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View over the green Ruhr area
Filter setzen Metropolis Ruhr

There's no better place

53 cities, 5.1 million people: The Ruhr area is Germany's largest metropolitan area. This not only offers companies broad target groups and promising business opportunities, but also makes the Ruhr Metropolis attractive from human and cultural perspective.

Ruhr Business Hub: City of Cities

Driving through the Ruhr area is a testament to the region's value: the city boundaries seem to merge; you're almost imperceptibly in a neighbouring city, and within a short drive you're three cities away! Excellent transport links and proximity to France, Belgium and the Netherlands make the Ruhr Metropolis an attractive location - for residents and, above all, for companies. Employees have the opportunity to live comparatively cheaply and enjoy a wide range of cultural and leisure activities, and 60 million people are within a three-hour drive!

While the river Ruhr gives the metropolitan region its name, the Emscher and Lippe rivers also shape the Ruhr area. The three rivers, which flow into the Rhine, frame the region and provide a counterbalance to the urban centres. The region is constantly changing: It is on its way to becoming the greenest industrial region in the world.

 

60 Mio. People are accessible by truck in three hours
160.000 Companies
Harbor in Duisburg is the largest inland seaport worldwide
150 Technology & Research Centers, Incubators & Innovation Centers

Best Climate for Success

In our brochure, we present the Metropole Ruhr business location in more detail and tell its success stories. Download here & learn more: Get to know the Ruhr Metropolis in the magazine.

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Metropolis of concentrated knowledge

The almost 250,000 students among the 5.1 million inhabitants are also a breath of fresh air. With 22 universities - including those in the university cities of Bochum, Dortmund and Essen - and many research centres, the Ruhr area has the highest density of universities in Europe. The region's economy continues to benefit from this young talent: Start-ups and 160,000 established companies draw on an ever-growing talent pool. Research and business are closely intertwined, contributing to the transformation of the Ruhr Metropolis.

 

 

This transformation process, in turn, brings new opportunities: Synergies are created in the Ruhr region, new industries can gain a foothold in the region's attractive areas, and existing structures can be innovatively developed further. In this way, start-ups, companies and research institutions are driving forward future topics such as IT security or hydrogen in spatial clusters and regional networks. All this in a vibrant metropolitan area that offers (potential) employees the best conditions.

 

New perspectives in long-established cities

Attractive neighbourhoods for residents and businesses are being created in the Ruhr Metropolis. Whether directly at the 6-Lakes-Wedau in DuisburgWedau, in the centre of Essen on a former steelworks site or in Europe's largest canal port in Dortmund: where the city is changing, new perspectives are emerging. Businesses, creative people, students and residents are meeting in newly developed areas - and the Ruhr area is showing how green, urban living can work in the future.

Coming together works: Internationals also quickly feel at home in the Ruhr Metropolis. While guest workers from Italy and Turkey contributed to the region's diversity early on, it is now the many students and young talents who are driving the region forward. More than 150 nationalities live in the Ruhr Metropolis - forming a unique society with almost inexhaustible potential.

Key figures of our communities

Simply swipe to the right to learn more about the economic development agencies in the municipalities. You can discover key figures in the interactive map.

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Commitment to Science & Integration

Hasan Indrees has lived in Germany for seven years and is still happy about his move to the Ruhr area.

Read his story

"I liked it here right away! A metropolis like this with small, medium and large cities side by side is really cool."

Hasan IdreesSyrian-born research assistant and doctoral student at the University of Duisburg-Essen

Would you like to learn more about the Metropole Ruhr?

Discover the Location marketing campaign now and read stories about the dynamics and future potential in the Ruhr region.