Introduction
A shrinking city can loosely be defined as a densely populated urban area that has faced a population loss in large numbers for more than two years and displays a faltering economic momentum (Bontje, 2005).
This phenomenon plagues many cities across Europe, but none so is more mentioned than Berlin in Germany. This report will look to explain the factors influencing how, particularly East Berlin became a shrinking city, including the industrial revolution and post-fordism and the consequences of a divided Berlin. It also explores Berlin as a shrinking city today and the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg specifically and their restructuring programs.
Factors influencing how Berlin became a shrinking city
Industrial Revolution and Post-Fordism in Berlin
Bontje (2005) states that all cities experience rise and fall in population, employment, etc., and that decline only occurs for a short period of time. Bontje (2005) suggests that this process is cylindrical and will eventually make way for new growth. The industrial revolution and post fordism play a part in how East Berlin was designated the term of a ‘shrinking city’. The industrial revolution (which standardised production and mass employment) from the 18th to the 19th century, marked a time of great prosperity and unprecedented growth of economy, wealth, and population (Bontje, 2005).
Post-fordism followed with technological advances and globalisation, which meant that instead of relying on production lines, focus was more so on providing specialised services. This meant that if a city was dependent on one means of production, it could go into decline. Post-fordism was a gradual adaptation for western capitalist societies, but for post-socialists societies it was a shock and something that happened only within a couple of years. Many post-socialist states faced massive urban decline, as evidenced in the Eastern Europe countries (Bontje, 2005).
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With the reunification of Berlin in 1990, came an entirely unique situation faced by East Berlin. East Berlin (a post-socialist capital) was to merge with the European western capitalist of West Berlin (Bontje, 2005).
Despite enormous efforts from the German Federal Government, integration of the west and east was/is more challenging than expected because East Berlin faces many problems from post-industrialisation including: high unemployment, lack of investors, loss of population (to West Berlin), unequal education levels to job provisions, and a massive reconstruction and renovation task (Bontje, 2005).
This is all further evidence of decline, and that of a shrinking city.
Consequences of a divided Berlin
As stated by Rieniets (2009), shrinking cities can be characterised by a shrinking population. And such a decrease can be created by wars, and migration. This is specifically shown by the divide of Berlin after WW2. After WW2 Berlin was jointly administered by the four allies of WW1 (Berlin.de, 2011).
These four powers later divided due to conflicts of interest and divided Berlin City into the East and the West. The west jointly administered by the United States of America, France, and Great Britain was affectively a capitalist state. And the east administered by the Soviet Union who affectively was a socialist state (Berlin.de, 2011).
This presented a huge divide in policy and government, and animosity raged between the east and the west. After the war East Berlin remained without a constitution and was riddled with conflict between people and government. Strikes and violent demonstrations see thousands of people cross the border into West Berlin before construction of the wall (Berlin.de, 2011).
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The period between 1954-1970 is commonly referred to as the ‘brain drain’ for East Berlin with valued professionals also fleeing to West Berlin including 4,600 doctors, 15,885 teachers, 738 university teachers, 15,536 engineers and technicians. Responding to growing coercive measures 200,000 people in 1960 alone flee East Berlin. A month before construction of the Berlin wall begins; another 30,400 people flee East Berlin. The stream of refugees leaving East Berlin threatened its very survival; the theory of the Berlin wall was to keep East Berlin as a functioning city and contain its citizens (Berlin.de, 2011).
Ultimately the consequences of dividing Berlin and East Berlins coercive measures reduced the desirability to live in East Berlin, this is displayed in statistics all through Berlins divide where East Berlin on average has under half the population of West Berlin in the same years (Berlin.de, 2011)
Berlin Today and examples of Restructuring
In some Berlin boroughs (mostly those of the former East Berlin) since reunification, have experienced a large loss of residents due to missing employment opportunities, high unemployment rates, and a decline in inner urban population density due to suburbanisation (Banzhaf, E, Kindler, A, & Haase, D, 2007).
The German government, after reunification, gave out subsidies intended to attract investments and capital growth into East Berlin. Instead subsidies were spent largely on continuing urban sprawl, instead of rejuvenating the city, which perpetuates the shrinking city. As a result there are huge vacancy rates in private and commercial dwellings in the city. The supply outweighs the demand in East Berlin, with 16% housing stock empty, and 40% commercial spaces empty (Banzhaf, E, Kindler, A, & Haase, D, 2007).
An example of this is the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, which has been engaged in a restructuring program aimed at a sustainable upgrading of the area and reclaiming it as residential and employment zone. This includes encouraging young professionals and businesses back with subsidised rent, and providing them with free consultancy services. This project was so successful that it was used in a neighbouring borough that also had a high success rate (Banzhaf, E, Kindler, A, & Haase, D, 2007).
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Conclusion
The Shrinking City, is something that is affecting Berlin, particularly the East. As examined industrialization and post fordism had massive repercussions for East Berlin (as a socialist state) it meant that because industrialization was the main industry for East Berlin they faced massive loss in employment and eventually population (Bontje, 2005), also they faced the extreme challenge of losing hundreds of thousands of people due to the divide of Berlin and that of a faltering economic momentum. Both of these historical factors influenced today’s Berlin, where many of these boroughs of East Berlin still have never recovered from the massive population losses and the negative stigma of a declining city. Berlin is trying to counteract the shrinking city it has become with examples of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and the restructuring of the city. Instead of trying to promote huge migration and growth into these boroughs Berlin is focusing more so on sustainable solutions (Banzhaf, E, Kindler, A, & Haase, D, 2007).
And hopefully it will be these sustainable solutions that lead East Berlin out of its decline and the term of a shrinking city into a period of a sustainable city.
References
Banzhaf, E, Kindler, A, & Haase, D 2007, ‘Monitoring, mapping and modelling urban decline: A multi scale approach for Leipzig, Germany’, EARSeL eProceedings, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 101-114.
Berlin.de 2011, History of Berlin: The Berlin Wall 2011, viewed 13 April 2011, http://www.berlin.de/mauer/index.en.html.
Bontje, M 2005, ‘Facing the challenge of shrinking cities in East Germany: The case of Leipzig’, GeoJournal, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 13-21
Rieniets, T 2009, ‘Shrinking Cities: Causes and Effects of Urban Population Losses in the Twentieth Century’, Nature and Culture, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 231-254
