Reasons for the decline of the Ruhr industrial zone

①Single production structure.　Ruhr industrial zone industrial production is concentrated in the coal, iron and steel, electricity, machinery, chemical industry, five major industrial sectors, of which, the coal industry and the iron and steel industry is the foundation of the region's economy, such a production structure, if the decline of an industrial sector will lead to the decline of the region's production.　The decline of coal as an energy source.　After the 1950s, with the widespread use of oil and natural gas, in the composition of world energy consumption, the proportion of coal is gradually reduced, technological development of steelmaking coal consumption is gradually reduced, the Ruhrgebiet's coal production is also gradually reduced. The composition of energy consumption refers to the proportion of energy consumed to the total energy consumption. With the development of social economy and science and technology, the composition of the world's energy consumption is also changing. before the 1950s, coal accounted for more than half of the world's energy consumption, after the 1960s, the proportion of coal declined, the proportion of oil and natural gas rose rapidly and became the main source of energy, and in the 1970s, after the increase in the price of oil, coal accounted for the proportion of the rise slightly, maintained at about 30%, after the 1980s, hydropower and nuclear power generation, the proportion of energy consumption in the Ruhr area has been reduced gradually. After the 80's, the proportion of hydropower and nuclear power increased rapidly.　③Worldwide steel surplus.　After the 1950s, more and more countries produced and exported steel, and the world steel market was highly competitive. Subsequently, the economic crisis of the 1970s and the widespread use of substitutes for steel products led to a sharp decline in world steel consumption. The worldwide steel surplus also led to the decline of the steel industry in the Ruhr area.　④ The development of the old industrial zones tends to be saturated.　Heavy industry agglomeration brought about by environmental pollution, land constraints, traffic congestion and other issues, forcing the economic activities of many enterprises have been transferred to the southern region of Germany, but also make the Ruhr area of industrial development unsustainable.