OverThere: There's building - and then there's de-building, or "Rueckbau" which an east German town called Schwedt about 130kms north-east of Berlin is about to experience. The town, once an industrial centre of some 53,000, has lost nearly half its population since unification.

Now local authorities have decided to demolish communist-era apartment blocks rather than let them give Schwedt the appearance of a ghost town. De-building levels depopulated areas and returns the sites to nature. By the end of this year, 4,000 Schwedt flats will be rubble.