BBC Documentaries

Germany's rust belt revival

Loading player...
On location in Dortmund, in Germany's Ruhr region, historian and author Katja Hoyer reports on the dramatic transformation that has taken place in the city in the last 20 years. Once known for its heavy industry, especially steel production, Dortmund realised the future lay elsewhere. The city would instead become a centre for hi tech industries, for start-ups, for logistics and it would attract talent to make that happen. Investing in two world class technical universities was a huge help together with the efforts of local government to support new businesses with access to workspace and useful contacts. The city cleaned up its act with new parks and lakes and a river free of pollution. The cultural centre Dortmunder U, the famous football club Borussia Dortmund plus a concert hall helped to turn the city into an attractive place to live. Yet in neighbouring Essen, people have been left behind in this transformation. What can Dortmund and its neighbouring cities teach the world about the process of deindustrialisation ?
24 Oct 9PM English United Kingdom Education

Other recent episodes

River rebound

When cities industrialise the rivers they were built around are first polluted, then turned into sewers and finally built over. It’s a pattern that’s repeated itself for 250 years from 18th century Paris to 21st century Manila. But across the world the fight is on to release and revive our…
4 Nov 8PM 32 min

Japan’s next meal?

What will the food of the future taste like? In Japan, we discover a fungus turning waste into a high-protein alternative to meat. Then we visit a bedroom where amateur scientists are growing chicken cells. And a restaurant with its very own cultured-meat laboratory upstairs. Could these ideas eventually change…
3 Nov 8PM 29 min

Inheritance: Fiat

Gianni Agnelli is the head of the family that controls Fiat, and the vast business empire beyond the carmaker that helped shape modern Italy. Charming, charismatic and powerful, he's regarded by many as Italy’s unofficial king, and his family de facto royalty. When he dies the country is plunged into…
2 Nov 8PM 29 min

Can businesses trust AI?

Why does artificial intelligence sometimes make things up? From law firms to consultants, businesses are grappling with the risks of AI hallucinations. What's causing them, and can they be prevented?
2 Nov 1AM 25 min

Unlikely: A love across the political divide

Catalina and Jorge were born on the same day - 14 June. They also share a surname and, at one point, attended neighbouring schools. But that is where the similarities end. They hold radically different political views in a country that has endured Latin America's longest running and most violent…
31 Oct 9PM 54 min
All episodes