Why are some Cities Winners or Losers?

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,4, EBS European Business School gGmbH (Real Estate Management Institute), language: English, abstract: The aim of this bachelor thesis is to find out what drives city growth inGermany. It shall find out what are the determinants that make large cities gain or loseinhabitants.Especially in Eastern Germany after the reunification there have been some“winner cities” such as Dresden, Leipzig, and Potsdam, and many “loser cities” such asChemnitz, Magdeburg, and Schwerin. In the last decades, a similar separation betweenwinners and losers has arisen also in Western Germany. So what is the reason for thisdivision into two groups of cities?The research is very relevant for city governments and real estate owners orinvestors. Emigration of the working populace and few births lower the tax earnings andraise the necessary public expenses a city has to bear, while the opposite makes a citythrive fiscally, financially, and economically. Rents and land prices depend on thedevelopment of the city size: shrinking cities have horrendous vacancy rates, whileprices are exploding in growing cities. Knowing what the reasons for city growth shrinkage are enables city governors to adapt the right policies to make their citybecome an exception of the overall demographic collapse in Germany or to turn arounda dangerous progress. Knowing these reasons also enables real estate investors topredict future demand for residential, office, and retail space, and to decide whetherproperties are under or overpriced.