Who Owns the City?

Cities cannot be allowed to be understood as resources to be exploited by capital for the highest possible profit. The InterLause series is about contribution to a different kind of politics – one that sees the city as a collective, shared space that belongs to all, organised and developed by its residents themselves.

The series asks: who has a right to the city? What is needed in terms of social and urban infrastructure to keep Berlin open, affordable and accessible to everyone? In defending themselves against gentrification, are there tangible alternatives (cooperatives, house projects, occupations, anti-eviction campaigns, self-organised forms of political protest) that the residents of Berlin want – or which they are already making a reality? How can local politics recognise power relations in terms of classism, racism, sexism, ableism and residency status – and work against these problems? How has the start-up economy affected the city of Berlin, what pace has this happened at – and who has been left behind? What can we learn from gentrification processes and local movements in other cities around the world?