Opening the frontier: recent spatial impacts in the former inner-German border zone

The authors examine the 1989 removal of the frontier region (Zonenrandgebiet) along the eastern border of the former Federal Republic of Germany. "The paper examines the socio-economic impacts on the North Bavarian section of the Zonenrandgebiet, which is characterized by its dispersed industrial base and lack of higher-order urban centres. Evidence is presented of rapid upturns in population growth and economic activity, together with a large inflow of commuters from the former East Germany and Czechoslovakia, following frontier opening. Traffic, environmental pressures and living costs have also increased. Both positive and negative impacts are strongest in districts contiguous with the former frontier. Long-term development prospects hinge on its newly-gained centrality within Germany. Substantial local benefits are anticipated...,but they are unlikely to induce a major reshaping of the German space-economy; this will be dominated by the rivalry between the largest metropolitan centres." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND GER)