Wirtschaftlicher Strukturwandel in der Region Stuttgart

Economic structural change in the Stuttgart region. The Stuttgart region is one of the most highly developed regions in the EU. Growth rates, competitiveness and purchasing power are far more dependent than in other regions of the EU on the basic and export activities of the industrial sector, especially on the region’s closeley knit cluster of activities around the automobile industry. However, Baden-Württemberg’s economically strongest region is no longer the fastest growing one. Economy and population are certainly continuing to grow but structural weaknesses are evident in the below average growth of value added in both the producing and services sectors. These weaknesses are also evident in the labour market despite the relatively low rate of unemployment and the difficulties associated with finding new growth areas. in contrast to the industrial sector with its outstanding national and and international companies, there is a lack of basic and export activities in the services sector in the Stuttgart region. The polarised structure of employment, a large share of highly qualified employees and, at the Same time, a large share of those with few skills can be explained by the economic structure which is atypical for urban regions of highly developed countries. Because of the structural weaknesses and the strong interregional competition, development of the region and improvement in the research and education infrastructure have priority as fields for policy action.