SPATIAL IMPACTS OF GERMAN UNIFICATION

German unification immediately exposed and quickly accentuated the eco nomic gulf that had developed between the separate territories of the FRG and GDR during the Cold War era. Today, within 'einiges Deutschlan d', the immense prosperity divide overshadows all previous regional cl eavages including the north-south economic 'descent' in the West and t he contrasting urban and rural lifestyles in the East. It dominates th e geography of Germany's unified space and poses an enormous challenge to policymakers. This paper examines the principal responses to this challenge, emphasizing the spectacular quantity of government-promoted infra-structure modernization in the new Lander, extension of Federal and EC systems of special regional assistance, and the crucial role o f the Treuhand industrial restructuring agency. Illustration of post-u nification regional and sub-regional economic trends is still subject to the limited range of trustworthy data available for the new Lander; but reliable area statistics on population migration, population deve lopment and unemployment rates do permit geographical representation o f three key indicators. The paper concludes by discussing predictable longer-term effects, focusing on the salient issues of impacts of indu strial restructuring in eastern Germany, the 'new centrality' of the f ormer west-east borderlands, and competition amongst an extended syste m of urban agglomerations.