The Compendium of Urban and Regional Development

The Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (formerly known as The Academy for Spatial Research and Planning) (ARL) has been publishing the Handwörterbuch der Stadt- und Raumentwicklung for over five decades.

It is directed at interested academics and practitioners. A selection of English language articles can be downloaded here for free.

Looking for an article that is not yet available in English? Email us and let us know which article you would like to have translated!

The German versions of all articles are available here.

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Demographic change

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  1. Demographic change – an explanation
  2. Regional differences in future population trends in Germany
  3. Causes of demographic change
  4. Challenges posed by demographic change
  5. Action strategies for areas with different structures
  6. Concluding remarks
References

Demographic change is having a significant impact on societal trends in Germany. From a spatial perspective, the focus is on the equivalence of living conditions and thus on safeguarding the provision of public services. Demographic change impacts different areas in different ways, requiring approaches to action to be tailored to the specific circumstances of each locale.

Paul Gans

Disparities, spatial

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  1. Objectives and contradictions
  2. Definition
  3. Dimensions and measurement levels of spatial disparities
  4. Approaches to explaining the emergence of spatial disparities
  5. (How) Can spatial disparities be reduced through spatial planning?
  6. Equivalent living conditions in light of increasing disparities
  7. Debates about the notion of space
References

The reduction of spatial disparities has constitutional status both within the European Union (EU) and within the nation states. Nonetheless, the disparities have increased (again) on almost all levels in the last few decades. The reason for this is the tension between the growth and equalisation policy or rather the contradiction between the objectives of individual specialist policies and the rather weak instruments of the cohesion policy.

Jens S. Dangschat