Conceiving innovation in structurally weak rural areas of eastern Germany

Abstract

Structurally weak rural areas constitute a spatial category of land-use planning in Germany. This category designates rural areas with low density, marked by the recessive processes of depopulation, structural aging and socio-economic abandonment. It establishes a territorial discrimination that guides public intervention. These are formulated in terms of supporting innovation through the application of the principles and practices of local development. The paper questions the design and application of public policy for structurally weak rural areas. It begins with a retrospective study of the construction of the spatial category. It then explains the evolution of the contents of planning policy. Finally, it examines the territorial discontinuity lines that mark the east-west difference inherited from the socio-economic transition introduced by the country's reunification in 1990.