First, the reasons for the formation
From the definition, the formation of "rust zone" is related to the post-industrialization stage of developed countries, but in fact, the reasons for the formation of "rust zone" are complex and diverse. Generally speaking, there are three reasons:
1 first, the single industrial structure leads to the marginal decline of industrial advantages until it declines.
The first industrial revolution took place in the 1960s of 18 to the 40s of 19. As a symbol of steam power, coal has become the main energy source for industrial development, and some cities and regions rich in coal resources have developed, such as Birmingham in Britain, Pittsburgh in the United States and Ruhr-gebiet in Germany. Driven by the development of coal industry, coking industry, electric power industry, steel industry and even chemical industry have made great progress. Then, after the second industrial revolution in the middle of19th century, this industrial development mode, which is dominated by coal energy, began to change. The advent of internal combustion engine indicates that crude oil has become the main energy source for industrial development, and the advantages of coal and heavy industry supported by coal have gradually weakened and eventually become declining industries.
Second, resources are exhausted and the regional environment continues to deteriorate.
During the rapid development of these cities, resources were overexploited, resulting in a certain degree of resource depletion. In addition, under the influence of heavy industry, the environment continues to deteriorate, and the concept that development takes precedence over the environment makes the degree of ecological deterioration in these areas much higher than that in other areas, and people's lives and daily activities are greatly damaged. With the migration of population, these areas gradually lose the vitality of development.
Third, the traditional development model hinders innovation and technological renewal.
At first, due to the adoption of the most advanced technology, the "rust zone" not only reduced the production cost, but also improved the corresponding productivity. In the end, most enterprises in the whole industrial zone adopted the same technology, integrating processing, manufacturing and sales. However, with the continuous development of the world economy, technology presents a diversified pattern, economic globalization has triggered a new division of urban functions, and the regional pattern of product design, processing, manufacturing and sales has been broken. Because of its dependence on the original development, the "rust zone" hindered the realization of self-transformation, and eventually the overall technology gradually aged and declined.
Second, successful cases of revival.
The above-mentioned "rust zone" is basically a microcosm of the development of many "rust zones" in the world. However, these cities and regions have not given up the opportunity of development under the circumstances of resource depletion, environmental degradation and even serious backward technology. Instead, they put forward different solutions and put them into practice. In the end, some cities and regions have polished the "rust" and achieved revival, while others have failed in transformation and are still "rusty". Lan Yu cultural industry tourism planners believe that successful cases are worth learning, and failed cases are worth reflecting on, so as to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Historically, Lanyu's cultural and industrial tourism designers found that the cities and regions that realized the revival of the "rust zone" included Ruhr-gebiet, Lorraine, Birmingham and Pittsburgh, and Detroit was the typical failure of transformation.
1 Ruhr-gebiet: environmental governance and promotion of emerging industries.
Ruhr-gebiet used to be the "heart" of Germany's development, and its industrial added value once accounted for about 40% of Germany's total. Based on coal mining and comprehensive utilization of coal, its coking, steel, chemical and other industries have been developed. Before World War II, abundant coal resources led to the rapid growth of demand in the iron and steel industry, a good employment situation, and people's lives were flourishing. During World War II, Ruhr-gebiet also provided German with a steady supply of materials. However, after the war, the defeated German economy was sluggish, and Ruhr-gebiet was full of depression. At the initial stage of superposition, resources began to dry up, and the disadvantages of single-structure heavy industry gradually exposed. Many coal mines and steel mills began to close, and the number of unemployed people was increasing.
Since the 1960s, Ruhr-gebiet has embarked on a long road of reform and transformation. In 1960s, the local government formulated the Outline of Ruhr Development, which provided preferential policies and financial subsidies to clean up and transform traditional industries, and also invested a lot of financial funds to transform infrastructure. In addition, a large number of universities and scientific research institutions have been built, especially Ruhr University in 1965 and Dortmund University in 1968, which laid the foundation for the next development of this region.
After 10 years of development, in the 1970s, the local government increased its economic and technical support and gradually established emerging industries including health, biology and logistics.
After 1980s, the local government gave full play to the characteristics of different industries in Ruhr-gebiet and formed their own advantageous industries. For example, Ruhr District 1989 put forward the "IBA Plan" to develop independent museums, leisure, landscape parks, shopping and tourism in a unified way, and build a tour route covering the whole Ruhr District, making industrial tourism a new economic growth point in Ruhr District.
After 40 years of transformation and adjustment, Ruhr has become a beautiful livable area in Germany, and has also formed high-tech industries such as information and communication, nano-materials, medical technology, new energy, new materials and tourism, which are quite distinctive and influential.
2 Birmingham, England: Keep the tradition and build a diversified industrial system
Birmingham is a typical mining city in Britain. 18th century to19th century, with the advancement of industrial revolution, Birmingham, which originally owned manufacturing industry, became the center of British manufacturing industry, rapidly developed a huge metallurgical and mechanical manufacturing industry, became the manufacturing center of railway locomotives, steam engines and ships at that time, and enjoyed the reputation of "world factory" for one and a half centuries. However, in the 20th century, the exhaustion of coal resources and the change of economic situation made Birmingham's former scenery disappear. During World War II, most of the city roads and factories were destroyed due to heavy bombing. After World War II, Britain's economic status began to decline, and Birmingham's economy further deteriorated. After the 1970s, its unemployment rate reached 25%. In addition, the development of heavy industry has also made the city deeply affected by environmental pollution and smog.
Since the mid-1980s, Birmingham has begun to transform from heavy industry to service industry, and the local government has formulated an industrial transformation plan: on the one hand, it will vigorously develop the service industry and increase its proportion in the whole national economy; On the other hand, deepen the internal structural adjustment of manufacturing industry and build a diversified industrial system. In the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, traditional industries have not been completely denied, textiles and mining have been phased out, and industries with great financial development potential, such as food processing, electromechanical and automobile manufacturing, have been concentrated, while industries with a long history, such as jewelry processing, have been retained.
The local government has also continuously upgraded the industrial zone, vigorously developed the exhibition, finance, tourism, retail and other service industries, and finally achieved the goal of transformation and upgrading to the service industry. At present, Birmingham is not only the center of British manufacturing, but also a world-famous fashion district. Various international industrial and artistic exhibitions are frequent, and service industry has become its pillar industry.
Pittsburgh, USA: Relying on Universities to Drive Economy
/kloc-Pittsburgh in the middle of the 0/9th century is a well-deserved center of American steel industry and a world-leading manufacturing center, and is known as the "steel capital" of the United States. /kloc-In the late 20th century, the United States accelerated the development of the western region. Rich coal resources and a steady stream of labor provided a strong impetus for the development of Pittsburgh. However, in 1950s, heavy industry centered on steel industry brought heavy burden to the environment. In addition, in the 1970s, the economic depression in the United States led to a decline in demand, and the steel industry in Pittsburgh began to have overcapacity, which was further aggravated by the rise of the steel industry in Japan and South Korea. Faced with the serious imbalance between supply and demand, Pittsburgh steel enterprises began to lay off employees on a large scale, and the city fell into recession.
The transformation of Pittsburgh mainly starts with environmental governance. After World War II, the local government began to promote the "three revival plans" for urban development. The first revival plan began after World War II, Pittsburgh began to devote itself to environmental management, and a large number of factories began to move out. The second revival plan began in the 1970s. Pittsburgh began to attach importance to cultural and community construction, and a large number of steel mills began to close down and lay off employees. However, the recession of American economy makes steel enterprises continue to be impacted, and the rising unemployment tide makes the government begin to change its governance strategy, from the original environmental governance policy to the implementation of regional economic diversification strategy to promote the development of emerging industries. The third revival plan will shift Pittsburgh's economic base to education, tourism and service industries, especially medical care and high-tech industries represented by robot manufacturing.
The third revival plan is particularly critical, and the main driving force is the rise of educational resources. As the host city, colleges and universities welcome all kinds of enterprises to enter and introduce other enterprises in the development, research, science and technology and education industries. With the continuous expansion of the advantages of educational resources, colleges and universities have made more and more contributions to the urban economy. For example, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has become the largest employment opportunity provider in western Pennsylvania, with 50,000 employees, more than the employees in the heyday of the steel industry.
Today, Pittsburgh has changed from a steel city to a high-tech R&D center, especially in the fields of green technology, education and training, research and development, etc. The authoritative economic magazine EIU lists Pittsburgh as "the most livable city in the United States".
Third, the failure case of revival.
The glory of Detroit is closely related to the automobile industry. With the development of industry, a huge industrial capacity has been formed. With its unique geographical conditions, Detroit's population has expanded rapidly and become the automobile industry capital of the United States and even the world. During World War II, Detroit made great progress. After World War II, Detroit's automobile industry has greatly improved from the technical level to the design level. In the early 1960s, Detroit entered its heyday and became the largest manufacturing center in the world. However, with the rise of the civil rights movement, white people in Detroit gradually lost their sense of security and began to move out of the city in batches. Commerce and finance also began to evacuate in large numbers, and funds continued to flow out. The oil crisis also hit the American automobile industry, and the rise of Japanese and European automobile manufacturers threatened the American automobile industry.
In 2008, the global financial crisis hit Detroit again, and companies such as General Motors and Ford fell to the bottom. The urban unemployment rate reached 18%, far higher than the national level. In the process of reform, local governments rely too much on the automobile industry and think that the economy can solve all problems. The urban structure and industrial layout of Detroit are oriented to the demand of automobile manufacturing industry. This single model of automobile manufacturing and infrastructure first met the global production layout of American automobile industry under the wave of economic globalization in the 1980s, which eventually led Detroit to miss the opportunity of reform and transformation.
Fourth, the enlightenment to China.
As an old industrial base in China, the downward pressure on the economy has been increasing in recent years, which has not only aroused the continuous concern of the market, but also triggered a discussion on how to learn from the success or failure experience of foreign "rust belt revitalization" to revitalize the Northeast. However, the transformation and upgrading of Northeast China is by no means so easy and simple. The population of the three northeastern provinces exceeds 100 million, which is twice as large as that of France. Their industrial base is not bad, agriculture is comparable to Ukraine, and there is a complete industrial chain. However, in the process of development in Northeast China, the proportion of heavy industry is too large, and the huge asset precipitation doomed the painful and difficult economic transformation in Northeast China. "Revitalizing the Northeast" was put forward as early as 2004. Despite providing a lot of financial and technical support, the economy in Northeast China has not improved. In 20 16, it was proposed that by 2020, the northeast region will make great achievements in the reform of important areas and key links, and on this basis, it will take about 10 years to achieve comprehensive revitalization.
Based on the "Rust Belt Revival" abroad and the actual situation of China's economy, the designers of Lan Yu's cultural industry tourism think that the Northeast should first increase its attraction to talents, and at the same time, take universities as a platform to increase the cultivation of talents, so as to lay a solid foundation for economic transformation. Secondly, actively respond to the call of the country to expand domestic demand, increase support for the development of emerging industries, and promote new supply and release new demand. For example, Tonghua City, Jilin Province, relying on the advantages of resources, has built a 100 billion-level medical and health industry in 20 years, exploring a "green road" for the transformation and upgrading of the old industrial base in Northeast China. Finally, actively connect with developed provinces and cities, solve the reform of state-owned enterprises through cooperation, revitalize precipitated assets, and accelerate the development of advanced manufacturing industries.