BERLIN: LEVELS OF INFORMALITY IN THE CREATIVE CITY
GERMANY, 2015

After the fall of the wall and the reunification of the city in 1989 an intensive program of urban development started in Berlin. Visitors and investors through city marketing events promoted the transformation. Since the reunification, forces such as economic growth and competitiveness have shaped urban policy. In contrast, left over spaces appeared (as consequence of the fall of the wall) and had been taken by informal settlements since then. The lack of control in the areas between East and West made this phenomenon happen.

By mid 2000’s the “New Berlin” was not yet important under the world’s eyes. The city economic growth since mid 1990s remained low and unemployment was an important problem within the city. By 2000s the emergence of a “creative class” no only capable of defending urban spaces but also to influence urban development catch the attention of local politicians, planners, economic development oficials and city marketers.

The research asserts that informality can be pictured as a morally and legally questionable non-regulated matter but also as an urban or collective cultural asset. These interventions through the city are important in order to create a diverse and active atmosphere in contrast with the idealization of a modern city, but also as a process to create bridges between society and the government institutions with the objective to understand social dynamics from a bottom up perspective.

The investigation focuses into analyzing the levels of informality in specific case studies in terms of the relationship between governance and citizen’s participation taking in consideration the implications of rights and obligations to become a value economic subject to the city.

Furthermore, the objective is to understand the materialization of “governmentality” (Foucault) into physical locations and social structures that works in parallel with the mainstream of government regulation, but that certainly complements it.

In addition, the paper makes a critique about the relationship between the “creative city” brand and the actual objective of the non-regulated occupations along Luisenstadt, Berlin.

Does the power of the state is diminished by the emerging of plural actors active in governance issues? Do the participatory practices as an integral element of the modes of governance necessarily lead to citizen empowerment?

Research Seminar: Reconceptualizing Berlin as a Laboratory - Eve Blau
Independent Research
Presented at: "Voices and Visions of St. Louis: Past, Present, Future" Conference
Harvard Graduate School of Design