the tertiary sector in and around Nordhorn, unlike in other regions, is very far advanced. The greater Nordhorn area is well off when compared with the country as a whole, with the Nordhorn employment agency area (Agenturbezirk) reporting the lowest jobless rate in Lower Saxony. The neighbouring region of Rheine in North Rhine-Westphalia, too, is experiencing a peak in employment. This is further substantiated in the 2005 land use planning report from the Federal Office for the Building Industry and Land Use Planning (Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung) in which is discussed a forecast, based on current indicators, that sees in northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia and in Nordhorn and its environs an area with great economic dynamism in the coming years. What should be highlit is the great number of food markets in Nordhorn, with Nordhorn having roughly twice the sales area proportionally by population as the national average. Because of the often misguided evictions, however, of newer locations outside the integrated sites, there are many empty premises in the inner town. In March 2007, the Rawe-Ring-Center with roughly 22 000 m² of new sales area was opened on a plot that was once part of the Rawe textile factory. This project met with considerable opposition, mainly among local retailers and professionals. The retailers feared that the glut of new premises would bring about further vacancies, especially in the southern inner town, while professionals criticized the consequences for urban development, the lack of cleanup operations and above all the demolition of factory buildings that were protected as monuments. Despite 12,000 Nordhorners' protest signatures gathered by the Pro Grafschaft initiative, the project was endorsed by a majority of the local politicians and in the end put into action. Under the slogan "Nordhorn - Die Wasserstadt" ("Nordhorn – the Water Town"), the town fathers are now seeking to put the emphasis on new aspects of the town's development, bringing forth plans to open canals for pleasure boats and to further development by building a town harbour. Whether these plans will indeed be implemented, and to what extent, remains to be seen in the coming years, Also found at Nordhorn is the controversial bombing range, the Nordhorn Range. After the Second World War, this was first run by the Royal Air Force, but then later by the German Bundeswehr. Transport Nordhorn has two railway stations (Nordhorn and Nordhorn-Blanke), which are served by the RB