This East German City Solved Urban Decline

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:55 Urban Decline & De-Densification
05:40 Urban Infill and Renewal
10:42 Best VPN
11:58 An Amazing Transformation

Episode No. 146

S𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗠𝗘

[cento]

As a Californian that only lived in major urban/surburban sprawl for more than 4 decades, and is now living in northern Europe in a former industrial hub that has been going through a similar redevelopment process and growth... I love it. I used to spend 3 hours of every weekday in a car commuting through dense traffic. Now my commute to the office is a 5 minute walk. I don't have a car anymore, and I do not miss it at all. This is my home now, and I have no intention of returning to the life I left in the States.

[michaausleipzig]

Hey there! Leipzig native here! Born and raised and now living here again after a few years elsewhere!
I'm incredibly proud of how Leipzig developed in the last decades. The time after reunification was extremely hard. The old problems of pollution and infrastructure literally falling apart were joined by new ones like deindustrialisation, mass unemployment and a mass exodus of young people.
And when things started to change one day I remember how we were very sceptical at first. I remember how one day the local newspaper has a huge headline saying "Wir sind 500.000" as the population had reached that milestone again after years of decline. Now it stands at 630.000 and we are rubbing our eyes of what we all together have accomplished. It think at least in part that also has to do with our mentality. Leipzig has been a trade hub for centuries, the concept of modern trade fairs was invented here. We were always a rather self-confident bunch. I mean we applied for the 2012 Olympics and unfortunately lost out to this minor, rather unimportant english city on that river called Thames. Kinda forgot the name right now. 😅
You see what I mean... 😉
Today Leipzig has pretty much reached the limit of what can be done by (re-)densification. A few new housing areas are still being developed but I estimate that the massive population growth we had will more or less stop at 650.000.
Now we face the issues of creating an infrastructure that can actually handle so many people. For example the entire tram network is being redone at the moment to accomodate wider trams, which is a huge, decades long project. The univerity attracts a lot of students every year from all over Germany and slowly but surely city tourism also picks up. Pretty much only national though. For international tourists Leipzig and most of east Germany is still a huge blind spot.

[kirdiekirdie]

Different perspective from someone living in Leipzig: I'd rather live in a large unrennovated apartment with a cheap rent near the forest than a luxury apartment that is way too small and expensive on the outskirts. Investors are a massive problem and they don't have helping people in mind, they just want to gain as much money as possible whatever the consequences. All the money got sucked out of the local population and the earnings just go to the investors. They just raided the city and bought all the apartments for pennies on the dollar, whole giant factories got sold for a symbolic amount (like 1 German Mark), while the local renters and workers didn't get an offer to buy the apartments and factories themselves. Even worse, some investors just buy empty areas and don't even build houses on them, they just sit on the land for years blocking it from building houses on it and sell it to other investors later. Yeah the city is rich now but the local population doesn't own it, they just have to pay massive amounts of rent to live in their own city. In my opinion ownership of the city should go back to the people and investors who just buy luxury houses for the rich should get stopped.

[berndberndson]

Hello there... I am from a rural area in Germany, and as a german I tend to see only the bad stuff that is going on in this country. So I want to say thank you for talking about the good stuff here, thanks a lot... We need more of that. Positivity can turn things around. So keep up the good work. 👍

[renerieche]

I have to say, your channel has reinvented itself, like Leipzig. First it was an entertainment channel, informative, but self-centered. Now it is more journalistic and fact-based. I like it, it stands out from the mass of "culture shock" channels

[gerhardbrey]

Hi Ashton, great video. My son lives in Leipzig, and it's always a treat to visit him for a couple of days and enjoy the city and its many great small restaurants. I, myself lived in Leipzig shortly after die Wende in the roaring nineties.

One person one should not forget whe it comes to the beautification of the inner city: Jürgen Schneider. He used to be a Frankfurt mogul specialising in the reconstruction of buildings with money he didn't have. It was mainly the Deutsche Bank he borrowed from to invest in Leipzig. And, he invested in projects that were probably economically not sensible and thereby prevented the demolition balls from rolling. He was convicted for fraud later and served a prison sentence. For me, he is a Leipzig hero not to be forgotten.

[JM-]

It is incredible how Ashton always finds new topics and is able to present even the driest scientific information in an interesting way. This is great science journalism

[leod-sigefast]

My native Manchester, England, has also shown a strong renaissance from an almost critical deindustrialisation and abandoned homes, buildings, mills and factories to a post-2000 boom in building and new more financial, educational and service driven industries. It's not perfect but much better than the grim depressing place of the 1980s.

[funnyml]

I was born in Leipzig back in 1984 and grew up here. It truly changed over the years, the shopping malls, the lakes... Thank you for featuring my city <3

[Hollandstation]

As a Dutch urbanist / transit YouTuber I found Leipzig a very beautiful city when I was there last summer. I did spend a lot of my time in the newky build S-Bahn tunnel and the hbf but the times I weren't I found that the city center was very lively, which of course was good to see. Great video! I didn't know many of this about Leipzig

[sphhyn]

Hi Ashton. I am from Berlin and have visited Leipzig here and there for a fair or a concert. One time about 15 years ago I also took a sightseeing tour and was amazed how beautiful a lot of parts of Leipzig actually are. Especially the Gründerzeit parts. Must have been at the beginning of the growth you described. I am very happy that it has become so popular and beautiful again.

[DenzelPF-jllj]

Wow! I live in Reudnitz in a newly built building just around the corner from Lene Voigt (the i is actually silent :) seeing the cherry blossoms you must have been there in the week I was gone on holiday, so I missed you unfortunately!
I moved here from Baden Württemberg actually quite some years ago and I love to follow the development of this incredible city. It's really changed tremendously in the last decades!
And you didn't even show the biggest change in my eyes: Leipzig used to be surrounded by coal pits, huge scars in the countryside. By now they were all restored to lakes, that call for nice weekend outings all year (biking, inline skating, swimming, canoeing...)

[Nikioko]

Unlike many other cities, Leipzig wasn't founded on a coast or river banks, but at the crossroads of two important mediaeval highways: The Via Imperii and the Via Regia. As such, Leipzig became a hub of trade and a location of trade fairs. It also has one of the oldest universities in Germany and was home to famous musicians, like Bach, Schumann, Mendelssohn, or Wagner.

[PhinClio]

My wife and I lived in Leipzig for a year in 2007-8. We've returned a number of times since then. It's one of my favorite European cities.

[antonsamarin]

We moved in Leipzig about 1.5 years ago and now being completely happy with its bicycle culture, great public transportation network, multitude of parks, river and lakes lying around the city (in hot summertime, we know what to do), great airport located in the distance of 3-4 S-bahn stops from the central railway station, the central railway station itself (of course!), vivid spots like Karl-Heine-Straße, Südvorstadt area or Schleussig, international community of welcoming people, and the fact that Leipzig acts as a big city although I can cross it from the Northern to the Southern end within about 1.5-2 hours by bicycle.

By far, Leipzig is one love among visited German cities ❤

[bernhardhaas]

Guten Morgen Ashton,
thank you for your kind way to describe germany, all over your videos! How refreshing to watch your sight from an "outsider". We germans often are too negative about ourselfe. So many people are not seeing, that "anpacken und machen" is the reason for our good life in the center of europe. Your video today about Leipzig has even me, normally good informed, astonished about the progress of Leipzig. I know Dresden from some visits and now i'm sure, Leibzig will follow!
Your positive sight about germany has to spread in our country! To many people are depressive and have only a negative sight on todays situation.
We are living in a Zeitenwende, where everyone has the opertunity and possibility to be a part of a better future!

Thank you ❤

[priscillamontoya]

Being from the American Southwest we are still plagued with urban and suburban sprawl with very little green spaces and you can't get anywhere without a car because of dismal public transportation. Ugh. 🙄

[SpiritoftheDragonfly]

As someone who's been living in Leipzig for almost a decade now, I knew even before I clicked on this video that you'd be talking about Leipzig. I absolutely love this city and can't imagine living anywhere else in Germany to be honest.

[nauthicp]

Conceived, born and raised in Leipzig, still living there, will likely never leave.
I was in my early 20s when the city started growing again and I experienced a lot of changes first hand. Porsche and BMW, Quelle, Schenker, DHL, Amazon, all invested here, University pulled in students, new people everywhere.
Downside is the rise in prices for renting, average workers have a hard time moving to a new apartment as it’s just too expensive. Two sides of the medal, as always.

[themostbestwizard]

In Korea, there are many neighborhoods where you literally don't need a car (I don't have one.) I live within walking distance of everything I need and if I need to travel, I just walk to the train station.