Main aspects of structural change in the northern regions of the GDR

The northern Bezirke (Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg) occupy about a quarter of the territory of the GDR but account for only one-eight of its population. These Bezirke form a geographical region which in the past (before 1945) had many characteristics of an agrarian periphery in the then German Reich. After 1945 this situation changed radically in the context of the development of the GDR. Besides the development of modern agriculture, characteristic features have been a rapid process of industrialization and the construction of a versatile maritime and port economy. Recreation functions on the coast have taken on new dimensions and the recreative potential of inland Mecklenburg, rich in woods and lakes, has also been increasingly developed. On this economic basis an intensive process of urbanization has taken place, which has on the whole raised the living and working conditions of the population of the northern counties to the level of those in the south of the GDR. In view of the large number of small and very small settlements this development is at present not without its problems.