Urban Development

Berlin’s Neighbourhood Management programme is the capital city’s implementation of the national ‘Social Cohesion’ (until 2019 ‘Social City’) initiative. Both schemes aim to support socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods by promoting social cohesion through involving residents in decision-making processes affecting their local neighbourhood.

Everywhere in Berlin, the citizens should have equal opportunities for their lives. Thus, the government of Berlin has implemented the Neighbourhood Management programme to prevent the development of social segregation and urban separation over time.

The Neighbourhood Management programme achieves this by creating ‘Neighbourhood Councils’ for the neighbourhood participating in the programme. These councils give residents a “voice”, providing a platform for discussion and consultation, as well as enabling residents to participate in deciding how funds from the Social Cohesion programme should be used.

The programme also seeks to improve networking and communication within and among the local community, as well as with other stakeholders such as local authorities, community centres, religious organisations, and cultural associations.

Besides the Neighbourhood Councils, the core of the Neighbourhood Management are local offices with interdisciplinary teams in each of the 32 dedicated areas in Berlin (as of 2021) assisted by the NM. The team organises the whole process of the programme at the local level. Because it is a local contact point, the team is building a bridge between inhabitants, institutions and the administration.

From 1999 to 2019, €472.1 million from various support programmes have been spent in the Neighbourhood Management areas. Funds allocated as follows: National government (Federal Republic of Germany) €107.6 million, European Union (ERDF) €140.9 million, and Federal State of Berlin €223.6 million.

The money has been spent mainly on the sustainable renewal and upgrading of public space and social infrastructure, on social and ethnical integration, and on the support of cooperation and organisation among neighbours. Furthermore, young people, who had been excluded from higher education and the labour market, were provided with new chances of access to job training and gainful employment. Altogether 7255 projects have been financed.

Click here for the main portal of Berlin's Neighborhood Management Areas and the pages of the areas: