The Role of the Environmental Industry in the Development of the Regions: The Case of the German Region Saxony-Anhalt
The Role of the Environmental Industry in the Development of the Regions: The Case of the German Region Saxony-Anhalt

Summary/Abstract: In the 21st century, the environment and the sustainability have gained more relevant role in the regional development. The old East German region and the Central-Eastern European regions are in similar position in this aspect. All of the East German regions had almost the same problems as the central and eastern European regions, because of the planned economy system between 1950 and 1990. They had an old industrial structure with big inequalities in the economy and it caused structural problems in the economy of this regions. The examined region, Saxony-Anhalt fell in deep economical depression after the political transition and the reunion of Germany, so it was necessary to work out some development strategies which can help the region to transform its economy. One of these development strategies is the re-industrialization with new innovative industries. The goal of this paper is to introduce a new knowledge- and innovation-based industry, which is built on the environment protection, and to analyze its developing effects on an East German region’s economy. I suppose it is important to analyze, how such a sustainable industry can grow up in an old industrial region. This research is based on the arrangements and initiations of the European Union, Germany and Saxony-Anhalt which are in connection with the environmental industry. It is the other important question of the paper, how these decisions and arrangements could support the development of the environmental industry, how this industry could take effect on the economical and social development of the region. The results are significant, the region could show the biggest development in the German environmental industry between 2005 and 2010 and the future of that industry seems to be really stable due to the infrastructural, educational and scientific backgrounds.

• Details
• Contents