Berlin is Berlin is Berlin: whose urban development?

Summer School Metropolitan Studies! in Berlin

This year’s Summer School entitled “Berlin is Berlin is Berlin: whose urban development“ is being held jointly by the Georg Simmel Center and the International Department of the HU Berlin from 17-28 August. The Summer School, conducted in English, deals with urban development issues in Berlin. The title chosen touches upon the central political question of: who owns the city and who is shaping it for whom? This question became conspicuously clear and poignant during recent urban planning debates on “cultural economy“, participation, economic and social integration at projects such as “MediaSpree”, the disused Tempelhof airport, the Science and Technology Park Adlershof or the “Potsdamer Platz”. Such symbolic debates are often noticed well beyond the city boundaries as seen in a recent article in the New York Times on the reconstruction of the Prussian city castle. Besides such primarily symbolic aspects of utilization of space, everyday life at a local level centers on socio-economic and cultural aspects for city dwellers. In the recently published Sozialstrukturatlas Berlin (only in German) it was clearly shown that social standing and situation of the city’s inhabitants has a weighty spatial component. Increasingly such phenomena as segregation and exclusion are becoming important factors for urban development re the issue of: who or which ethnic group owns the city? Within the context of temporary use and inner city revitalization a further dimension comes into play, namely that of participation and informal urban development. This topic is of special interest to city administration and real estate developers who expect new economic impulses. Informal development and participation have played a strategic role in several urban areas since reunification.

The Summer School will welcome experts from the fields of science (including sociologists, urban planners, and architects) and local government (including representatives of the city council, urban planning dept, local borough management) who will illuminate various historic and contemporary urban development aspects. The Summer School is aimed at undergraduates, graduates and PhD students of a wide range of urban research topics. Further information on the programme and registration details may be found at: http://www.international.hu-berlin.de/an_die_hu/sommer-winter-unis/sommeruniversitat/metrostudies/index_html