Industrial cities: Crisis, perception of crises and alternatives in urban development in the second half of the 20th century

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Martina Heßler; Professor Dr. Clemens Zimmermann
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272096603

Historical research on industrial cities has mainly focused on processes of industrialization and growth, including the "socialist city". Times of decrease and decline, however, have not gained much attention. Particularly the interdependency and relationship of growth, shrinking, and the transformation of cities have not been systematical studied. Moreover, research on middle-sized cities and comparative studies are lacking. Finally, historical research on industrial cities has neglected to develop a proper theoretical framework of analysis to explain and contextualize empirical results. Theoretical models - such as the concept of path dependency - have been largely ignored. With the explanatory potential of path dependency at its heart, the planned project intends to ask for the potential of such a framework within which to base its empirically dense results. The project concentrates, firstly, on the perceptions and effects of crisis and, secondly, on the strategies employed in overcoming these crises in industrial cities. Four in-depth case studies revolve around the experience of and the reactions to crisis in industrial centers. These case studies deliberately cover different types of industrial sectors: Rüsselsheim and Wolfsburg as automobile cities, Völklingen as steel town, and Wilhelmshaven as port city. For these industrial centers, the proposed project comparatively examines the networks, the coalitions of actors and their scope of action. The comparison additionally analyses the increasing global economic interdependency and the competition between the four cities in question. It thus contributes to a better understanding of the concept and manifestations of deindustrialization in German cities in the second half of the 20th century. In all, the project intends to demonstrate the societal relevance of the twin processes of deindustrialization and transformation by both comparing different types of cities and developing a model to explain these changes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants