Monitoring, indicators, regional analyses

In order to put discussions about rural areas and their development on a sound empirical basis, differentiated data is needed. Our monitoring of rural areas compiles such data for Germany and makes it available to interested parties from science, politics and society.

Together with the Institute of Rural Economics, we continue to develop the Thünen Monitoring of Rural Areas in this Field of Action. We are primarily interested in social and demographic developments as well as the quality of life of different population groups. At the centre of our nationwide monitoring is a web mapping application (Landatlas), which we are continuously developing and for which we carry out nationwide analyses on the accessibility of services of general interest with our accessibility model. For the subjective assessment of rural living conditions, we evaluate representative population surveys and conduct in-depth regional studies.

In our research we are guided by the following key questions:

• How are living conditions developing in rural areas and what are the causes of the different developments?
• What can be learned from the monitoring indicators and their developments say with regard to the political objective of "equivalence of living conditions"?
• What political needs for action can be derived in which regions and areas of intervention?