Lahr, Germany, as a Microcosm of Urban Change examined through the Retail Sector by Nadine Newman, B. A. (Hons) Submitted to Carleton University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Geography and Environmental Studies © Copyright May 2006, Nadine Newman Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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Abstract This thesis examines contemporary urban change in Lahr, Germany, through the lens of the retail sector. Over the last 15 years, Lahr has faced a series of shocks, of which the one with the most impact was the closing of the Canadian Forces base located there. This took millions of Deutsch Marks out of the local economy and reduced the city's population by a quarter. The building of a shopping centre just outside the inner city has also had a severe impact on the core retailing by siphoning consumers away. The final factor examined is broader change in the German economy, specifically the impact of high unemployment and the perceived price increases brought on by conversion from the Deutsch Mark to the Euro. Finally, plans to revitalize the Lahrer inner city by attracting consumers are examined, with an emphasis on the Rahmenplan set out by the City of Lahr. They are meeting with some degree of success. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements I would first like to thank all those who participated in my thesis, including anyone who agreed to respond to my surveys, City of Lahr employees and store owners who agreed to interviews, and everyone else who contributed to the success of my research. I would also like to thank my German family and friends, who continued to motivate me to do my best, and who supported everything I did, regardless of the outcome. I would also like to thank my family in Canada for helping me through the process of taking my research and converting it into a thesis. I thank John Tunbridge, who was very friendly and supportive in the early stages of my thesis, donating much of his time to helping me develop the topic for this thesis. I would also like to thank Iain Wallace who assisted me through the later stages of the thesis, dedicating a lot of time towards editing the various drafts and helping to keep focus throughout. I would also like to thank the Ontario/Baden-Wtirttemberg Exchange Program for admitting me as a candidate and handling all the administrative aspects of going on exchange to a foreign university. Vor allem und besonders wichtig ist es fur mich, dass ich mich bei Doris und Helmut Julch bedanke. In den sieben Monaten, die ich in Deutschland gelebt habe, haben sie ihr Haus fur mich geoffnet und mir ein Heim gegeben. Sie haben mir mehr Liebe und Unterstiitzung gegeben, als ich je hatte erwarten kbnnen. Dafur werde ich ihnen mein Leben lang dankbar sein. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Preface The original concept for this thesis was brought to my attention by a resident Lahr. Lahr, a city of43 000, located in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, is my hometown and I lived there until 1993, which is why I still have close, personal connections to the area. I visit as often as I can and am quite interested in its development. During the time in which I was attempting to formulate a question for my thesis, I received a telephone call from a friend. During the course of our conversation, she mentioned that the city centre was becoming quite deserted, and that on my next visit I would not find it to be the bustling inner city that I remembered. This is the one phrase that essentially shaped my thesis. I decided that the decline in activity in the inner city would be an excellent starting point for a thesis. I had some theories as to why this might be so, but my three main factors were established only once I arrived in Lahr and began to assess the situation. It is also because of my close connection to Lahr that I have elected to write this thesis in the first person. I find that it is difficult to separate myself from this body of work and therefore feel that the first person point of view in the most logical to use. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................iii Preface..................................................................................................................................iv Table of Contents...................................................................................................................v ListofFigures....................................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Introduction......................................................................................................1 Chapter Two: Literature Review............................................................................................ 8 Chapter Three: Research Methodology................................................................................21 Chapter Four: The Closure of the CanadianBase.................................................................39 Chapter Five: Impact of the closure of the Canadian Base on the Retail sector in Lahr 60 Chapter Six: Arena and Griine Wiese.................................................................................... 74 Chapter Seven: Effect of German Economy and Euro Conversion.......................................92 Chapter Eight: Plans a nd Attempts to Revitalize the Lahrer Innenstadt.............................123 Chapter Nine: Conclusion..................................................................................................135 Appendix A : Euro Questionnaire........................................................................................142 Appendix B: Store Owner Questionnaire........................................................................... 144 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................146 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. List of Figures Figure 1.1 - Map of Southwestern Germany........................................................................... 7 F igure 4.1 - T imetable for the pullout of Canadian troops from..................................... Lahr 50 Figure 5.1- Map of Lahr.......................................................................................................73 Figure 6.1 - Map of Arena in relation to the Innenstadt.......................................................90 Figure 6.2 - Map showing the Griine Wiese in relation to the Innenstadt............................91 Figure 6.3 - Competition for the Innenstadt.........................................................................85 Figure 7.1 - Unemployment Rates in the German States June 2005.....................................97 Figure 7.2 - Unemployment in Lahr.....................................................................................98 Figure 7.3 - Felt Inflation...................................................................................................