Old industrial areas
Good practice case study
URBAN II Leipzig West, Germany
The Leipzig West URBAN II programme addresses the decline of the western inner-city quarters of Leipzig which have suffered from the decline of traditional manufacturing activity, primarily mechanical engineering and metal processing. The programme integrates activity targeted at local economic and employment development, social integration and renewal, and environmental and infrastructure improvements. Economic development measures adopted include more traditional approaches of bringing under-used premises and land back into economic use, as well as newer approaches to supporting small and medium enterprise development, particularly in the local retail sector and other local service sectors. Action to support SME development has developed initiatives to encourage local entrepreneurs to work together to share innovative ideas and develop joint action.
This example from Leipzig demonstrates the importance of support for the creation of new businesses in a wider context of urban and social regeneration. Other key lessons are:
- in weak local economies, the creation of new businesses is more difficult than the development of existing indigenous businesses. The key strength of local businesses is their knowledge of local customer potential and partnership structures.
- business owners and managers in old industrial and mining areas need increasingly to see themselves as partners who run a business location together, rather than as mere competitors for the same local market;
- SME associations, trade chambers and industry chambers can support the formation of local networks. They should be involved in programme advisory committees where possible.
Case study
The experience of the Leipzig URBAN II Programme (and ‘Leipzig New Ways’ Article 6 Partnership) [pdf, en, 18kb]
