Verlagerung

Verlagerung is a German noun meaning the act of moving something from one place to another or transferring it from one context to another. It derives from the verb verlagern, with senses including relocation, transfer, or shift. In everyday language it can describe physical moves—such as relocating a factory, office, or population—as well as more abstract transfers of assets, responsibilities, or attention.

In economics and business, verlagern commonly refers to the relocation of production or services. Companies may verlagern manufacturing to lower-cost regions, outsource activities, or shift logistics hubs. These moves aim to reduce costs, access new markets, or optimize supply chains, but they can entail regulatory hurdles, longer lead times, transportation costs, and effects on employment. Re-shoring or back-shoring is the process of bringing production or activities back to the home country.

In urban planning and regional development, verlagern describes relocating activities such as employment centers or retail from city cores to suburbs or other regions, influencing traffic patterns, housing demand, and local economies. In logistics, it can denote moving distribution networks to different locations to improve efficiency or resilience.

In scientific contexts, verlagern may appear in more specialized uses, such as the displacement or redistribution of particles or properties within a system, though such usage is domain-specific and typically clarified by accompanying terminology.

Overall, verlagerung is a neutral term for the movement or transfer of objects, activities, or concepts across space or context, used across business, planning, and science to describe a spatial or functional shift.