The Ruhr Area is one of the largest industrial areas in the world. The Ruhr area is located in Germany's most economically developed state of North Rhine - Stefalen (referred to as North Rhine-Westphalia) in the center of the state, is one of the five districts of North Rhine-Westphalia, including 11 counties and cities, which have Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and other more famous industrial cities. The Ruhr region has the world's largest inland port, busy inland waterways and Europe's densest rail network, with highways in all directions.
After World War II, the Ruhr region's coal production accounted for about 90% of the total coal production in western Germany, and steel production accounted for 70% of the total amount of western Germany. The Ruhr area concentrated steelmaking, rolling, ironmaking, oil refining, automobile, shipbuilding, machine and electrical equipment manufacturing plants, etc. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the cost of coal mining in the Ruhr area was considerably higher than in the U.S., China, and Australia, and with the application of petroleum and nuclear power, the demand for coal was reduced.In 1957, the Ruhr area*** had 141 coal mines, employing more than 500,000 miners. From the 1960s onwards, the amount of coal mined in the Ruhr area declined year by year. Due to technological developments, the steel, automobile, and shipbuilding industries required fewer people, steel production shifted to subsidiaries outside Europe, and steel production began to contract. As a result, the traditional coal and steel industries in the Ruhr area began to decline from the 1960s onwards. One by one, the coal mines and steelworks were closed down. by the end of the 1970s, the Ruhr region had entered a period of total economic contraction.
Two, the Ruhr area old industrial base transformation of the successful experience
(a) the traditional industry as the basis, enrichment, adjustment of regional industrial structure. The Ruhr area is the location of the headquarters of many large enterprises in Germany, the characteristics and development of the regional industrial structure to a large extent by the nature of the industrial structure of large enterprises and changes in the impact. As we all know, for a long time, coal, steel two sectors have been the two pillars of the development of the Ruhr area, so these two sectors in crisis will directly lead to the aging of the Ruhr area's economic structure, and make the Ruhr area's economic development rate is significantly lower than the national average. From the 1960s onwards, the Ruhr region began a process of centralization and rationalization of its enterprises with the support of the state. Coal production was concentrated in seven large coal mines. The iron and steel industry was also modernized and technologically upgraded at the same time. Old plants were closed and merged, new plants were expanded, internal and external restructuring was carried out, and specialization and collaboration within and between companies was strengthened. The federal and state governments as well as the Ruhr Area Coal Management Association have sought to improve the investment climate in the Ruhr Area and to encourage the relocation of new industries to the Ruhr Area, which have spread throughout the region, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises with excellent technology. Now, the Ruhr area is moving towards a multi-sectoral, integrated industrial zone with strong traditional industries as a foundation and growing new industries as a growth point.
(ii) reasonable calumny in the district productivity layout. The Ruhr region's earlier industrial layout are close to the raw materials for the principle. In the 1960s, the regional master plan put forward the division of three different zones, balanced the region's productivity layout of the idea, and the layout of new enterprises in the first place to consider arranging the edge of the development of the zone, and at the same time control the development of Duisburg, Essen and other major cities, the planned relocation of factories from the core areas to the outer edge. At the same time, the traditional industries according to different circumstances to implement the closure, closure, merger and transfer.
The changes in the regional structure of the Ruhr area are also centered on the evolution of the functions of its cities. The Ruhr region is a densely populated and urbanized area, and the development of the city has gone through the development path of a single coal mine city - steel city - chemical city - comprehensive city; Urban planning has also evolved from an early state of haphazard unplannedness to a modern city with comprehensive planning. In the process of regional renewal, many cities have evolved from their original single function to become multi-functional comprehensive cities, among which Essen, Dortmund and Duisburg, with populations of more than 500,000, constitute a multi-centered Rheinland - Ruhr urban agglomeration, with populations of more than 10 million people, one of the world's major megacity agglomerations.
(3) Combination of scientific research and practice, transforming scientific and technological advantages into productivity. In the world's history of science and technology, Germany's industrial technology occupies an important seat, and the Ruhr area is the birthplace of many of Germany's technological inventions, so the foundation of scientific research is very strong. In the face of the new situation, the Ruhr region has taken the following measures: firstly, reforming and innovating, strengthening the cooperation between the scientific research community and the economic community, and linking the economic centers and scientific research centers in the region in order to accelerate the application of scientific research results. Secondly, by reforming traditional education, creating new disciplines and linking higher education to the economic development of the region, the state government is trying to establish the Ruhr region as a "European Higher Education Area". In the development of new technologies, the comprehensive transformation of traditional industries, such as the establishment of information centers for scientific and technological innovation, the government to help enterprises, optimize the transfer of technology to small and medium-sized enterprises, and so on, greatly accelerated the pace of scientific research results into productive forces.
(4) Developing traditional industrial resources and expanding new functions of regional industries. In the process of counter-industrialization, the Ruhr area began to think about the development and utilization of its own accumulated regional resources, paying particular attention to the development of industrial heritage tourism resources. Drawing on the experience of the United Kingdom, Sweden and other countries, the Ruhr area from 1989 proposed "IBA" program, after 10 years of exploration, walked through a pattern from the independent development of sporadic attractions to the regional unity of the development of industrial tourism has become the Ruhr area's new fashion. From the point of view of attraction development mode, there are roughly four specific modes: (1) Museum development mode. (2) Leisure and landscape park development mode. (3) Shopping and tourism combined development mode. (4) Traditional industrial areas into modern science parks, industrial and commercial development parks, service industry parks. 1998, the regional planning agency developed a regional tourism route connecting tourist attractions throughout the region, the route known as the "industrial heritage road", covering almost the entire Ruhr area.
(5) Improve environmental management and recommendations to recreate the idyllic urban landscape. For a long time. Ruhr area enterprises in their own way, public nuisance is serious, environmental pollution is greater than any place in the country. In order to eradicate public nuisances and manage environmental pollution, the state government invested in the establishment of environmental protection agencies, environmental protection decrees and unified planning. The first action was to revitalize the rivers. A complete water supply system was set up with microbial water purification stations. In addition, an automatic chimney alarm system has been built throughout the region so that air pollution can be effectively controlled. The creation of "green spaces" is planned in the regional master plan, and large-scale reforestation has been carried out. Now, the Ruhr region is located in North Rhine-Westphalia has more than 1,600 environmental protection enterprises, and has become Europe's leading environmental protection technology center.
In short, after the above adjustment and transformation, the Ruhr area is far from being a declining industrial zone, but on the contrary, to maintain the momentum of continued development, the region's GDP accounted for the former Federal Republic of Germany's GDP of about 7%, the equivalent of Portugal or Denmark's national GDP. the Ruhr area of the regional remediation of the experience that the transformation of the traditional industrial zones and the construction of the only continuous innovation, advancing with the times, and in line with the times, can be vibrant, on the way to the development of the era The trend, in order to be dynamic, on the road to revitalization.
Three, how to draw on the successful experience of the Ruhr area transformation of the old industrial base in northeast China
Germany Ruhr industrial zone and the old industrial base in northeast China in the natural resources, industrial development, the status of the national economy, industrial structure adjustment and transformation of the motivation and other aspects of the more similarity and greater comparability. The Ruhr industrial base after the transformation plays a pivotal role in the industrial structure and economic development of Germany and even Europe as a whole. The successful experience of innovation and sustainable development of the Ruhr region provides a vivid model for the revitalization of China's old industrial base in the northeast. In the author's opinion, the successful experience of the Ruhr region should be learned from the following aspects at present in order to fundamentally revitalize the economy of the Northeast region.
(I) the establishment of adjustment and transformation steering committee. As the old industrial base adjustment and transformation is always comprehensive governance project, involving many departments and regional interests, in order to coordinate the interests of all parties, should draw on the experience of the German Ruhr area governance, by the National Development and Reform Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and other relevant departments,*** with the establishment of the National Steering Committee of the Old Industrial Base Adjustment and Transformation, is responsible for the formulation and implementation of the adjustment and transformation plan of the old industrial base, inter-departmental coordination, as well as the management of funds and the implementation. Interdepartmental coordination as well as management of funds and evaluation of effects. (Original author: Fu Tianhai) (ii) Highlight the adjustment and transformation ideas against the focus. From the experience of the Ruhr area, the key to the adjustment and transformation of old industrial bases is the revitalization of the regional economy, not the relief of enterprises. Because only when the regional economy is revitalized and the competitiveness of industries is continuously improved can more employment opportunities be created. In the future, the adjustment and transformation of the old industrial bases should take system innovation, mechanism innovation and technological innovation as the breakthrough, and take the comprehensive revitalization of the regional economy as the goal, and focus on expanding employment, adjusting the structure and improving the competitiveness of industries.
(3) Implementing an aid policy for the exit of declining enterprises. This is the same practice of some developed countries*** to implement assistance policies for the exit of declining enterprises. Federal Germany in the 1960s for the decline of the Ruhr area, adopted a series of industrial specialization transfer assistance policy, so that it embarked on the road of diversification of industrial structure. At present, the town is considering the implementation of two types of assistance policies: one is the implementation of assistance policies for the exit of resource-based declining industries such as coal, forest industry and non-ferrous metals, focusing on the closure of mines due to the depletion of resources and the assistance of related industries. The second is to implement an assistance policy for the exit of those state-owned enterprises that lack competitive advantages, have suffered long-term losses and are insolvent.
(iv) Implementing employment policy transfer with state support. It is recommended that the state gradually expand the scope of pilot cities for economic transformation of resource cities on the basis of summarizing the experience of Fuxin in Liaoning province. The State should encourage these cities to cultivate and promote the gradual transfer of employment from resource-exhausted or declining industries to new industries, for which the central government should consider providing certain financial subsidies and policy support such as tax exemptions and exemptions, low-interest rates, or subsidized credits, and accelerated depreciation. Stimulate the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, private enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises. Establish a system of re-employment training for laid-off workers and create conditions for employment transfer.
(E) support special old industrial base equipment manufacturing industry development. Northeast region in the machine tools, aviation, automobiles, shipbuilding, power generation equipment and other major equipment manufacturing industry and parts industry has a greater advantage, have the conditions to build China's equipment manufacturing industry is an important base. The state in government procurement, buyer's credit, seller's credit, bidding and tendering, to the old industrial base to more opportunities. In the major equipment localization projects, high-tech industrialization projects, in accordance with the "equal priority, appropriate relaxation" principle, technological innovation and specialization in the division of labor, and gradually to the direction of industrial clusters, the formation of a perfect industrial supporting conditions and industrial chain system.
Germany's Ruhr area was once the decline of the long-term stagnation of the northeastern economy sounded the alarm, and the Ruhr area after the pain of industrial restructuring and the rise of the Northeast Old Industrial Base revitalization and transformation of the same brought a lot of enlightenment. I believe that in a strong policy support and the correct ideological guidance, through the development strategy, mobilization of external forces and tap the potential of the Northeast itself, the Northeast in the next 5-10 years of time, it is possible to initially set up and form a relatively perfect market economic system, to complete the upgrading of industry, industrial restructuring and cultivation of new industries as the main industrial development. Development, in order to drive the transformation of old industrial bases in the Northeast, the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, the basic solution to the structural adjustment of the agricultural industry, prompting the Northeast economy into a virtuous cycle of rapid development track.