The Ruhr

1. The Ruhr Today

2. Economic System • The times when the economy was dominated by coal mining are definitely over. Today, the service sector employs more than two thirds of the workforce in the Ruhr area . Here, the health sector plays an important role. • In 2018, coal mining will no longer be subsidized by the state. • Industrial fallows in the cities are used to build small industrial parks. • The companies mainly benefit from the fact that the Ruhr area is easily accessible. • Moreover, new business and technology centres have been built since the eighties. These centres develop innovative products in order to give the area a new image as a region which looks at the future. • However, these measures and efforts could not compensate the job losses in the mining, coal and steel indstries.

3. Traffic and Transport • The transport structure was developed at a time when it was important to transport goods produced by the heavy and mining industries at an affordable cost. • Today, a well-established network of channels and harbours ensures that goods can be transported on a large scale. • The harbour in Duisburg is the world‘s biggest inland port. • The S-Bahn and other means of public transport make travellingwithin the Ruhr area very easy. • The motorways were built to make the Ruhr‘s cities easily accessible by car. In general, they are north-south and east-west routes. That means that, for example, you can travel east to west or west to east. • The motorways cannot cope with the high traffic density during rush hours. However, in many cases there is no room to increasethe number of lanes.

4. Settlement Structure • Many cities in the Ruhr still have problems with the mistakes made after World War II to ensure that thereis enough living space for all the inhabitants. • Destroyed settlements are turned into down-to-earth and practical dwelling houses. Old streets are removed and their buildings taken down to make way for access roads and circular roads. • Urban redevelopment programmes aim at improving the home environment. The old workers‘ settlements, which are becoming more and more popular dwelling houses, are gradually refurbished.

5. Education and Culture • The Ruhr area was only known as a provider of resources for Germany‘s industrial development before. However, it changed its way of thinking as early as in the fifties during the coal crisis. • The first universities and universities of applied sciences were already built in the sixties. Today, the Ruhr area has the highest density of universities of applied sciences in Europe. • Culture in the Ruhr area has also developed greatly. During the recent years, many new theatres, opera houses and festivals were established. Some of these are well-known beyond the borders of the region. • Moreover, some industrial monuments and fallows were restored and now serve a new purpose as places of cultural interest, which attract many visitors. This was especially true for the “Ruhr 2010“.

6. Nature and Recreation • There are more green areas in this region than you would expect. The project to establish regional green areas was started in the sixties. These areas expand throughout the Ruhr area from north to south and may not be used as building land.