The Trajectory of Berlin's ‘Interim Spaces’: Tensions and Conflicts in the Mobilisation of ‘Temporary Uses’ of Urban Space in Local Economic Development

Abstract

The chapter outlines the explosion of ‘temporary uses’ of vacant urban spaces in Berlin since the 1990s and reviews how such uses have been mobilized in local economic development and place marketing strategies, a process which has generated tensions and dilemmas for temporary users. It discusses the various trajectories of Berlin's ‘interim spaces’ since the early 2000s (survival and/or transformation in situ, displacement or disappearance), and the conflicts and forms of resistance which have occurred when temporary uses are threatened. Finally, it analyses the public debates and protests which have occurred post 2010 about the future use of the Tempelhof airfield site, in which the potential displacement or transformation of temporary uses played an important role. The chapter analyses the implications of such protests for the city government's urban development approach, and the emerging conundrum for planners and landowners about the future acceptance of temporary uses on vacant urban spaces.

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