The Feature of Gentrification in the Former West Inner-City District in Berin

This paper addresses how urban artistic and cultural spaces e.g. retail stores and new types of services could be a cause for the process of gentrification by analysing the case of the Reuter-quarter (RQ) in the inner-city district of Berlin-Neukölln. The district has been identified as a deteriorating area with a high rate of immigrants for a last decade. However, since the middle of the 1990s, artist had started cultural and artistic uses in RQ, which was later followed by administrative improvement project as“Quartiers Management” and “Zwischennutzungsagentur”. The international artists and then other creative people started to move into the area, adding a positive image to the area and the district turned into a “cool place” or a “place to be”. This new attractiveness of the area has led to the upgrading of buildings and the boosting of rent prices in and around the area. In the beginning, it seemed to be a process of revitalization, but 5 years later the area faces rapid changes which can be classified as gentrification. At the same time, the Weser Str., a place well known for its vibrant night life with a high frequency of cafes and bars, faces rapid changes of neighbourhood communities. In conclusion, I want to emphasize the similarities between the process of revitalization and the first phase of gentrification by analysing interviews with artists, owners of retail shops and new types of services in the Reuter-quarter and show how and in which process the positive image of the area was created.