EINE NEUE IDENTITÄT FÜR REGIONALSTÄDTE:DEINDUSTRIALISIERUNG, KOMMUNALE GEBIETSREFORMUND TOURISMUS

In recent years, many regional cities that had relied on their industrial baseand central function for the surrounding areas have experienced varying forms ofdecline, including population shrinking and ageing. During the wave of municipalmergers, these cities have integrated many peripheral municipalities with the aimof administrative consolidation – even when there were only weak connections betweenthem. As a result of deindustrialization and municipal merger, a new trendhas emerged among regional cities to promote tourism, which has always been aprominent regional development tool in peripheral areas, as a tool for both revitalizationand the integration of newly created administrative units....