Study: North-South gap amplified, East locations catch up
The two southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg still have the best regional outlooks in Germany; East German locations are catching up. Those are the most important results of the “Future Atlas“ that the Swiss Market Research Institute Prognos provided to the Handelsblatt.
Dresden, Potsdam, and Jena approach western standard
Eight of the ten cities and counties that have most strongly improved their position in the ranking are located in the “new“ German states. The study's biggest climber is Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Within three years, the Hanseatic city climbed 224 places and is now ranked 101. Dresden, Potsdam, and Jena are among eastern locations that have noticeably improved their competitive advantage in the last years. In the meantime, the economic vitality of these cities can match that of the western regions.
East not over the hill
There are, however, still losers in the East: “There is progress in the East, but unfortunately it is very spotty,“ said Prognos' managing director Christian Böllhoff. “The growth regions don't radiate enough. Collectively, the East is not over the hill,“ he said. Like 2004, these regions, which researchers certify as high or very high future risks, are situated in the “new“ federal states. “Rural, structurally weak East German regions are the largest problem children,“ said Böllhoff.
Almost all top regions in Bavaria
In the West, the economic North-South gap has been amplified even further since 2004. Seven of eight regions in the leading group with “top chances for the future“ are in Bavaria, one in Baden-Württemberg. More than half of the 35 cities from the second group, to which Prognos has assigned “very good chances for the future,“ come from both southern states. Undisputedly, the megalopolis of Munich occupies the first spot. Since as early as 2004, the first three places are occupied by cities in Munich county and the neighboring Starnberg county.