Between Strange and Familiar: Urban Change in Berlin

Abstract

The post Cold War adage, that the German capital is “poor, but sexy”, has beckoned in a new age of consumerism. In the same breath, and in light of multifarious crises across the Global South, a sizeable population of émigrés continue arriving to Berlin, the site of their ‘estrangement’. Simultaneously, and as Berlin is rapidly transforming into the ‘silicon valley of Europe’, urban change is making the city less habitable. At this crossroads, one is starkly reminded that Berlin’s urban fabric is increasingly contingent on these crises elsewhere. Within this context, how can we readdress urban change in the city? In this semipersonal essay, I argue that, when the city is treated as a ‘heterotopia’, there remains no monopoly on the claim to its past and future. As the city’s future is mapped out, we are able to engage with the different political meanings and experiences attached to the city.