Flächennutzungswandel im Transformationsprozeß von der 'sozialistischen' zur 'kapitalistischen' Stadt am Beispiel Erfurts

von Thomas Ott

7.2

English summary:

The city of Erfurt in the transformation process of the cities in the new Länder – A regulationist approach

On the eve of reunification of the two German states the city of Erfurt represented the typical image of a "real existing" socialist city in the GDR: It did not meet the utopian ideas of an ideal socialist city, but its building stock as well as its functional structure reflected the architectural developments of 40 years of a centralized and planned economy and dictatorial decision-making. Although the city escaped from major damages in World War II, the industrial housing construction since the sixties led to severe destruction at the edge of the medieval city and the transition areas to the urban extensions of the industrial period. The historic center remained more or less untouched, but the extensive socialist housing and industrial areas both in the North and the South have given the city a lasting shape. Apart from the planned but never realized silhouette-dominating monument all physical and functional characteristics of socialist architecture and urban planning can be found in Erfurt. The housing areas built after World War II reflect in their chronological order the prevailing principles of socialist urban development in the GDR. The minor destruction in World War II and the delayed building of the metal-processing and electrical industry led to a predominant position of the housing areas built in the seventies and eighties in Erfurt.

The built structures had their social equivalent in the socioeconomic structure of the population. In the end, the housing areas built in the seventies and eighties showed a comparatively homogenous composition of the inhabitants, although the allocation criteria led to a remarkable segregation by age groups. Depending on the sanitary conditions and the state of disrepair the old building stock showed stronger segregation of individual population groups which perpetuated mainly the pre-war conditions: the exclusive residential areas of the South and West kept their upper class status and were preferred domiciles for the nomenclature of party and state. Due to the poor equipment and the progressing dilapidation the traditional working class neighborhoods in the East and North fell more and more behind the new housing areas. In the end a significant increase in the percentage of old people as well as a concentration of social problem cases could be observed.

The unification of the Federal Republic and the GDR had far-reaching consequences for the inner differentiation of the city as well as the relationship between the city and its environs. The transfer of the economic and social regulation system from the former West Germany resulted in a sudden turn around of the previous development. While the emphasis of house building on the former district capital before 1989 led to a continuos increase of the number of inhabitants, the population loss of the former administrative district documented the neglect of rural settlements and the total lack of suburbanization. The latter started not until 1990 and revealed itself in the population increase of the surrounding municipalities. In the historic center the capitalist land rent structure led to the development of a CBD, which expanded as well on neighboring areas. The city extensions of the industrial period are in particular subject to a pressure for change predominantly controlled exogenously, which manifests itself in the replacement of dwellings by commercial or service facilities, and also the conversion of rented into owner-occupied apartments. The poor infrastructural equipment of the inner city and the unsolved claims of ownership led besides other legal and economic factors (e.g. temporally limited tax write-offs) to the emergence of vast industrial areas and large retail facilities on the urban outskirts resp. in the suburban municipalities vested with new rights. The principle "return before compensation" hampered the investment in neglected residential buildings because of unclarified claims of ownership. As a consequence potential immigrants moved into the new residential areas of the urban environs. All inner city neighborhoods were affected by strong population losses. The stream of emigrants was first of all directed into the Western Länder, since 1992/93 increasingly into the new suburban residential areas. The city’s striking population loss after 1988 could only be compensated by the incorporations in July 1994.

Based on the condition of the natural and built environment, the socioeconomic status of the neighborhoods remained based on traditions resp. persistent. In particular the exclusive residential areas in the South of the city, which were also in the GDR prefered residence of the ruling elite, can take up with their pre-war upper class status. While the residential areas in the city extensions of the industrial expansion period are at least in part subject to revaluation, the formerly much sought-after socialist housing areas fall steadily back in their relative position, as the sanitary equipment and the ground plan of the apartments as well as the vicinity can less and less satisfy the risen demands.

The land use change in the Erfurt region finds its expression predominantly in the new industrial areas as well as the new residential areas in the suburban environs with often monotonous building forms and styles. Commercial, military or agrarian fallows play only a secondary role for the development. An exception is made up by former LPG-buildings, which were transformed into retail facilities or stores immediately after the political change. Agrarian fallows are scarcely noted because of the high soil quality in the Thuringian basin. The redevelopment of former military or industrial areas is impeded by dangerous wastes from the past and rarely by unsolved claims of ownership.

Municipalities which stand out due to favorable locational factors (e.g. proximity of motorway, attractive landscape) show a dynamic development. This is valid both for commercial and house building projects. In those municipalities where the new residential areas have already been completed, enormous population gains could be observed during the last years. This was caused on the one hand by emigrants from the urban core, on the other hand by immigrants from other regions (Western Länder). In contrast stand peripheral municipalities in which emigration tendencies and a negative balance of the natural population development still prevail.

Due to the delayed building of the higher planning authorities, in the years 1990/91 locational decisions were made, which had negative effects on the development of the inner city retail trade. Although in the Erfurt region the excessive provision of retail space known from other East German regions (e.g. Leipzig) could not be observed, overcapacities emerged here as well. Because of the still existing disparities in purchasing power between West and East Germany, one has to reckon with closures and crashes.

The analysis of the case study areas has shown, that the sudden transfer of the Western regulation mechanisms initiated a development striving for convergence with the West German cities. Yet the "catch-up modernization" does not exactly follow all development stages of the cities in the Western Länder: Stages are jumped and skipped or followed after in an other sequence resp. parallely and frequently much faster. These dynamics can be observed mainly in the suburban environs as well as in those parts of the old building stock which are characterized by CBD extension tendencies.

Many signs indicate that the dynamic development process of the last years in the Erfurt region will be continued and even be accelerated through new impulses (reopening of the university, move of the federal labor court, completion of the high speed rail connection). The growing number of immigrants – not the least from the Western Länder –, the adaption of lifestyles and housing conditions to the Western example as well as the enormous need for reconstruction and redevelopment of the building stock will cause housing shortages beyond the turn of the century. The incorporation of the 18 new urban districts added considerable reserves of potential residential areas. Their development contributes to keep the emigrating population inside the city boundaries. It remains uncertain, whether the suburbanization will in the years to come actually reach the extent known from the West, or if it will be possible through a rapid modernization and revaluation of the inner city residential areas (predominantly those in the urban extensions of the industrial expansion period) to create attractive living conditions for young families as well as for the growing number of one- and two-person-households. The expansion of suburbanization is fostered by the large number of apartments to be modernized, which is hampered by a multitude of factors like unsolved claims of ownership or lack of capital. However, the different sociodemographic composition of society (increase of one- and two-person –households, growing number of older people), the reduced government subsidies for owner-occupied dwellings compared to the 1970s in the West, the lower level of income of the East German households and the recognition of the problematic public transport connections of residential areas in the suburban zone work as a counterpoise.

The future of the socialist housing areas is hard to predict. It remains open, whether operations can succeed, to prevent the loss of attractiveness and an accompanying social erosion. The currently observable processes – emigration of wealthier households and immigration of population groups driven out from the inner city – underline the decline. Furthermore, through the growing number of newly constructed or renovated apartments the comparably high standard of sanitary equipment in the socialist housing areas in GDR-times falls behind the new standards of living. However, the enormous number of apartments in the socialist housing areas forbids the transfer of observations and findings from large West German or West European residential areas. Because of the specific age composition of the inhabitants infrastructural bottlenecks are predetermined.

After the growth in the industrial period and four decades of socialist moulding, the city of Erfurt again gets a new face. The legacy of the epoch of socialist urban development will remain visible for a number of decades and inhibit a total adaption to the physical and functional structure of West German cities.