Realities of the URBAN Community Initiative of the European Union : The Case of Marxloh in Duisburg, Germany

North-Rhine and Westphalia and the municipal government of Duisburg, both of which had information regarding the EU’s new urban policy quickly invested money coupled with the subsidy from the Federal Agency for Labor Exchange for the relief work for the unemployed. This marked a departure from the traditional urban policy in Germany, which had been oriented principally to the redevelopment of built environment including old deteriorated flats. Project Marxloh was successful in the sense that the district’s built environment was improved and the unemployed local residents were able to gain temporary earnings. The Office of Economic Development of EGM engaged not only in economic promotion in Marxloh, but also in a variety of tasks similar to those of district managers allocated to other run-down urban districts in German cities in the 21st century within the framework of the socially integrative City Program of Federal and Länder cooperation. It is especially noteworthy that a new organization of Turkish entrepreneurs was established with the support of the Office of Economic Development, symbolizing the empowerment of minorities in German society. Several new small enterprises were also established with consulting from the Office. However, the report of the Institute for Social and Cultural Research finds that NPOs, which have long been rooted in Marxloh and are engaged with social work there, did not enthusiastically participate in the URBAN program implemented for this district and that some of them made critical comments on the activities of EGM and District Project Marxloh, although they cooperated with each other and expressed admiration for devotion of the employees of the Office of Economic Development to the public work. The district’s socioeconomic situation does not appear to have improved in a sustainable way, at least from my own observations. There has been an increase in vacant shops along the main shopping streets especially those distant from the Pollmann crossroads district center. In the early 1990s, by contrast, there were hardly any such vacancies. Thus, it is necessary to reexamine the sustainability of the results of URBAN Community Initiative