Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin has changed profoundly. While the city grew only slowly between 1990 and 2010, a rapid increase in population started in 2010, with noticeable consequences for the composition of urban society. At the same time, the housing market has changed considerably and is now considered to be structurally tense. Accordingly, the topic of housing is currently again at number 1 in the political debate. But the debate on affordable housing points to a broader line of conflict: Who can afford Berlin – and who is marginalised? This reflects the tensions between the claim of an open city and the realities of social inequality.

Together with our guest Ephraim Gothe, we will discuss the housing and social policy developments of Berlin's urban society as part of the Labora Lecture. In his input, Ephraim Gothe will give an insight into the multi-layered Berlin debate. He will address in particular the following questions:

  • How has Berlin's urban society developed since the fall of the Berlin Wall, in its social diversity and where do people come from?
  • Why did Berlin grow so little between 1990 and 2010 and then so strongly until 2020?
  • Who is the Berlin City Council today?

This is supplemented by short inputs from the studies as well as the practical work of Minor and discussed in the circle of invited experts.

To our guest

Ephraim Gothe has been City Councilor for Urban Development and Building Construction in the Mitte district since November 2017. In this role, he is responsible for the city development office with a focus on urban planning, building and housing supervision, monument protection and cadastre and surveying as well as facility management. Previously, he shaped Berlin's building policy in various functions: as personal speaker of the Senate Building Director Hans Stimmann (2000-2006), as District City Councillor for Urban Development in the Mitte District (2006-2011) and as State Secretary for Building and Housing in the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment under Senator and later Governing Mayor Michael Müller (2012-2014).

 

To the Labora Lectures

With the Labora lectures brings the Minor – Labora experts from science, politics and practice into an intensive exchange on issues and social developments that affect the shaping of the future of our society. We aim at mutual learning on innovative ideas, methods and approaches to improve the situation of marginalized or disadvantaged groups. We welcome the guests with a special wine, other drinks and some food that accompanies the evening in the fireplace room. The Labora lectures are organised and implemented in cooperation with Minor – Project Kontor for Education and Research, Minor – Science Society and La Red – Networking and Integration. 

The Labora lectures It's called Chatham House Rules.