The pattern of counterurbanization in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1977-85.

County-level data are used to examine the evidence for turnaround migration from urban to rural areas in the Federal Republic of Germany during the period 1978-1985. "The coexistence of suburbanization and counterurbanization for the 1978-85 time period is demonstrated. Young adults, 18-25 years of age, gravitated towards the urban cores of metropolitan areas and smaller urban areas. All the other age-groups moved mainly towards the outer suburbs of metropolitan areas, the suburbs of second-tier cities, and the rural counties. The two migration matrices indicate that counterurbanization at the level of regional planning areas was not present in 1977 but started in 1978 and it was present in 1983. At the same spatial level, evidence of a net gain of metropolitan areas from second-tier cities and rural areas is also provided for 1977. This pattern was reversed for the 1978-85 period."