Middle center
In regional planning and economic geography in Germany, a middle center denotes a central place of the middle level according to the system of central places developed by geographer Walter Christaller in 1933. The importance of a place is determined less by its size than by its infrastructure compared to the surrounding area. It is classified in the three-stage scale: upper center - middle center - lower center or basic center. In some federal states there is the middle center with partial functions of a regional center ; In Saxony, spatial planning also recognizes the middle center in the conurbation and the middle center as a supplementary location in rural areas .
A certain number of inhabitants (sum of place and surrounding area) is set as the minimum size for the designation of a medium-sized center. This value varies between the federal states, in Hesse it is 20,000 inhabitants. In individual cases (e.g. in sparsely populated, rural areas) this guide value can also be fallen below. In addition to this key figure, there are other criteria such as equipment, accessibility, load-bearing capacity of the central location and a clearly assignable catchment area . A medium-sized town is usually also a medium- sized center.
Intermediate centers serve as a point of contact for the supply of goods, services and infrastructure offers, which cannot be provided by the surrounding sub-centers. In addition to the basic supply, as it is also available in sub-centers, the range of medium-sized centers includes periodic needs, especially:
- Specialists
- Department store
- Cinema , cultural offers
- hospital
- Notaries , lawyers , tax consultants
- Swimming pools
- secondary school and vocational school .
Goods and services that go beyond general and periodic needs can be covered in the nearest regional center that can be reached.
Middle center with partial functions of a main center
In some federal states of Germany there is still the middle center with partial functions of a regional center between the middle and the upper center, an example are the cities of Bad Kreuznach , Worms , Landau in der Pfalz and Speyer in Rhineland-Palatinate .
Medium-sized centers with sub-functions of a regional center also perform tasks of specialized, higher demand coverage in essential sub-areas in addition to the medium-sized central supply functions. They are characterized by central functions without reaching the full range of functions of a central center. As efficient centers of supply and the labor market, these cities play an important role in strengthening rural areas and improving supply for the population. They contribute to the maintenance and creation of equal living and working conditions in all sub-areas of the country, serve to increase the attractiveness of rural areas and thus counteract the loss of jobs. They are suitable as locations for higher central facilities, provided they do not impair the functionality of comparable facilities in neighboring regional centers. Medium-sized centers with sub-functions of a regional center have to provide selected upper-central facilities for a larger integrated area as required. At the same time, they have to fulfill the supply tasks of central locations of middle and lower level and should have a corresponding range of facilities.
Central centers in division of functions
In Brandenburg, due to the demographic development, which made it difficult to cover the entire state area with medium-sized centers, the medium-sized center was introduced with a division of functions . A middle center with a division of functions offers the functions of a middle center in cooperation with another middle center with a division of functions and thus ensures the supply for the common middle area .
Regional planning
In the regional development plans of the federal states, it is determined which cities in Germany are to be developed as middle and regional centers. This means that new investments by the federal government and the federal states should preferably be located in these centers. In times of lack of money, however, it is more about preventing the closure of public institutions. A hospital in a medium-sized center, for example, should not be closed, while a hospital in a sub-center is up for grabs in case of doubt.