EU and international affairs

Socially integrative city

The "Socially Integrative City” is a central funding initiative of the State of Berlin, to overcome unequal living conditions in the city and to purposefully activate local potential. It is financed by funds from the joint German Government - Federal States programme to promote urban development and money from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The initiative is divided into five different support programmes. The Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing is implementing three programmes in collaboration with the districts: "Social city", "Education in the neighbourhood" and "Urban redevelopment". In the "Social city" programme, for example, neighbourhood management procedures are implemented for certain areas in cooperation with the Berlin districts. This is intended to promote networking within neighbourhoods and to strengthen the responsibility of the residents for their own local issues.

The “Neighbourhood centres” and “Libraries in the neighbourhood” programmes are implemented by the Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Social Affairs and the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Edible Cities Network – EdiCitNet

EdiCitNet (Edible Cities Network – Integrating Edible City Solutions for social, resilient and sustainably productive cities) is an innovation project funded by the EU. The objective is to form a global network for nature-based food production solutions in cities.

The city is becoming edible: residents are creating and maintaining green oases. Vegetable patches are created or fruit trees grow there. Communal gardens and other “edible” initiatives improve individual quality of life, are important social places and make a valuable contribution to the development of the neighbourhood.

The integration of food production is a major step towards making cities more sustainable, more pleasant to live in and healthier. The funding of around €12 million from the European Horizon 2020 research programme is being used by over 30 partners from science, administration, practice and business to work together to further develop this instrument of sustainable urban development. 12 cities in Europe and worldwide are participating as practical partners in EdiCitNet, including the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing in Berlin.

Metropolitan Industrial Spatial Strategies & Economic Sprawl

Metropolitan regions increasingly find themselves faced with the challenge that business enterprises are moving out of city centres into the surrounding regions. The city therefore loses important jobs. The "Metropolitan Industrial Spatial Strategies & Economic Sprawl" project is examining this development in greater detail. The aim is to answer central questions associated with this development: Can the trend of relocation of businesses into the surrounding region be verified statistically? What space and location requirements do, for example, trades have, which are essential for the proper functioning of a city, or industrial undertakings, which offer different qualifications and income options? Which political and spatial planning strategies can cities pursue to keep businesses in the city and to provide sufficient space reserves for the future?

The Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing in Berlin, together with the cities of Vienna, Warsaw, Riga, Oslo, Turin and Stuttgart, is involved in the one-year research project. It is financed within the scope of the European Spatial Planning Observation Network ESPON with funds from the European for Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and ends in October 2020.