One of the key projects of the Metropolitan Space Laboratory is the simulation of the German capital Berlin. The urban simulation of Berlin was created in the 1990s and shows the development of the city’s entire urban area. These development stages were calculated from extensive statistical data about the urban infrastructure and were planned for the period 1990 to 2010. They have, to date, in part been carried out. This urban simulation makes it possible to simulate future developments, their various phases of development, as well as planning variants. The statistical data used was compiled from information from the Berlin Senate departments, the regional department of statistics, the local map department, as well as from various businesses and investors who are building in Berlin or plan to.

Figure 1 shows the situation in Berlin in 1990. The strongest development areas were in the district of Charlottenburg and in the eastern section of the city center, for instance, in the street Friedrichstrasse. The simulation further showed that the second strongest development areas lay north of the Tierpark and in the northern section of the city center into the district of Prenzlauerberg.

Figure 2.
Berlin, the state of the development areas, 1995 to 2002

Figures 3 to 6 were found in the simulation and show future development for Berlin. Urban planning can generate development areas (also see the chapter: The Effects of Urban Planning).

In the urban simulation we look for plans that promote the economical reactivation of Berlin. In various iterative steps, urban plans and the optimal sequence for carrying them out were sought. The sequence in which the plans are carried out also plays a role in determining the future development of a city, like the plans themselves. In the search for a development that would be economically optimal for Berlin, the simulation only used plans that the Senate intended to carry out. Certain plans were somewhat modified but so that they would still correspond to the Senate’s plans. The result of the simulation to reactivate Berlin looks as follows.

According to our analyses, two more economic centers could come into being: one in the east and one in the south. The structural effects of these simulated plans generate development potential that economically strengthens the new central locations. This would trigger an economic upswing in Berlin and even elevate the city to world trade metropolis.

The city suffers greatly from urban structures that are not compatible with the economic situation. In order to function, these centers require a certain density. But for the city, which means for these centers to be economically successful, they have to be situated in a specific order in relation to one another and within the urban structure. Economic centers cannot arbitrarily be planned. They have to be established in areas where the urban structure and future planning measures provide the corresponding potential for economic development. Urban planning that is strategic can generate development potential, as is shown in Figures 3 to 6. The arrangement of buildings, their function as well as the traffic system fundamentally determine a city’s economic success.

Figure 4.
Simulated future development of a reactivated Berlin

Figure 5.
Simulated future development of a reactivated Berlin