Gelsenkirchen in change: hope and challenges for the future

Gelsenkirchen in change: hope and challenges for the future

Gelsenkirchen is faced with a fundamental transformation. The city, once a center of German coal mining, has experienced a dramatic structural change in recent decades. Since the collapse of the cabbage industry in the 1990s, the population has dropped and many of the formerly flowering companies have closed. Today Gelsenkirchen still has around 273,000 inhabitants, compared to almost 400,000 in the 1950s. The unemployment rate is 15.2 percent, while the average income is only 18,522 euros, which makes the city one of the poorest in Germany, according to the FAZ .

A striking feature of the current political situation is the surprising success of the AfD in the last Bundestag election, in which the party became the strongest force in Gelsenkirchen. Citizens often attribute the reasons for this election decision to topics such as migration, poverty and economic policy. Entrepreneurs such as Atilla öner and Ilhan Bükrücü also indicate problems with integration, which further complicates the situation. The SPD member of the Bundestag Markus Töns sees urgent need for action and demands more attention for the region, the split image of the city, characterized by lost jobs and a high degree of absorption, poses major challenges.

The fight against job cuts and emigration

Gelsenkirchen has experienced drastic changes since the 1990s. More than 100,000 jobs were lost, while the demand for workers in certain sectors such as healthcare increases. It is reported that entrepreneurs have difficulty finding qualified staff and attempts to gain specialists from abroad are often not sustainable. The Deutschlandfunk Kultur emphasizes that the city is fighting with challenges such as vacancy and scrap properties.

The Mayor Karin Welge, who has been in office since November 2020, emphasizes the need for education initiatives and integration measures. She demands new impulses to free Gelsenkirchen from the negative clichés. Their views reflect the hopes that many residents still have despite the precarious situation, as was documented in a long -term report on the city.

A look into the future

The decline in the cabbage industry has changed not only the economy, but also the social structure of Gelsenkirchen. Child poverty is an urgent problem; 41.5 percent of children live in families who rely on basic security. This critical situation can be attributed to the lack of perspectives whenever individual fates are illuminated, such as those of Stella and Yuri, two young people who help with personal problems and pressure to help their family.

The sale of the BP Raffinerie could further tighten the economic situation and burden the already tense labor market even more. In order to counteract this, the city plans the purchase of ailous real estate to fight against the housing market problems. However, the necessary financial ability to act remains a constant topic, because Gelsenkirchen is struggling with scarce resources and a high social segregation in the districts. A rethinking is necessary to improve the quality of life and the economic perspective of the city, a vision that also emphasizes the bpb