Facts Halle (Saale)

Selected Key Data

Population

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Initially, the fusion between Halle and Halle-Neustadt made the population figures rise to 309,406. These numbers had fallen by approximately 80,000 by 2005 as many moved away looking for work and as a result of massive suburbanisation trends. Halle also registered a low birth rate. 234,000 people still lived in Halle in 2007, while the predicted figure for 2020 is 215,000.

Municipal Boundaries

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Because of increased suburbanisation from the early 1990s, the cities have lost a considerable proportion of their inhabitants and tax revenues to the surrounding communities. In order to dilute the impact of these losses, a gradual process of incorporation has increased the municipal areas in size, sometimes significantly so.

The coloured shape on the map symbolises the expansion of the city in 1990, the outer line shows the boarder of the municipal area of 2010.

Housing Situation

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Whereas during the nineteen nineties, the Old Town and the fin de siècle districts were particularly affected by housing vacancies, they rose rapidly in the prefab industrial block estates from 1997 onwards, in line with the general trend in the states of former East Germany. In 2006, 26,000 of roughly 152,000 apartments in Halle were vacant, of which 11,000 in the city centre and 11,000 in the large housing estates. The district of Silberhöhe had lost roughly 60 percent of its inhabitants.

Housing Situation in Halle (2/2010):
Housing Stock: 145,200
Surplus Housing: 20,900 / 14 Percent 
Housing Demolitian since 2001/02: 10,500

Industry

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The chemicals industry was particularly hard-hit, and this meant that many inhabitants lost their jobs. Well-qualified, active inhabitants and young families with high incomes left Neustadt, wich was once built as “new city of chemical workers”. The diagram illustrates the radical economic structural reform: Large industrial combines were forced to close, and even where smaller companies came along and still produce today, the often significantly increased output figures require only a fraction of the workforce once needed.

Halle is now a city of science, culture and the media. The university is also seat of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. A creative and vital arts and culture scene has emerged in the city over the last 20 years, transforming Halle into the “secret” cultural capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The Saale city has since also made the media sector its own.

Relocating and Commuting

Bildschirmfoto Pendler und Umzüge

In the 1990s, suburbanisation affected all the IBA cities. At the same time, people, especially those from the former industrial centres, began to move to West Germany. The populations of the large cities of Halle (Saale) and Magdeburg have increased minimally in recent times, mainly due to migration from Saxony-Anhalt. In the meantime, the improved transportation network allows for longer journeys to and from work and the number of commuters is climbing.

The interactive tool "Relocating and commuting" visualises this range of topics for all IBA cities.

Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde (IfL), Leipzig 2010 Data: Günter Herfert, design/programming: Sebastian Specht

Sources for statistics: Ministry of Regional Development and Transport Saxony-Anhalt; Raumbeobachtungssystem Sachsen-Anhalt (RABE); Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt; Urban Development Concept Halle 2001; 1989 GDR statistics; www.iba-monitor.de; www.halle.de; Status 11/2009

Info: Halle (Saale)

Population
(Municipal Area of 2010)
1989: 321.684
2009: 231.978
2025: 206.120 (Future Prospect)

Municipal Area: 135,02 qkm

IBA-Stadt-Monitor
www.halle.de