Tackling social segregation in large multicultural metropoles

• Author: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission)
• Pages: 10-11

SOCIAL INNOVATION: INSPIRATIONAL PRACTICES

SUPPORTING PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES

10

© Neighbourhood Management Team Life eV,

2015-2019

Neighbourhood Management Donaustraße Nord: Nachbarschasgarten

Tackling social segregation in large

multicultural metropoles

Berlin Neighbourhood Management programme

Problem addressed

Deprived urban areas in the 1990s in Berlin were

characterised by increasing segregation, unemployment,

discrimination, security issues and a lack of (social)

infrastructure. This led to a range of interlinked social

problems, particularly in the older inner city, af‌fecting local

and oen migrant communities that resided there.

Innovative solution

The Berlin Neighbourhood Management programme

was introduced in 1999 by the Berlin Senate to promote

self-sustainable neighbourhoods through local networks,

the development of local infrastructure and active

participation of its citizens. Unlike other similar funding

mechanisms, the programme was built on a participatory

approach that directly involves citizens in its decisions on

neighbourhood funding.

The city of Berlin identif‌ies socially deprived neighbourhoods

through its monitoring system which assesses the

unemployment rate, social benef‌it payments and child

poverty in each area. Each selected neighbourhood

establishes a neighbourhood council, made up of local

resident volunteers and organisations, such as sports clubs,

schools and churches. The neighbourhood council identif‌ies

local needs and develops solutions to address them, which

are then f‌inanced by the programme. The neighbourhood

management of‌f‌ice, set up by the programme, is responsible

for implementation, in close collaboration with the council.

This bottom-up approach helps to develop solutions that

respond directly to the challenges that each neighbourhood

faces. For example, the Brunnenstrasse neighbourhood

faced increasing segregation, a high level of dependency

on state aid and a high level of non-German speakers,

including children in education. Based on suggestions

from local residents, the neighbourhood council and

management of‌f‌ice developed homework support for

children with German as a second language, sports courses

to help children integrate and a parent’s café as a social

space to support parents’ integration..

Germany