EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Large Housing Estates in Germany: Policies and practices

Large Housing Estates in Germany: Policies and practices

Introduction

The report deals with the effects that current policies in Germany have on the development of the large housing estates. The main focus is on spatially targeted policies, programmes and their application through projects.

Description

The report looks specifically at three contrasting Berlin cases, selected for the RESTATE project. The Märkisches Viertel in the northwest of Berlin represents the former “West”. Two different neighbourhoods in eastern Marzahn-Hellersdorf represent the panel-building belt, housing a large part of the population of the former GDR capital. Thus, the remaining east west contrast and at the same time the adjacency deriving from parallel developments of the modernist’s urban developments in Europe and across the formerly dividing borders are expected to be reflected.

Background information

Public policy, programmes and projects supporting the development of the large housing estates were evaluated from the perspective of a governance-oriented approach. How do programmes and projects work? Who are the actors behind their application on the local stage? How do the actors cooperate? And are indeed cooperation and collaboration systematic parts on the actors’ agenda? What are the incentives and obstacles to joint collaborative action? And especially, as the understanding is that action across the boundaries of interest and actors could be the only solution to many of the large housing estates’ problems: what are the suitable means of linking and integrating policies to reach as much of the sustainability of the estates as possible?

Methodology

Methodologically the research is related to the actor-network-theory approach (Latour, 1987; Callon, 1998; Keim, 2003). Originally applied to the research about scientific innovation and knowledge-building, the actor-network-theory states that actor networks consist of and link together both non-technical and technical elements. Thus the actor network approach widens the perspective on governance processes onto the economic and technological environment, which influences action. The actor-network-theory can be seen as a systematic way to bring out the infrastructure that is usually left out when analysing change and policy implementation. This broader view on governance allows the economic and technical elements of the estates (and/or the perception of these) to be included into the analysis of interactions, making “real” limitations tangible.

Conclusions

Some conclusions of this RESTATE research are:

Large housing estates are under the influence of non-area-targeted policies as they are under the influence of policies which explicitly target urban problems. There is interdependency between the policies, which can either lead to synergy, or to a situation, where a policy cannot become successful as the actions within it are counterbalanced by the effects of other policies.
German integrative programmes like the Socially Integrative City work well as an element of governance and network-building, but they are highly dependent on the readiness of the actors to learn about the whole of the network structure and their role within it.
Training, coaching and the exchange of information between local actors and between the actors of different regions, were found to be an important asset in the quality development of action and the feedback to the actors.
The high density of the large housing estates seems to be more of an asset for the work on problems, than a problem. It allows for the establishment of close network structures on all sectors: from self-help to social care for certain groups in problem constellations.
There is a decisive mismatch of knowledge about the interdependence of different developments for the large housing estates and the need for comprehensive knowledge that increases the chances for success. Often, neither the expert knowledge of regulations and funding are available, nor professional knowledge about networking, or the local knowledge about who does what on the estates.

Contact info

RESTATE
Mr. R. van Kempen, tel. +31 30 253 1399

Publication date

01/12/2004

Researcher

Droste, C. and Knorr-Siedow, T.

Cities

The city of Berlin

Article info
ISBN: 90-6266-232-3

Links

RESTATE

Large Housing Estates in Germany: Policies and practices (PDF, Eng, 3.8 MB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Housing

Keywords

Housing policy