Case Studies  The Karolinenviertel Case in Hamburg - St. Pauli

Losers and winners of the regeneration process

As already mentioned, the urban regeneration in the Karolinenviertel promotes the revaluation tendencies from which some protagonists in the neighbourhood will profit, whereas others are being driven out. In principle, the winners of the regeneration processes are primarily those inhabitants who are private owners of real estate as well as the City of Hamburg itself. Since 1990 the city has invested public money in the amount of approx. 56 millions Euros in this area. A major part of this money has been invested in the city’s building substance, infrastructure and requirement-orientated creation of green and open spaces. Apartment units have been renovated and modernised to a large extent. Also housing projects (development communities and small tenant-led co-operatives) and alternative forms of living have been promoted in this connection. The rents of the publicly funded redeveloped apartments are stipulated for a long time even if the first rental commitments expire and enable a rise in rents. This instrument, however, secures rental prices for a limited time, that still can be paid by old-established inhabitants. 50% of the modernised flats are available for households with urgent housing-needs. With this instrument limited rent-levels are guaranteed and it shall be avoided at least for a limited period of time that low income households become the losers of the regeneration process.

Within the framework of regeneration also public green and open spaces have been re-evaluated or newly created. The social infrastructure as well has been extended, respectively secured. Meanwhile, enough incentives for private investors have been created so that they increasingly invest private capital in apartment blocks or commercial real estate. One result of this development are increasing real-estate sales as well as privately financed development and new building activities. For entrepreneurs the Karolinenviertel has become more and more an attractive location. This shows e.g. the great demand for commercial spaces and stores. Basic general analyses of the redevelopment procedure predict that every Euro of used public funds in this programme will lever approximately eight-times of private investments. Whether this relationship is also valid for the Karolinenviertel, cannot be predicted by the editors at this point of time.

Losers of this development are probably all inhabitants with low income, low qualifications, threatened by unemployment or depending on welfare. It should be qualified that this development of segregation is a city-wide (and even German and Europe-wide) phenomenon which also has an effect on the area of the Karolinenviertel. Long existing niches in the neighbourhood for example in form of affordable commercial space with low standards as well as undeveloped housing will disappear increasingly. Together with these disappearing niches also its users will disappear. The city, however, tries to step up to these developments by professional area management to prevent uncontrolled ousting.

2.4. Visions for the future    2.6. Classification in the city-wide context