Pensionopolis
The term Pensionopolis (composed of pension and Greek polis for city) denotes an urban development strategy as well as those places where this was or is being pursued.
19th century
The idea of the Pensionopolis was first pursued in Germany in the 19th century. The aim of urban development policy was to attract pensioners and make them live in the city. This does not necessarily have to have been pensioners in the current sense (although retired civil servants represent a larger group), rather the group of pensioners of all ages was also included, i.e. people who were able to live from their capital gains and did not have to go to gainful employment .
The idea of the Pensionopolis was mainly pursued by small and medium-sized towns in which industrialization in Germany hardly took place or was not wanted. Instead, the scenic location - for example on the edge of low mountain ranges with low air pollution - was viewed as capital and invested in the construction of villa districts, parks, theaters, spas, casinos and similar infrastructure in order to attract the appropriate clientele. In the German Empire , the municipalities and states were able to influence certain tax rates (e.g. surcharge on income tax , amount of wealth tax ) themselves, which some cities used to attract wealthy residents with low taxes. The tax reforms under Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger in 1920 abolished these regulations in favor of national tax rates.
Typical examples of a Pensionopolis in the 19th century were Freiburg im Breisgau , Baden-Baden , Wiesbaden , Göttingen and Goslar , but also Naumburg , Oberlößnitz and Niederlößnitz and Görlitz ; in the Habsburg Empire of Graz .
21st century
In the 21st century, the ideas were taken up again against the background of demographic change in Germany, and some cities are trying to attract wealthy pensioners as immigrants through a particularly senior-friendly infrastructure and thus secure their future. This trend particularly characterizes smaller spa towns such as Bad Krozingen in southern Baden , but also towns that have lost their industrial base, such as Görlitz .
See also
- Sun City for American retirement cities
literature
- Erika Steinert; Norbert Zillich (ed.): Perspective Pensionopolis! Inquiries to an aging society using the example of the European city of Görlitz / Zgorzelec in the Euroregion Neisse. Verlag Peter Lang, Bern 2007, ISBN 978-3631553794 .