Berlin plans twelve new urban quarters: locations, mixed city concept, and 30 percent social housing

Building senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) has unveiled plans for twelve new urban quarters. Each is to contain 3,000 to 5,000 apartments. Schools and social infrastructure are to be built in the immediate vicinity.

The twelve locations

The quarters are spread across the entire city.

In Pankow: "Elisabeth-Aue," "Blankenburger Pflasterweg/Heinersdorf," and "Cluster Buch." In Prenzlauer Berg: "Michelangelostrasse." In Treptow-Koepenick: "Johannisthal/Adlershof" and "Cluster Koepenick." In Neukoelln: "Buckower Felder." In Steglitz: "Lichterfelde-Sued." In Spandau: "Wasserstadt Oberhavel" and "Gartenfeld." In Reinickendorf: "Schumacher Quartier" on the grounds of Tegel Airport. In Mitte: "Europacity/Lehrter Strasse" in Moabit.

Vision: The mixed city

Geisel said at the presentation: "We want to learn from the legacy of 1920s housing estates and connect it with the mixed city model we find in Gruenderzeit neighborhoods." State owned housing companies, cooperatives, building groups, and private firms are all envisaged as developers. The target is 30 percent subsidized housing.

For investors and project developers, this opens up participation opportunities. The focus goes beyond housing alone, aiming at mixed use quarters with local amenities and social infrastructure.

Criticism and open questions

The Berlin Tenants' Association responded cautiously. For "urbanity" not to remain an empty buzzword, genuine citizen participation "on equal terms" would be necessary. The association pointed to the lessons from the failed building plan for Tempelhof Field in 2014. That referendum showed that large scale projects in Berlin are hard to implement without public support.

For the market development in the affected boroughs, these plans matter: new quarters change the supply structure and can influence prices in their surroundings.