Pioneering projects of locally integrated urban development at Berlin’s former wholesale flower market are working to carefully upgrade the southern Friedrichstrasse, still a poor district. Urban planning and architectural objectives were developed in dialog with the neighborhood, the District and the Berlin Senate during the land allocation process. The projects combine commercial, social and cultural objectives for living and working together. The process is considered a model for a new real estate policy, according to which the best ideas, rather than the highest price, are awarded the contract when selling state-owned land.
Highlights of the tour:
- Mehringplatz, which has been a central location for commercial and residential use since 1975 and is bing improved for the benefit of local residents
- The Kreativquartier, which was completed in 2023 and is breaking new ground in creating space for living and working
- The alternative daily newspaper taz moved into its new publishing building in 2020, which has a semi-public visitor area
- IbeB – integrative building project at the former wholesale flower market is an alternative residential and commercial building and a beacon of hope for a livelier neighbourhood
- Frizz23, a collective building planned for new cultural businesses, which includes an educational center and hotel business
- Metropolenhaus am Jüdischen Museum, a building with a variety of residential and commercial uses and an “active first floor”
- Bauhütte, a meeting place for civic participation during the reconstruction of the Blumengroßmarkt. Today, the Bauhütte is home to many associations, initiatives, gardns and cultural networks
- Affordable housing, commercial and creative spaces are to be created in the nearby Dragonerareal, now once again owned by the state of Berlin
