Participation in the reuse of industrial heritage sites: the case of Oberschöneweide, Berlin

Abstract

In recent years, the significance of the debate concerning the participation of local communities in the reuse and management of industrial heritage sites has grown considerably. However, the question of how participation takes place in practice has received little attention. This article shows how participation in the reuse of industrial heritage sites has functioned in the planning process in Berlin-Oberschöneweide. The article is theoretically grounded on debates on labour and community heritage. The field of planning, which is closely interwoven with that of heritage management, provides another important theoretical horizon. The qualitative investigation consisted of interviews with different actors. The findings show that Oberschöneweide’s industrial heritage site is important to the local community. Thus far, the community has been able to participate in the reuse and development process in a number of ways. In addition to the provisions made for community participation by the relevant authorities, and local initiatives have exerted an influence on the development of the area. Nevertheless, this participation has been limited and is in some respects problematic. Furthermore, the participation process referred not only to the industrial zone itself, but to the development of the district as a whole.

Keywords:

• Participation
• industrial heritage sites
• labour heritage
• community heritage
• Berlin-Oberschöneweide

Acknowledgements

Furthermore, we thank Prof Harald A. Mieg and our colleagues at the Georg-Simmel-Center for Metropolitan Studies for their interest and advice.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This quantitative information was gathered during a guided tour on Oberschöneweide’s industrial culture on 06/12/2013.

2. The interviewees verified and thus validated the German language version of the article.

3. Interviews: expert interview with a representative of the Industriesalon Schöneweide association on 16/12/2013. Focus group interviews with citizens A, B and C from Oberschöneweide on 17/12/2013. Expert interview with a representative of the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment (Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt) on 18/12/2013. Expert interview with a representative of the Urban Development Office (Stadtentwicklungsamt) for the borough of Treptow-Köpenick on 23/01/2014. Additional telephone communication with citizen A from Oberschöneweide on 11/02/15.Expert interview with representative of Regional-Management Schöneweide via telephone on 18/05/2015.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation [DFG MI 788/4-1,2] supporting our research.