City Governance in Berlin

Berlin, having 3.4 million inhabitants, is the largest city in Germany. The two parts of the city have been re-united in terms of infrastructure and buildings during the last twelve years, but socially and culturally they are still quite different. Moreover, the city has huge budgetary problems mainly caused by the enormous restructuring process of the past decade.

Berlin will now concentrate on improving the existing infrastructure, and focus on its assets that lie in its tradition as an international city of culture and science, communication and the media. Berlin wants to become a city where all residents, rich and poor, old and young, nationals and ethnic minorities like to live and work; a place offering affordable housing, jobs, cultural and educational facilities, commercial and leisure areas, and public space, squares, and parks, places where people can meet.

Our guiding principles are:

• The inner city has to be strengthened as a forum where people live and work. A social and functional mixture in the central parts of Berlin and its boroughs is the basic requirement for viable urban development.
• Inner city green and open spaces are the yardstick for the quality of urban life. We will further develop our 45% of green space.
• The civilisation of road traffic or more mobility with less traffic is one of Berlin's main political targets. The city's attractiveness will increase further if more people use the excellent public transport network, go by bicycle or on foot. An efficient parking lot management in the centre is also part of the strategy.
• The promotion of initiative and social responsibility through dialogue. The situation in some of boroughs began to deteriorate in the 90s due to deindustrialisation and huge structural changes. To solve the problems in 17 areas, mainly in the old districts, we have launched a programme with new integrated problem-solving strategies involving self-help, private initiative, and collaboration by the people concerned, thus stimulating and supporting essential local development resources. It is called "Social City". Neighbourhood management is a crucial tool in implementing this new programme.

The different measures are part of an urban policy which is help to improve the economic situation. We think that in the long run a city taking care for attractive living and working conditions will also be attractive for the location of firms.