The Social Atlas of Leipzig is the first atlas which considers the social and urban ecological structural changes in a large east German city after the unification of the two German States in 1990. It is an instrument for the sociological analysis and evaluation of urban development. The main objectives are as follows:

1. 1.

   spatial registration, cartographic representation and assessment of these social consequences that accompany the abrupt transition from the centrally managed economy in the former GDR to the free market economy in an urban frame;

2. 2.

   description of the social-spatial differentiation of residential areas by means of selected social, political and economic factors including the actual land use, as well as structural, infrastructural and environmental characteristics;

3. 3.

   characterisation of the actual social situation in the city of Leipzig by registering the social conditions and their changes in time, their cartographic registration and interpretation.