Structural change in the ruhr region: problems, potentials and developments

Due to the decline of the heavy industries in the Ruhr region, the area has to reinvent itself. The orientation towards service industries proves to be a difficult task for the district and its population. This paper examines the challenges, problems and potentials of the Ruhr region against the backdrop of its economical history out of a sociological perspective. Thereby the economical situation and its outcome towards the population stand in the foreground of the paper.Paper based in the report made for the course “Sociology of New Information Technologies” in 2013-14 at the Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa, under the supervision of Prof. Antonio B. Moni