The development of the ongoing project at the Karstadt-Hermannplatz site lets us read and understand the complex (battle)-ground in which current urban development discourses and local practices flourish. On the one hand, urban development discourses seem to be defined by the increasing privatisation of land and blurred ownership structures, which reinforce the problem of speculation and price increases, leading to an alarming marginalisation and displacement of local neighbourhoods. On the other, the demand for  common-good-oriented urban development increases the need for self-governance and makes the emergence of politically-involved approaches significant.

    Recognising the importance of initiatives that demand urban development in the interests of residents, that rethink the production of urban space by developing alternative models to make marginalised perspectives visible and that dis-close separate spaces, our work began with the Initiative Hermannplatz. 

    The mapping project attempts to visualise the complex socio-spatial relationship embodied in Hermannplatz. Under the high pressure of the city of Berlin, big investors like Signa GmbH and the interest of the citizens of the area, the mapping project relates the less tangible actors at stage to the daily emerging urban practice that characterises Hermannplatz and its surroundings.

    The following map offers an insight into the existing strategies around the Karstadt project. Feel free to navigate through the map and follow the existing dependencies between the civic society, the city administration and the private investors developing the project at Hermanplatz.

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