Magazine on small town research for a broad audience

Urban life can also be found beyond the metropolises - in small towns. No wonder, after all, the small town is the most common type of city in Germany; immensely diverse in terms of size and location and home to almost a third of the German population. And although almost everyone has a picture in their head of what small town life is all about, there has hardly been any systematic research on the topic so far. There now exist results from the ExWoSt research field "The potential of small towns in peripheral locations".

Since 2015, the Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences has accompanied eight model towns throughout Germany on their way to sustainable small-town development, supported internal participation processes and promoted external networking. inter 3 has now been commissioned to report on the findings of small-town research and publish them in an attractive magazine. The magazine is aimed at a broad readership and is intended to arouse interest not only among experts but also among citizens.

Background

The ExWoSt research field commissioned by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) in the Federal Office for Building and Regional Development (BBR) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs (BMI) has for the first time produced findings on the special potentials and challenges of small towns in peripheral locations and on the question of how co-productive small town development can succeed under the current conditions of economic, social and technological change.

In eight small towns, development potentials were identified and future strategies developed in a joint process involving politics, administration, business and citizenry. The small towns have developed innovative solutions off the beaten track and derived key projects, networks and approaches based on specific scenarios. The model projects are representative of 917 peripherally located small towns nationwide.