Ruinöse Einwohnerkonkurrenz

A competitive development of local authorities concerns the increase in the number of inhabitants. The German criteria of tax division between the Federal Government, the states and the local authorities in this competition are gaining a special dynamic. The outcome of demographically determined population losses and a high proportion of fixed costs for local infrastructure is a ruinous competition. The paper analyses this competition by using data for housing spaces and local deficits in the Bremen region. It is shows that processes of suburbanisation are driven by an over-proportional supply of space in rural communities. The city as the central place and core of the region tries to counteract this development by providing spaces for housing with a lower density. Different instruments of financial compensation are tools to maintain vital infrastructure and a budgetary balance.