A Socio-Economic and Institutional Portrait of Bremerhaven - A case study from a local government research perspective

The city of Bremerhaven has suffered from declining maritime-related industries (e.g. shipbuilding and fishing), high unemployment rates, and a shrinking and aging population during the last decades. Nevertheless, Bremerhaven still functions as a regional centre, both economically and with regards to the labour market. This working paper summarises relevant data regarding the socio-economic development of Bremerhaven and provides explanations for most of the findings. First, the paper outlines the political and institutional frame conditions of the â freest municipalityâ in Germany and its particular legal situation within the city state of the Free Hanseatic city of Bremen. Secondly, recent findings regarding Bremerhavenâ s socio-economic dynamics are presented, drawing mainly on two cluster analyses on urban and regional development in Germany. These studies conclude that Bremerhaven belongs to the â severely underprivileged citiesâ which face a strong pressure to adapt. The working paper was prepared as a knowledge base for consecutive research within the comparative study â The Ecological Modernisation of Structurally Disadvantaged European Maritime Port Citiesâ . This study investigates whether climate change can create new ecological modernisation opportunities for selected cities to transform their local economies, governance structures, and external images.