W. German Cities Rated as Europe’s Most ‘Successful’

West Germany has the most “successful” cities in Western Europe, according to a recent survey done for the European Economic Community.

The study analyzed 103 metropolitan areas for livability and economic health and found that overall, West German cities ranked highest.

Among the ingredients that go into making a “successful” city, the three professors who conducted the study concluded, were a sound tax base, care by planners and officials to keep the cities on a human scale, a careful preservation of the past and an emphasis on developing cultural institutions.

The professors, two from the University of Reading and one from Bologna, restricted the study to communities with a core population of at least 200,000 and a metropolitan area population of at least 330,000. Of those communities, West German cities were ranked first and second; a total of six German cities were among the first 10, and 11 were in the first 20.

Frankfurt was ranked as the most successful European city, followed by Munich. Then came the Italian city of Venice, the West German capital of Bonn, the Belgian capital of Brussels, Duesseldorf and Wiesbaden in West Germany, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Stuttgart in West Germany and Strasbourg in France.

Liverpool at Bottom

In the second 10 were the West German cities of Hannover, Hamburg, Kasel, Augsburg and Karlsruhe--along with Florence, Bologna and Milan in Italy and Dijon and Nice in France.

No German city came anywhere near the bottom of the list. The 20 cities at that end included Coventry in England, Belfast in Northern Ireland and Glasgow in Scotland, Palermo in Sicily, Liege in Belgium, Lille in France and Naples in Italy. In last place was the ailing English port city of Liverpool.

The study attempted to measure the success of cities by various factors, including average income, unemployment and migration, and the number of hotel rooms--as an indication of the number of business and tourist visitors.

“The West German cities held up the best,” said University of Reading Prof. Paul Cheshire, one of the authors, in an interview. “The Germans seem to have an urban consciousness that gives an effective focus to their cities.

“Further, the Germans have incorporated nostalgia for the past in rebuilding their cities after the vast damage of World War II. Whereas Britain went for the ‘Brave New World’ approach of modernism that now looks tatty.”

According to Cheshire and his associates, a city’s popularity with its residents is linked to its general economic health; it is public spending that contributes to the amenities of urban life.

Rebuilding Delayed

What makes West German cities so relatively attractive, urban experts such as Cheshire say, is that German planners and city officials have taken into consideration what the citizens themselves want in their cities--not just foisting off the grandiose plans of modern architects and city planners.

In advancing reasons for the livability of West German cities, Housing Minister Hans Pflaumer pointed out that the rebuilding of cities in his country did not take place immediately after the war but rather in the late 1950s and into the 1960s. By 1960, a federal law was passed that stipulated that new urban construction “must correspond to the nature of its surroundings.”

“Thus our cities were spared some of the vast reconstruction that took place elsewhere,” Pflaumer said.

He also said that in rebuilding their cities, the Germans left the old centers intact as much as possible rather than tearing down the ruins and creating huge modern complexes in their place.

Architecture critics say that is why German cities often retain a pleasing human scale, with old landmarks reconstructed rather than being totally replaced by modern office buildings, high-rise urban housing and eyesores such as parking garages in the center of cities, a style that has flawed the postwar reconstruction of many British cities.

Aristocracy a Plus

“There is also the fact that West Germany is not dominated by a single capital city like London or Paris,” said Manfrad Kanowitz, a federal German urban planner. “Many of our cities were seats of duchies, principalities and kingdoms where rulers created cultural monuments and handsome palaces.”

That aristocracy also built churches, castles, parks, fountains, opera houses, theaters--and universities--to enhance their capitals.

For example, the Wittelsbach dynasty, which made its home in Munich, was responsible for creating many of the beautiful buildings, monuments and boulevards that--various public opinion polls have shown--make the Bavarian capital the favorite city of other Germans.

Similarly, the urban planners of Bonn, the federal capital, emphasized its old market squares and university buildings and built the new federal ministries well clear of the old city center.

Duesseldorf, now the capital of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, was once the capital of the grand duchy of Berg. Its location along the Rhine, and its elegant streets and parks, have made it one of the more livable cities--and also one of the richest in Germany, because it has been the financial center to the nearby Ruhr industrial area.

Wiesbaden is the capital of the state of Hessen, home of the Nassau princes, and its hot springs and medicinal baths have long attracted sophisticated visitors and led to an architecture that boasts broad, shaded esplanades and sumptuous buildings surrounded by parks.

Economic Soundness

Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Wuerttenberg, the former seat of the dukes and kings of Wuerttenberg, who built a charming city in a lovely hillside setting along the banks of the Neckar River. Today it is the headquarters for Daimler-Benz and Porsche, among other industrial firms. Stuttgart also boasts one of the first ballet companies in West Germany, which is now the pride of the city and country.

While the leading German cities are economically sound and pay for city beautification with the help of tax receipts, most of the poorly rated cities are in economically depressed areas of Western Europe, where smokestack industries such as coal, steel and shipbuilding have declined sharply in recent years.

Cities fitting this profile, and rating very low in the survey, include Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast, Newcastle, Birmingham and Sheffield in Britain; Charleroi in Belgium; Le Havre in France, and Palermo and Naples in southern Italy.

The pattern fits even the lowest-ranked cities in West Germany. Saarbrucken and several Ruhr Valley cities such as Duisburg, Bochum and Wuppertal are old industrial towns.

At the same time, cities that have managed to attract light or service industries appear to be on the rise. Some of the cities that have shown improvement in recent years with the growth of such industries are Norwich and Brighton in England; Toulouse, Montpellier and Lyon in France, and Verona and Bologna in Italy.

Frankfurt, which topped the survey, is proof that a city can be turned around in a matter of years and made more attractive to its inhabitants.

Emphasis on Cultural Side

Long the financial capital of West Germany, Frankfurt was on its way to being just another city with a high-rise financial section surrounded by a tacky “red light” district. But then Mayor Walter Wallmann decided that “banks and business are not enough.”

Wallmann helped to change Frankfurt by emphasizing its cultural side; the city now sets aside $150 million a year for the arts. The mayor has invested that money in new museums, in renovating the old opera house to make it one of the best in Germany and in restoring the old city quarter along the Main River.

Now, visitors are attracted to central Frankfurt long after the city’s bankers, insurance brokers and advertising men have gone home to their suburbs for the evening.

“Frankfurt has changed much for the better in just a few years,” commented Patricia Naatz, a concert singer. “It is now an exciting place to go, with museums, theater, music, cafes, shops. The whole area of the old city has come very much alive.”

Or as Pflaumer puts it: “Walter Wallmann in Frankfurt showed that cities are for people and pedestrians, and what they need is an aesthetic quality.

“We in the ministry here believe that cities are not just dead stone and concrete. Cities need an aesthetic factor to brighten urban life, and that is what we have tried to do with our communities in West Germany.”