Building liveable, social cities for the economy of tomorrow in Asia and Germany

The expert delegation from Asia also visited a housing cooperative in Berlin to discuss instruments to guarantee affordable housing, even in a housing market that is showing increasing signs of a speculation bubble. A trend that triggered the question of whether affordable housing should be a consumption good or a human right. Innovative and sometimes radical solutions being discussed in Germany include a quota for affordable condominiums in new buildings, leasehold land schemes, a general cap for housing prices or even expropriation of huge housing companies.

 “We manage to provide housing for one third of the market price and still have a small net profit,” said a representative of the Berlin housing cooperative. “But unfortunately, rack-renting is not really penalized in Berlin.”

Between 2008-2018 rent prices in Germany’s capital Berlin practically doubled, with middle income families and single earners hit the hardest by the increase (link in German). Michael Gross, member of the German Bundestag, highlighted that much more investment in building new housing space is needed, while the public sector needs also to regain control of already existing housing. Unfortunately, the public sector controls only a small percentage of the housing market and currently has no sufficient instruments to correct the rising housing rents, said Michael Gross.     

In the second-tier city of Leipzig, the Asian experts learned about the “Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities” as the social-city concept on European level. The Leipzig-Charter defines among others integrated urban development as a prerequisite for successful urban sustainability and considers strategies for upgrading the physical environment in deprived urban areas:

“Our cities possess unique cultural and architectural qualities, strong forces of social inclusion and exceptional possibilities for economic development. They are centres of knowledge and sources of growth and innovation. At the same time, however, they suffer from demographic problems, social inequality, social exclusion of specific population groups, a lack of affordable and suitable housing and environmental problems." — excerpt from Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities.

The delegation made also a field trip to meet staff of a Magistralen-management office—an office that functions as an intermediate organization between the urban planning department of the City of Leipzig and the local residents in a neighbourhood close to one of the main pathways (Magistrale) in Leipzig.

The neighbourhood along the main road has suffered from insufficient social infrastructure, cultural and social events and is characterized by comparatively high rates of unemployment and poverty. The office runs activities to improve the overall social infrastructure and to stimulate active involvement of residents in decisions about the neighbourhood. The principle for the offices’ activities is that a greater sense of ownership among the residents for their living environment can lead to greater interest and continued participation among the residents in the making of their city.