Résumé
The territorial changes under way in the countryside of eastern Germany result from the conjunction of three major trends. The rupture owing to decollectivization fifteen years ago combined with a slower process of diversifying socioeconomic activities in line with a change in public policy objectives. The deep recession in rural areas in the new German Lander draws attention to issues having to do with the redefinition of rural life and new types of governance. This introduction presents the eight articles in this special issue devoted to local development in Germany and to the transfer of a model of planning and development to the new German states.