Between Neoliberal Governance and the Right to the City: Participatory politics in Berlin and Tel Aviv

Based on a comparison of Berlin and Tel Aviv, this article investigates the ways in which ensembles of participatory instruments mediate between neoliberal urban regimes and political agency shaping differentially the meaning of participation and the types of claims that can be advanced. The article gives an overview of the recent history of both cities through the lens of participatory politics. Two in‐depth case studies further examine the relationship between participatory politics and claim making in each setting: the recent conflict over a social center in the district of Friedrichshain‐Kreuzberg in Berlin and the Levinsky tent city of 2011 in Tel Aviv. In the concluding section, the article suggests that, rather than assuming that participatory tools either co‐opt movements or can be appropriated by them, we need to rethink the relationship between participatory tools, rights and recognition, and ask how participatory structures and political agency constitute each other in interwoven dynamics.     

‘Stop Being a Tourist!’ New Dynamics of Urban Tourism in Berlin‐Kreuzberg

Berlin is witnessing a massive tourism boom, and parts of it can be described as ‘new urban tourism’, which shows a preference for off the beaten track areas and ‘authentic’ experiences of the city. This form of tourism seems especially salient in Kreuzberg. It is here that an openly articulated critique of tourism attracted national attention in 2011 and has not ceased to do so since. This article aims to better understand the conflictive potential of (new urban) tourism in Kreuzberg. We argue that the readily expressed negative attitudes against tourists and the easily accepted link between tourism and gentrification have to be explained against the backdrop of certain housing‐market dynamics. Rising rents and a diminution in the number of flats available for rent are fuelling fears of gentrification in Kreuzberg, while the interest shown in new urban tourism and the comparatively low‐priced real‐estate market in Berlin result in a growing number of holiday flats. Although adding only slightly to the tightening of the housing market, holiday flats render complex processes of neighborhood change visible and further sustain an already prevalent tourism critique.     

Be Berlin! Governing the City through Freedom

In this article, I examine how contemporary Berlin is governed, with a particular focus on the production of urban space. My points of reference are the term ‘government’ (as employed by Foucault) and the field of governmentality studies (where it is applied empirically). Based on a critical discourse and dispositive analysis of the city's current urban development policy, I propose that urban governance in Berlin may be analysed through the lens of three central dispositives: the dispositive of governing through citizenship; the dispositive of the creative city; and the dispositive of the social city. I discuss the characteristics of these dispositives of urban governance, drawing on a number of examples taken from the discipline of urban space production in order to look specifically at the aims and objectives of governance, its subjects and the ways it manifests itself. In conclusion, I suggest that the new forms of governance based on empowerment and cooperation have by no means replaced disciplinary technologies of governance, but are rather embedded within them.     

德国专业化创业服务对我国的若干启示——以柏林经济技术促进机构柏林伙伴组织（BPBT）为例

柏林经济技术促进机构柏林伙伴组织是德国创业服务平台的成功典范,通过提供选址、创新、金融、人才以及国际化发展等专业化服务,加速企业创立、创新和壮大的过程,促进了柏林经济社会的发展。通过文献梳理,提炼其成功经验,提出要将专业化服务本身视作一种创新和创业,专业化服务应体现强大的战略判断能力、专注度和预见性,持续链接更广阔和更高价值的资源,形成更具普遍性的创业文化等若干观点。     

柏林-勃兰登堡都市区:跨区域规划合作及协调机制

本文分析了"柏林-勃兰登堡联合区域规划部"的组织结构、职能设置、运行机制和改革动向等,阐述了两州之间开展跨区域合作的发展历程及其动力和阻力,并总结该案例在大都市区区域协作与区域管治上提供的经验借鉴.     

Memorials to the victims of Nazism: the impact on tourists in Berlin

This qualitative study explores tourist responses to memorials to the victims of Nazism in Berlin and the impact they have on the tourist experience. The findings are located in the field of study known as dark tourism, of which visiting memorials is a part. The analysis shows that tourists increased their knowledge of the crimes committed by the Nazis, thus fulfilling the educational function of memorials. Tourists were also overwhelmed by their experience; they attested to feelings of sadness, shock, anger, despair and incomprehension. These feelings made it hard for them to resume the role of tourist after their exposure to a memorial. There was acknowledgement of the extent of commemoration practised in Germany.     

Conceptions of the dual economy

Due to the current labor market problems and to the increase in personal “free time,” the “other half” of the economy is attracting increased attention: the household economy, the informal sector, black labor, the shadow economy, etc. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the current terminology and conceptual diversity in this field, in order to clarify the notions and thus the theoretical approaches which are a prerequisite for further work at the present stage of research.     

艾森豪威尔政府第二次柏林危机政策的形成——兼论大规模报复战略的缺陷

冷战初期,尤其是艾森豪威尔政府执政时期,美国奉行的是＂大规模报复战略＂。然而在第二次柏林危机中,艾森豪威尔政府在拟定应对危机的政策时,并没有以大规模报复战略作为指导原则。大规模报复战略之所以被抛弃,是因为其存在着不可克服的局限性。     

The Train has Left the Station: Do Markets Value Intracity Access to Intercity Rail Connections?

Abstract. This paper is the first to provide a micro‐level analysis of the impact of intercity rail connections on property prices. We use the variation in mainline accessibility provided by the reorganization of the rail system in post‐unification Berlin to isolate accessibility effects from correlated individual location effects. Evidence does not support the existence of localized effects on location productivity and household utility. While the city, since unification, has undergone significant changes in its spatial structure, these effects cannot be attributed to the new transport concept. Our findings question the justification for committing substantial public funds to downtown rail redevelopment projects.     

Urban Citizenship and Right to the City: The Fragmentation of Claims

In this symposium, we explore how urban citizenship is about expressing, if not producing, difference, and how fragmentation of claims affects urban citizenship and right to the city movements with their universal, all‐inclusive ideals. Investigating social movements, political participation and conflicting diversities in public space in Tel Aviv and Berlin, we see a trend towards a diversification of interests, a weakening of movements, and even a competition over rights and resources rather than a development of mutual support and solidarities among various groups on the pathway to a livable city. This tension, we argue, deserves attention. Radical urban scholarship and politics need to better understand the historical and place‐specific contexts that structure the formation of citizenship claims and the courses that citizenship struggles take. Celebrations of urban citizenship as a more contextualized, community oriented, and bottom‐up framework (in comparison to national citizenship) should therefore be complemented by a careful investigation of their fragmented and fragmenting practices.