Regiopolis

A regiopolis is a city outside a metropolitan area, that acts as a driving force for development for the city itself and its suburban region. The concept is not only seen as a phrase for city marketing, but it has also the potential to bring these urban regions back on the national and European map. To use and further develop their (economic) potential a strong cooperation between the city and its surrounding municipalities is needed and should be accompanied by cooperation’s with other interest groups and the local business sector. The term “regiopolis” is a combination of the words region and polis (city) and is used in the context of urban and regional planning. It has been developed by the professors Iris Reuther and Jürgen Aring in Germany in 2006.^[1]

Characteristics

In contrast to a metropolis a regiopolis is a characterization of smaller scaled centers with a high functional importance for their hinterland. Thus they are mostly situated outside of metropolitan areas. Further characteristics are

• The size (not the biggest city within a country, but a size that matters within the national context)
• A good accessibility combined with a good infrastructure
• A high economical importance
• Location of global players and hidden champions
• A concentration of an innovative potential
• A university.

These characteristics have mainly been developed within the German framework; it is aimed to develop them further within a European context.^[2]

Regiopolis Rostock

The first German city region working with the regiopolis concept is Rostock. A taskforce with different actors such as the hanseatic city of Rostock, the administrative district of Rostock, the Regional Planning Association Mid Mecklenburg/Rostock and the local business organizations is working on the promotion of the concept.^[3] They aim to build up a national and a European network of regiopolis, comparable to the network of European Metropolitan Regions and Areas.^[4]

Characteristics of the Rostock Regiopolis

• Rostock Region is the German gateway to the Baltic States and to Scandinavia;
• Rostock is the economically strongest city of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania;
• Rostock Port is a major hub^[5] in Northern Germany;
• more than 30 of the 100 biggest enterprises in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania operate in Rostock Region;
• the oldest university in Northern Europe is located in Rostock;
• Rostock is the biggest city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with more people moving in than moving out;
• Rostock Region lies on the European axis connecting the Baltic and the Adriatic Sea;^[6]
• Rostock is host to the annual “Hanse Sail” event;
• Rostock is the major destination of city tourism in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania;
• Rostock Region is a location within the “BioConValley^[7]” research network.

Achievements

• The concept of Regiopolis was invented at Kassel University in 2006;
• Rostock was the first city to adopt the concept;
• since 2009 it has been more and more widely discussed within the region;
• the term is increasingly adopted by the federal and the state governments;
• in 2009 the first congress of German Regiopolis was initiated by Rostock Region;
• in 2010 the first mayors’ conference of Rostock Region was held;
• in 2011 an informal meeting of representatives of potential other regiopolis was held in Berlin.^[8]