Americans often joke about the "Rust Belt". Is Milwaukee considered a Rust Belt?

The "Rust Belt" originally referred to the Northeastern United States - the area near the Great Lakes where traditional industries have declined. Now it can generally refer to the areas where industry has declined.

1. Causes of formation

From a definition point of view, the formation of the "Rust Belt" is related to the entry of developed countries into the post-industrialization stage, but in fact the reasons for the formation of the "Rust Belt" are complex. And diverse. Taken together, there are roughly three reasons:

1. First, the single industrial structure leads to diminishing marginal margins of industrial advantages until recession.

The first industrial revolution occurred from the 1860s to the 1840s. Coal, a symbol of the use of steam power, became the main energy source for industrial development. Some cities and regions with abundant coal resources developed. , such as Birmingham in the United Kingdom, Pittsburgh in the United States, and the Ruhr Industrial Area in Germany. Driven by the development of the coal industry, the coking industry, the electric power industry, the steel industry and even the chemical industry have all achieved considerable development. Then, this industrial development model dominated by coal energy began to change after the second industrial revolution in the mid-19th century. The advent of the internal combustion engine marked the beginning of crude oil becoming the main energy source for industrial development. The advantages of coal and the heavy industry supported by coal gradually weakened and eventually became a declining industry.

2 Second, resources are exhausted and the regional environment continues to deteriorate.

During the period of rapid development of these cities, resources were over-exploited, resulting in a certain degree of resource depletion. In addition, under the influence of heavy industry, the environment continues to deteriorate. The concept of prioritizing development over the environment has caused the degree of ecological deterioration in these areas to be much higher than that in other areas. People's lives and daily activities have been greatly damaged. As the population moves out, These areas have gradually lost their vitality for development.

3 Third, the traditional development model hinders innovation and technological updates.

In the beginning, the use of the most advanced technology in the "Rust Belt" not only reduced production costs but also improved corresponding productivity. In the end, most companies in the entire industrial zone adopted the same technology for processing and manufacturing. and sales integrated into one. However, with the continuous development of the world economy, technology has shown a diversified pattern. Economic globalization has triggered a new functional division of labor in cities. The regional pattern of product design, processing, manufacturing and sales has been broken. The "Rust Belt" has relied on the original Development hinders the realization of self-transformation, eventually causing the overall technology to gradually age and decline.

2. Successful Cases of Revitalization

The above-mentioned "Rust Belt" is basically a microcosm of the development of many "Rust Belts" around the world. However, in the face of resource depletion, environmental degradation and even serious technological backwardness, Under such circumstances, these cities and regions did not give up the opportunity for development. On the contrary, they proposed different solutions and put them into practice. In the end, some cities and regions polished off the "rust" and achieved revitalization, while others and regional transformation failed and are still “rusty”. Lanyu Cultural Industry Tourism Planner believes that successful cases are worth learning from and failure cases are also worth reflecting on to avoid repeating the same mistakes. From a historical perspective, Lanyu Cultural Industrial Tourism Designer found that cities and regions that have realized the revitalization of the "Rust Belt" include the Ruhr Industrial Area in Germany, Lorraine in France, Birmingham in the United Kingdom, and Pittsburgh in the United States. A typical example of failed transformation is Detroit in the United States. .

1 Germany's Ruhr Industrial Zone: Environmental governance, promoting emerging industries

The Ruhr Industrial Zone was once the "heart" of Germany's development, and its industrial added value once accounted for 40% of Germany's total About %, based on coal mining, with the comprehensive utilization of coal, its coking, steel and chemical industries have all developed. Before World War II, abundant coal resources drove rapid growth in demand in the steel industry, the employment situation was good, and people's lives were prosperous. During World War II, the Ruhr Industrial Area also provided Germany with a steady stream of material supplies. However, after the war, the defeated German economy was in decline, and the depression in the Ruhr Industrial Area could be seen everywhere. Superimposed on over-exploitation in the early stage, resources began to deplete, and the shortcomings of a single-structure heavy industry were gradually exposed. Many coal mines and steel plants began to close down, and the number of unemployed people continued to increase.

Beginning in the 1960s, the Ruhr Industrial Area began a long road of reform and transformation: In the 1960s, the local government formulated the "Ruhr Development Outline" and provided preferential policies and finance. Subsidies were provided to clean up and transform traditional industries, and a large amount of financial funds were also invested in the transformation of infrastructure. In addition, a large number of universities and scientific research institutions have been built, especially the Ruhr University in 1965 and the University of Dortmund in 1968, which laid the foundation for the next development of the region.

After 10 years of development, in the 1970s, the local government increased economic and technical support and gradually established emerging industries including health, biology, logistics, etc.

After the 1980s, the local government gave full play to the characteristics of different industries in the Ruhr Industrial Zone and formed advantageous industries with unique characteristics. For example, the Ruhr Area proposed the "IBA Plan" in 1989, which unified the development of independently operated museums, leisure, landscape parks, shopping and tourism areas, and built an "Industrial Heritage Road" tour route covering the entire Ruhr Area. , making industrial tourism a new economic growth point in the Ruhr area.

After 40 years of transformation and adjustment, the Ruhr area has now become a beautiful and livable area in Germany, and has also formed a distinctive and influential industry in information and communications, nanomaterials, medical technology and new energy. , new materials, tourism and other high-tech industries.

2 Birmingham, UK: Preserving tradition and building a diversified industrial system

Birmingham is a typical mining city in the UK. From the 18th to the 19th century, with the advancement of the Industrial Revolution, the original Birmingham, which has a manufacturing background, became the center of British manufacturing in one fell swoop. It quickly developed a huge metallurgical and machinery manufacturing industry and became a manufacturing center for railway locomotives, steam engines and ships at that time. It enjoyed " "World Factory" reputation. However, in the 20th century, the depletion of coal resources and changes in the economic situation caused Birmingham to lose its former glory. During World War II, urban roads and factories were heavily damaged 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 also made the city deeply affected by environmental pollution and smog.

Since the mid-1980s, Birmingham has begun to transform from heavy industry to the service industry. In response, the local government has formulated an industrial transformation plan: on the one hand, it will vigorously develop the service industry and increase the share of the service industry in the overall national economy. proportion; on the other hand, we will deepen the adjustment of the internal structure of the manufacturing industry and build a diversified industrial system. In the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, we have not completely negated traditional industries. We have implemented a gradual phase-out policy for industries such as textiles and mining, and concentrated financial resources on developing industries with great potential such as food processing, electromechanical and automobile manufacturing, while also retaining historical Long-established industries such as jewelry processing.

The local government has also continuously renovated and upgraded the industrial zone, vigorously developed service industries such as exhibitions, finance, tourism, and retail, and finally achieved the goal of transforming and upgrading into the service industry. At present, Birmingham is not only the center of the British manufacturing industry, but also a world-renowned new fashion district. Various types of international industrial and art exhibitions are frequent, and the service industry has become its pillar industry.

3 Pittsburgh, United States: Relying on universities to drive the economy

Pittsburgh in the mid-19th century was the well-deserved center of the U.S. steel industry and the world's leading manufacturing center, known as the "" "Steel Capital". In the late 19th century, the United States accelerated its western development, and its abundant coal resources and endless labor force provided a strong impetus for the development of Pittsburgh. But in the 1950s, heavy industry, centered on the steel industry, placed a heavy burden on the environment. In addition, in the 1970s, the economic depression in the United States caused demand to begin to decline, and the Pittsburgh steel industry began to experience overcapacity. The rise of the Japanese and Korean steel industries further aggravated Pittsburgh's steel overcapacity. Faced with a serious imbalance between supply and demand, Pittsburgh steel companies began massive layoffs, and the city fell into recession.

Pittsburgh’s urban transformation mainly starts with environmental governance. After the end of World War II, the local government began to promote the "Three Revitalization Plans" for urban development. The first revitalization plan began after World War II, when Pittsburgh began to devote itself to environmental governance and a large number of factories began to relocate. The second revitalization plan began in the 1970s. Pittsburgh began to pay attention to culture and community construction, and a large number of steel plants began to close and lay off workers. However, the recession in the U.S. economy has continued to impact steel companies, and the rising unemployment wave has caused the government to begin to change its governance strategy, from the original environmental governance-focused policy to implementing a regional economic diversification strategy to promote the development of emerging industries. The third revitalization plan shifted Pittsburgh's economic base to education, tourism and service industries, especially medical care and high-tech industries represented by robot manufacturing.

The third revitalization plan is particularly critical, and the main driving force is the rise of educational resources. As the host of the city, the university welcomes businesses of all types and introduces them to other businesses in the development, research, technology and education sectors. As the advantages of educational resources continue to expand, the contribution of universities to the urban economy is also increasing. For example, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has become the largest provider of employment opportunities in western Pennsylvania, employing up to 50,000 people, more than during the heyday of the steel industry. There are even more employees.

Today, Pittsburgh has transformed from a steel city into a high-tech R&D center, especially in the fields of green technology, education and training, and R&D. It has made great progress. The authoritative economic publication EIU ranked Pittsburgh among For “America’s Most Livable City.”

3. Failure cases of revitalization

Detroit’s glory is closely related to the automobile industry. With the development of industry, it has formed a very huge industrial production capacity, superimposed with unique geographical conditions, Detroit’s population It expanded rapidly and became the capital of the automobile industry in the United States and the world. During the "World War II", Detroit achieved great development. After the "World War II", Detroit's automobile industry greatly improved from the technical level to the design level. In the early 1960s, Detroit entered its heyday and became the world's largest manufacturing center.

However, with the rise of the civil rights movement, white people in Detroit gradually lost their sense of security and began to migrate out of the city in droves. Business and finance also began to withdraw in large numbers, and funds continued to flow out. The oil crisis also severely damaged the American automobile industry, Japan, Europe, etc. The rise of automobile manufacturers poses a further threat to the US automobile manufacturing industry.

The global financial crisis hit Detroit hard again in 2008. Companies such as General Motors and Ford hit rock bottom, and the urban unemployment rate reached 18%, much higher than the national level. During the reform process, the local government relied too much on the automobile industry and believed that the economy could solve all problems. Detroit's urban structure and industrial layout were guided by the demand for automobile manufacturing. This single model of automobile manufacturing and infrastructure first encountered the global production layout of the U.S. automobile industry under the wave of economic globalization in the 1980s, which ultimately caused Detroit to miss the opportunity for reform and transformation.

IV. Enlightenment to my country

As China’s old industrial base, the Northeast region has seen increasing downward economic pressure in recent years, which has not only attracted continued attention from the market, but also Discussions on how to revitalize the Northeast by learning from foreign experiences of success and failure in “Rust Belt revitalization.” But the transformation and upgrading of Northeast China is by no means that easy and simple. The three northeastern provinces have a population of over 100 million and an area twice that of France. Their industrial foundation is not bad, their agriculture is comparable to that of Ukraine, and they have a complete industrial chain. However, in the development process of the Northeast region, the proportion of heavy industry is too large, and the huge accumulation of assets has destined the economic transformation of the Northeast region to be painful and difficult. "Revitalizing the Northeast" was proposed as early as 2004. Although a large amount of financial and technical support was provided, the economy of the Northeast has not yet improved. In 2016, it was proposed that by 2020, the Northeast region will achieve major results in reforms in important fields and key links, and it will take another 10 years or so to achieve comprehensive revitalization.

Based on the "rust belt renaissance" abroad and the current actual situation of China's economy, Lanyu Cultural Industrial Tourism Designer believes that the Northeast region should first increase the attraction of talents, and at the same time, use universities as a platform to Increase the cultivation of talents and lay a solid foundation for economic transformation. Secondly, actively respond to the country’s call to expand domestic demand, increase support for the development of emerging industries, generate new supply and release new demand. For example, Tonghua City in Jilin relied on its resource advantages to create a 100-billion-level medical and health industry in 20 years, exploring a "green path" for the transformation and upgrading of the old industrial base in Northeast China. Finally, actively connect with developed provinces and cities to resolve state-owned enterprise reforms through cooperation, revitalize precipitated assets, and accelerate the development of advanced manufacturing.