Socio-ecological urban policy: A different Berlin is possible

As is well known, the Berlin Senate made up of the CDU and SPD has one answer to the housing shortage and the rent crisis: “Build, build, build.” Although in Berlin actually built significantly less than politicians would like. Nevertheless, the Senate has been saying for years that where the influx continues and rents are rising, there is one solution: building new apartments to balance supply and demand on the market.

The broad expertise that exists in the professional world and the city’s numerous civil society initiatives has been moving in a different direction for years. This was shown again on Wednesday at a press conference of the new alliance “Our City”. More than 100 initiatives – from anti-capitalist groups to the tenants’ association to the Architects for Future and district initiatives – have supported five demands that are intended to enable climate-friendly, social and public welfare-oriented urban development.

The tenor of the press conference was clear: “What is missing is not the knowledge, but the political courage to no longer prioritize demolition,” said Michael Pape from Architects for Future, summing up the mood. “What we have agreed on here are demands that can attract a majority and that should have a place in the election campaign,” said alliance spokesman Ioan Brummer.

Climate goals and affordable housing are not a contradiction, emphasized Sebastian Bartels from the Berlin Tenants Association right at the beginning. On the contrary: The climate-damaging new construction would be carried out primarily in the luxury segment by private housing companies, something that normal Berliners would have little benefit from. Meanwhile, thousands of apartments fall out of social security every year, and there are only 86,000 left in total – even though more than half of Berliners are theoretically entitled to a housing entitlement certificate.

Climate targets not adopted

“Everything should therefore concentrate on at least keeping the inventory affordable,” says Bartels. But what the tenants’ association is observing is that inexpensive housing is being demolished – with “tons” of so-called “gray energy” being released, i.e. greenhouse gases that are already bound up in the building structure. The energetic renovation of poorly insulated apartments is also progressing slowly, which means high heating bills for tenants, says Bartels.

The alliance is therefore calling for the price fixing of social housing to be made permanent. There should also be a ban on the privatization of state-owned real estate and land and the consistent prosecution of speculative vacancies and misappropriation. This is coupled with the requirement for a mandatory demolition permit and the strict examination of the greenhouse and ecological balance of all construction projects.

Theresa Keilhacker from the Climate City Berlin 2030 alliance particularly criticized the inadequate implementation of Berlin’s energy and climate protection program (BEK 2030). Berlin has actually set itself the goal of being climate neutral by 2045. But after the last red-red-green Senate presented the concrete implementation steps for the period up to 2026 to the House of Representatives in 2022, the goals in this legislative period were simply not decided by parliament, said Keilhacker. “The climate protection goals remain within a non-binding framework,” says the architect.

Referendums should be implemented

In terms of climate policy, the alliance is therefore calling for an offensive in the energy-efficient renovation of existing apartments and the expansion of renewable energy supplies. The alliance also wants to stop all construction projects that involve the development of green spaces.

The speakers for the initiatives also repeatedly criticized the Senate’s top-down policy. They complain several times about the fact that… The Senate is increasingly removing construction projects from the jurisdiction of the districtsin order to enforce them even against the will of local politicians. In contrast, the alliance now demands that in the future it must be the responsibility of the districts to define to what extent there are “overriding interests” that make such a transfer of responsibility possible.

But not only district politics, but also the rights of Berliners need to be strengthened. “People know what their neighborhood and their city need,” said Britta Krehl from the Berlin Alliance for Sustainable Urban Development. The right of residents to have a say must therefore be strengthened. The established Senate policy of blocking or undermining referendums – such as the expropriation of housing companies or the planned development of Tempelhofer Feld – is also an affront to Berliners.