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09/18/2013 10:35

The Berlin Reader: the book that explains Berlin

Jan Zwilling Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Leibniz-Institut für Regionalentwicklung und Strukturplanung (IRS)

    Berlin’s development after the fall of the Wall has received increasing inter-est all over the world. With rapid pace the city has been transformed and still is transforming in a socially, economically, culturally and structurally unique way. „The Berlin Reader“ is key to understanding these transformations in two ways: first, by offering non-German speakers original insight into the very controversial debate on the city’s future after the reunification of Germany, and, second, by highlighting the ambivalent consequences of Berlin’s urban transformation in the past decades.

    The book compiles sixteen essays on various aspects and stages of Berlin’s development in the last 25 years – most of them are available in English for the first time. Grouped into four chapters (“Berlin’s Megalomania”, “Berlin in-between”, “Berlin on sale” and “Berlin contested”) the book reconstructs the complex paths Berlin has taken. By selecting the most influential contemporary scientific essays the editors Matthias Bernt, Britta Grell and Andrej Holm provide insights into key conflicts as well as intellectual controversies regarding the development of Berlin since the fall of the wall. All chapters include an introductory section which sets the texts in context and discusses how the individual essays fit into broader academic and political debates. As Matthias Bernt, one of the authors, states: “Our objective was to select what we consider as necessary for understanding Berlin, as well as to provide information essays on very recent developments and to reassemble the jigsaw puzzle with introductory texts”.

    ## Table of Contents ##
    - Introduction (Matthias Bernt, Britta Grell, Andrej Holm)

    Part I Berlin’s Megalomania
    - Berlin Won’t Remain Berlin (Hartmut Häußermann and Walter Siebel)
    - Berlin is Becoming the Capital – Surely and Securely (Volker Eick)
    - Last Exit to Alexanderplatz (Wolfgang Kil)
    - Berlin’s Urban Development Discourse: Symbolic Action and the Articulation of Hegemonic Interests (Simone Hain)

    Part II Berlin In-between
    - The Barbarian East (Uwe Rada)
    - Berlin: From the Divided to the Fragmented City? Socio-Spatial Changes Since 1990 (Hartmut Häußermann and Andreas Kapphan)
    - New Lines of Division in the New Berlin (Margit Mayer)
    - Exploring the Substance and Style of Gentrification: Berlin’s “Prenzlberg” (Matthias Bernt and Andrej Holm)

    Part III Berlin On Sale
    - City of Talents? Berlin’s Regional Economy, Socio-spatial Fabric and “Worst Practice” Urban Governance (Stefan Krätke)
    - The Uneven Development of Berlin’s Housing Provision: Institutional Investment and Its Consequences on the City and Its Tenants (Sabina Uffer)
    - Berlin’s Gentrification Mainstream (Andrej Holm)
    - The Berlin Water Company. From “Inevitable” Privatization to “Impossible” Remunicipalization (Ross Beveridge and Matthias Naumann)

    Part IV Berlin Contested
    - Berlin Diversities. The Perpetual Act of Becoming of a True Metropolis (Stephan Lanz)
    - “Berlin Does Not Love You” – Notes On Berlin’s “Tourism Controversy” and its Discontents (Johannes Novy)
    - The Sound of Berlin. Subculture and Global Music Industry (Ingo Bader and Albert Scharenberg)
    - Spree Riverbanks for Everyone! – What Remains of “Sink Mediaspree”? (Jan Dohnke)

    ## About the Editors ##

    Matthias Bernt works as a Senior Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning (IRS) in Erkner. He has pub-lished widely on matters of gentrification, urban shrinkage, and local poli-tics.

    Britta Grell is a political scientist, lecturer and author, based in Berlin and focused on social policies and urban movements. She is an active member of INURA (International Network for Urban Research and Action).

    Andrej Holm works at the Department of Urban and Regional Sociology at Berlin's Humboldt University. He is a well-known expert on the topic of housing and gentrification, and has published various books on the »Right to the City.«


    More information:

    http://www.transcript-verlag.de/ts2478/ts2478.php Website of Publishing House with detailed information and ordering of "The Berlin Reader"
    http://www.irs-net.de/kontakt/mitarbeiter.php?id=164 Personal website of Dr. Matthias Bernt at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning


    Images

    The Berlin Reader, book cover
    The Berlin Reader, book cover
    @ transcript verlag
    None


    Criteria of this press release:
    Journalists, Scientists and scholars
    Construction / architecture, History / archaeology, Social studies
    transregional, national
    Scientific Publications
    English


     

    The Berlin Reader, book cover


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