Project
Monitoring of rural areas in Germany
Monitoring of rural areas in Germany: living conditions according to the official statistics and as perceived by the population
Rural areas might be differently delimited - depending on the specific definition of rurality applied. In our understanding, villages and small towns, a great share of agricultural land use and forestry, as well as a relatively low population, settlement and building density characterise rural areas. At the Thünen Institute, we developed our own delimitation in 2016. Accordingly, 57 per cent of the population of Germany (about 47 million people) live in rural areas that make up for 91 per cent of the entire territory. This delimitation is based on both structural and locational characteristics of rural areas and understands rurality as a morphological, functional and relational contiunuum (Küpper 2016). For 2025, we are planning a revised typology based on more recent data and further conceptual and methodological considerations.
Background and Objective
The official statistics already offer a wide range of data and indicators to analyse and depict living conditions in rural areas. Yet, rurality is characterized by highly diverse social, economic and structural conditions which so far can only hardly be portrayed. Our knowledge on how the inhabitants of rural areas perceive and assess their quality of life and service provision – and whether distinct assessments coincide with different types of rural areas – is still limited. The monitoring project both provides a differentiated picture of rural areas in Germany and involves the perceptions of the population.
Approach
The monitoring of rural areas consists of five components:
1. a typology of rural areas to give consideration to the diversity of rurality in Germany (will be updated in 2025),
2. a continuously expanded set of indicators that allows for the analysis and illustration of social, demographic and economic developments of rural areas as well as their land use and service accessibility,
3. a web-mapping application (Landatlas) to display the different indicators by means of interactive maps,
4. standardized questionnaire surveys and qualitative interviews on subjective assessments of rural quality of life,
5. secondary analyses of large German population surveys
Data and Methods
The monitoring builds, on the one hand, upon existing structural data that will be presented in interactive maps. To this end, we use small-scale data from official federal and state statistics (particularly the INKAR system of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development BBSR) and create new indices in order to display the social, demographic, economic and land-use situation of rural areas in Germany as well as its changes over time.
On the other hand, we use a variety of data that relate to subjective assessments of rural living conditions. To that end, we conduct questionnaire surveys on our own and we also re-analyse data from regular Germany-wide surveys, such as SOEP and ALLBUS with our specific spatial focus. Our research interests centre on issues of subjective quality of life and well-being as well as on assessments of the availability, accessibility and quality of public and private services by rural residents.
Our Research Questions
- How can we analytically and meaningfully classify rural areas in Germany?
- How do distinct types of rural areas differ with respect to their social, demographic and economic situation as well as regarding the accessibility of public and private services?
- How does the population perceive the quality of life and provision of services in rural areas? Which differences do we find when comparing social and age groups, different types of rural areas as well as rural and non-rural areas? How can we explain these differences?
Preliminary Results
- In 2016, the socio-spatial typology of rural areas (so-called Thünen typology) was completed and published as a Thünen Working Paper. In 2025, a revised version is planned.
- The web mapping application Landatlas which is continuously enlarged and updated is to be found here: https://www.landatlas.de/
- Our research results concerning quality of life, well-being and subjective assessments of public and private services based on our own surveys as well as on secondary analyses are regularly published in journal papers, book chapters and Thünen reports.
Thünen-Contact
Involved Thünen-Partners
- Keim-Klärner, SylviaLV Institute of Rural Studies
- Klärner, AndreasLV Institute of Rural Studies
- Kleiner, Tuuli-MarjaLV Institute of Rural Studies
- Knies, GundiLV Institute of Rural Studies
- Kopka, AlexanderWI Institute of Rural Economics
- Küpper, PatrickLV Institute of Rural Studies
- Neumeier, StefanLV Institute of Rural Studies
- Osigus, TorstenLV Institute of Rural Studies
Involved external Thünen-Partners
- Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR)
(Bonn, Deutschland)
Duration
Permanent task 7.2015
More Information
Project status:
ongoing
Publications to the project
- 0
Grabski-Kieron U, Kordel S, Krajewski C, Mose I, Steinführer A (2024) Ausblick: Für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung ländlicher Räume. In: Grabski-Kieron U, Kordel S, Krajewski C, Mose I, Steinführer A (eds) Geographie ländlicher Räume. 1. Auflage. Paderborn: Brill | Schöningh, pp 393-397, DOI:10.36198/9783838560687
- 1
Grabski-Kieron U, Kordel S, Krajewski C, Mose I, Steinführer A (eds) (2024) Geographie ländlicher Räume. 1. Auflage. Paderborn: Brill | Schöningh, 464 p, DOI:10.36198/9783838560687
- 2
Steinführer A, Kordel S (2024) Ländliche Räume als Sozialräume. In: Grabski-Kieron U, Kordel S, Krajewski C, Mose I, Steinführer A (eds) Geographie ländlicher Räume. 1. Auflage. Paderborn: Brill | Schöningh, pp 87-147, DOI:10.36198/9783838560687
- 3
Kreis J (2024) Lebensverhältnisse in ländlichen Räumen - Bewertungen Befragter zu ihrer Gegend: Inhaltliche und methodische Analysen auf Grundlage einer repräsentativen Bevölkerungsbefragung. Braunschweig: Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, 244 p, Thünen Rep 114, DOI:10.3220/REP1714137703000
- 4
Küpper P, Milbert A (2023) Typisierungen ländlicher Räume für Politik und Wissenschaft in Deutschland [online]. BBSR Online Publ 18/2023:9-24, zu finden in <https://www.bbsr.bund.de/BBSR/DE/veroeffentlichungen/bbsr-online/2023/bbsr-online-18-2023.html> [zitiert am 11.07.2023]
- 5
Neumeier S (2022) Accessibility of COVID-19 vaccination centers in Germany via different means of transport. KN J Cartogr Geogr Inf 72:41-58, DOI:10.1007/s42489-021-00088-x
- 6
Küpper P, Seel M (2022) Bewertung der Nahversorgung zwischen Treffpunktfunktion, Präferenzen, Ressourcen, Bewältigungsstrategien und räumlicher Nähe. DISP Planning Rev 58(2):56-73
- 7
Küpper P (2022) Raumtypisierungen am Beispiel der Thünen-Typologie. Landkreis Z Kommunale Selbstverwalt(1-2):14-17
- 8
Steinführer A (2021) Lässt sich die Zahl der Dörfer in Deutschland bestimmen? : Von Definitionsbemühungen, Suchwegen und unterschiedlichen Befunden. Ber Landwirtsch 99(3), DOI:10.12767/buel.v99i2.358
- 9
Kreis J (2021) Vorstellungen eines guten Lebens auf dem Land : Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Befragung unter der Bevölkerung ländlicher Räume. Rurale Topografien 12:105-140, DOI:10.14361/9783839454251-003
- 10
Küpper P, Mettenberger T (2020) "Gehen oder Bleiben?" : Zufriedenheit junger Menschen mit den Lebensbedingungen in ländlichen Räumen. In: Farin K, Mey G (eds) Wir. Heimat - Land - Jugendkultur. Berlin: Hirnkost, pp 168-183
- 11
Steinführer A, Hundt C, Küpper P, Margarian A, Mehl P (2020) Gleichwertigkeit der Lebensverhältnisse - wissenschaftliche Verständnisse und Zugänge. Ländl Raum (ASG) 71(3):12-17
- 12
Küpper P, Milbert A (2020) Typen ländlicher Räume in Deutschland. Schrr Bundeszentrale Polit Bildung 10362:82-97
- 13
Deppisch L, Klärner A, Küpper P, Neumeier S, Osigus T (2020) Von der Erzählung vom "abgehängten ländlichen Raum" : Was uns ein Blick auf Strukturdaten verrät. Akt Analysen 76:40-51
- 14
Küpper P (2020) Was sind eigentlich ländliche Räume? [online] Inf Polit Bildung 343(2):4-7, zu finden in <https://www.bpb.de/izpb/laendliche-raeume-343/> [zitiert am 03.08.2020]
- 15
Küpper P, Peters JC (2019) Entwicklung regionaler Disparitäten hinsichtlich Wirtschaftskraft, sozialer Lage sowie Daseinsvorsorge und Infrastruktur in Deutschland und seinen ländlichen Räumen. Braunschweig: Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, 168 p, Thünen Rep 66, DOI:10.3220/REP1547565802000
- 16
Möck M, Küpper P (2019) Polycentricity at its boundaries: consistent or ambiguous? European Planning Stud 28(4):830-849, DOI:10.1080/09654313.2019.1666802
- 17
Steinführer A (2019) Vom Altwerden in ländlichen Räumen: Strukturelle Rahmenbedingungen und individuelle Ressourcen der Alltagsbewältigung. Gesellsch Nachhaltigk 6:47-62
- 18
Osigus T, Neumeier S, Steinführer A, Küpper P, Kreis J (2018) Landatlas : ausgewählte Kartenbeispiele. Berlin: BMEL, 52 p
- 19
Steinführer A, Osigus T, Küpper P, Neumeier S, Kreis J (2018) Ländliche Räume im Fokus: der Landatlas als neue Informationsplattform. IÖR Schr 76:153-160
- 20
Born KM, Steinführer A (2018) Ländliche Räume: Definitionsprobleme, Herausforderungen und gesellschaftlicher Wandel. In: Stein M, Scherak L (eds) Kompendium Jugend im ländlichen Raum. Bad Heilbrunn: Verl Julius Klinkhardt, pp 17-44
- 21
Steinführer A (2018) Wohnen und Zuhause-Sein in ländlichen Räumen. Heimatbuch 65(2019):9-14
- 22
Küpper P (2017) Herausforderungen bei der Entwicklung ländlicher Räume - eine Bestandsaufnahme. Landkreis Z Kommunale Selbstverwalt(6):252-260
- 23
Steinführer A (2017) Vom Leben in Ländlichen Räumen. Materialiensamml Lehrstuhls Bodenordn Landentw Techn Univ München 49:14-18
- 24
Küpper P (2016) Abgrenzung und Typisierung ländlicher Räume. Braunschweig: Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, 53 p, Thünen Working Paper 68, DOI:10.3220/WP1481532921000
- 25
Steinführer A, Osigus T, Küpper P, Neumeier S, Kreis J, Plankl R, Wolff M (2016) Landatlas 2016 : ausgewählte Kartenbeispiele. Berlin: BMEL, 45 p
