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Battle for the sky: New high-rise project on Rudolfstrasse breaks out!
The Senate is revoking Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg's planning authority for high-rise projects in order to create living space, critical voices follow.
Battle for the sky: New high-rise project on Rudolfstrasse breaks out!
The Senate of Berlin today announced in a decision that planning authority for a property at Rudolfstrasse 18/19 has been withdrawn from the district. This was done with the aim of creating the basis for a planned 140 meter high skyscraper by a private investor. The Senate Department for Urban Development justifies this step with the urgent need for new living space, which is met with critical reactions from a large part of the population. However, according to information from berlin.de, the district does not see a significant proportion of affordable housing in relation to the high-priced variants that are created by such construction projects.
In addition to the plans on Rudolfstrasse, another high-rise project called “The HUB” is being discussed. This building will be more than 120 meters high and will be positioned opposite the Amazon Tower on the Warsaw Bridge. The development is in strong contradiction to an urban development concept that has already been developed for the “Rudolfband”, which was created in collaboration with various institutions. The planned high-rise buildings could endanger the architecturally valuable ensemble of the area, the preservation of which is also important from a monument preservation perspective.
Criticism of the decision-makers
Florian Schmidt, the district councilor for construction, criticized the Senate's decision as undemocratic and non-transparent. He urgently called for the planning sovereignty of the district parliament to be respected and for public discussions to be made possible. He has also expressed concerns that the new high-rise plans jeopardize the preservation of residential commercial space for manufacturing industries.
When it comes to the housing situation in European cities, Berlin is not alone. One example is Stockholm, where the “Stockholmshusen” project has made positive headlines in recent weeks. This project also aims to create affordable housing and is a promising model that could serve as a reference. According to tagesschau.de, “Stockholmshusen” offers a 4-room apartment for around 1,350 euros plus electricity, which is unusually cheap by Swedish standards.
Sustainable living space concepts
The discussion around affordable housing is reinforced by the need to incorporate sustainable building practices. The vertical densification of cities is seen as a promising solution that contributes to meeting ESG (environmental, social, governance) criteria. [Pwc.de]. Certain construction methods and materials, such as timber construction, could significantly reduce primary energy consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A faster provision of affordable housing could also be achieved through more efficient construction processes. With parallel processes, the construction time could be shortened from eight to four years, which is also important when it comes to the costs of social housing projects.
The ongoing discussion in Berlin regarding new building construction projects is therefore in line with the cities' major challenges, such as the creation of affordable housing and sustainable construction. It remains to be seen how the Senate will respond to the criticism and whether alternative concepts will be developed for housing construction in the capital.