to the development of regions, it would be interesting to
understand whether there are different types of organ-
isational spaces and economic identities that bring with
them an aptitude for a certain type of development, for
example sectoral development. Are there such identities
along the Rhine?
The economic potential of certain regions can be traced
back into the Middle Ages. Strong and weak areas were
very similar then as they are today. Economically, the
Rhine area, broadly defined, from the river’s source to its
mouth is traditionally the strongest area in Europe. This
area has been extended to include northern Italy with its
trade via the Alps, for which there have been good reas-
ons historically, and the use of the Rhine as a waterway
created new strong economic structures along the Rhine
again and again from the Middle Ages onward despite
recurring massive structural transformations.
Whether it is the chemical industry or the automobile
supply industry that has been established in the Ber-
101
Beyond Plan B
gisches Land and in Württemberg, there have always
been structural effects there that can be traced back to
the Rhine. These phenomena are to be found in many
“river economies.” Even in our time, rivers still have a
very clear structuring function owing to which specific
know-how always develops locally. Already in the Middle
Ages there were traditional trades, and Cologne was
always also a trading town; as a result, private banks and
insurance companies established themselves early there.
This has continued to have an effect on Cologne’s eco-
nomic portfolio until today and has established the status
of Cologne as a strong site with regard to insurance. Path
dependencies that generally strengthen (themselves)
have been created. One could sketch out a similar pattern
for Rotterdam, which is strongly focused on the German
hinterlands and the Rhine-Ruhr area with extremely
dense economic linkages that tend to be historically
founded and to have been dependent on the existence
of the Rhine. And furthermore there has been “modern”
economic activity there that has been responsible for
new structural and agglomerative effects again and again.
Rivers still have a very clear
structuring function owing
to which specific know-how
always develops locally
On the basis of knowledge of German economic history
it has thus been possible to formulate the thesis that
existing structures are more suited to contributing to the
development of new structures than would have been
possible in peripheral rural areas. To what extent this
thesis can be transferred to other economic and state sys-
tems such as the Chinese model remains undetermined,
as it is very much conceivable that directed economic
programmes initiated by the state can generate new
structural effects there.
If trade is in the economic DNA of the Rhine, are certain
political systems also associated with that?
Success is less the result of political systems as of the
transcending of these systems, and is thus a function
of the fact that basically the organisational space of the
state is always something different from the imagined
economic organisational space. This is to say that as
great as political conflicts might have been there have
always been the efforts of Dutch, Rhineland, and French
companies along the Rhine to interact, to engage in trade,
and to create production relationships; to invest; and to
become linked to each other. This is a process that can
be observed well and that has even led to alternative
ordering concepts such as the Rhine state, a separate
state between the Germany and France of the 1920s.
There were similar thoughts in a somewhat different
form after 1945. If one later looked at the heart of the
European coal and steel union, one could see that this is
102
fundamentally a Rhenish project with the goal of placing
the economic and armaments-producing capacities of the
Rhein and Ruhr areas under international supervision and
peacefully providing enduring security for the existing
economic relationships. There have, then, been efforts to
transcend (obstructive) political boundaries or to arrive at
crossing points via trade and economic relations.
Are there other sites with an economic-spatial identity,
that is, a strong connection between space and eco-
nomic behaviour patterns within Europe?
Northern Italy and the northern area of England are
models for this. There are, however, also opposing exper-
iences, such as those of Austria-Hungary until 1918 with
regard to the attempt to produce a national organisa-
tional space; these efforts were not successful because
there were cultural problems in the “economic language”
between Bohemia and Hungary. The Bohemian economic
area had always been more oriented toward the central
German region via the Elbe. Here, too, an economic
border area had come into existence, one which played a
lesser role during the 20th century, to a great extent for
political reasons.
Associations between economic potential and beha-
viour-based economic goals are thus found relatively
frequently.
A core-periphery model shows the Rhineland as the
spine of the so-called “Blue Banana”, which is opposed
to metropolitan points such as London and Paris. How is
this to be evaluated from a historical perspective?
While London and Paris were the centers of important
and successful national states for centuries, a transcend-
ing of state organisational spaces with an accompanying
increasing division of labour among the regions instead
took place along the Rhine. But one must still ask oneself
whether this is understood in this way by the political
decision-makers in the Rhine region or in the Rhineland
in particular. If one were to see Cologne-Bonn-Düsseldorf
as one space, then the functional division of labour would
need to be taken much further. In this regard there would
need to be a focus on the trade fair sites or the harbours.
If one were to see Cologne-
Bonn-Düsseldorf as one
space, then the functional
division of labour would need
to be taken much further
This was perhaps still somewhat different at the time of
Rhenish capitalism, when there was generally a more
comfortable situation owing to balanced budgets, which
led to structural transformation with state funds at the
Workbook IV Regions

expense of public budgets. This transformation included
the establishment of universities, the expansion of the
administration, and the improvement of health care, with
which new structural effects were to be achieved through
public financing in an early phase. This created long-term
debt that remains a problem today.
This was the last time, up to and including the time of
German reunification, that there was a state-initiated
modernisation programme. Something comparable,
albeit under different conditions, took place after reuni-
fication in the new federal states with similarly dubious
results.
Critics of the EU maintain that it has grown too quickly
and/or that its subsidies are directed to too great an
extent across a broad area and to the periphery, so that
the core – that is, the “Blue Banana” – is neglected. Is
this criticism justifiable?
From an economic perspective and with regard to the
European structural fund this is evident. Behind the cri-
ticism is the classical tension between the economic and
the organisational space. In the first instance, the wish to
establish those EU institutions that are “in demand” and
from which economic development and prosperity are
expected in the south and east of Europe as well as else-
where can be rationally understood. This coincides with
bureaucratic thinking to the effect that as the EU grows,
the power of the administration (for example of the
Commission) grows as well. This is a motivation principle
for which one-to-one correspondences can be found in
the German Empire.
Do we, then, need a new kind of communication with
regard to planning, new criteria, and more time, and
how should one initiate this communication between
the disciplines?
The most important first step would be to find partners
who are interested in thinking in terms of entirely differ-
ent perspectives. Trans- and interdisciplinarity are difficult
processes, since every social group has developed its own
language for these processes. Thus it is already a major
step even to establish communication.
Also, there are tendencies toward economising in science
that make it difficult to invest in projects outside one’s
own core discipline.
It is already a major step even
to establish communication.
I could imagine that from a historical perspective it would
be interesting to take a concrete historical case problem
and compare it to contemporary aspects. Thus, for ex-
ample, the regulation of the railways and the suggestion
regarding the separation of track and traffic that was first
presented in 1840 as a measure for the encouragement
of competition could trigger an aha-experience if it were
compared to the current suggestions put forth by the
monopoly commission, which call for exactly the same
thing.

It should be a goal that one

allows “air for breathing”

One can see how problematic this can be when one

observes a small-scale version: while economic support
is being concentrated on the new German federal states,
the Ruhr region is decaying. The question is whether the
intended equalisation is being carried out too quickly
and whether much more distant planning horizons would
have been necessary.

Nevertheless, I would like once again to draw attention

to the thesis that it is difficult to force development. It
should instead be a goal that one allows “air for breath-
ing”, that is, that the EU should support certain things
and provide infrastructure, but in accordance with certain
criteria and for measures that leave room for individual
development and in particular do not subsidise competi-
tion within the EU (as for example in the case of compet-
ing Nokia subsidies in Bochum and Romania).

103
Beyond Plan B

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 Beyond Plan B

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