Sozialgeographien des Reichtums in Berlin : Ergebnisse eines Projektseminars

• This text is the result of a two-semester project course on 'Social geographies of affluence in Berlin' at the Geography Department of Humboldt-University. The starting point of our work was the thesis, that within the scenario of socio-spatial polarisation in the cities, the scientific and political gaze often turns unidirectionally towards the poor and their so-called disadvantaged neighbourhoods. We wanted to redirect this gaze towards affluence, the other side of polarisation, and thus approach a field that appeared to us rather neglected, at least within Geography. Our expedition into this so far sparsely investigated field required usable methodological and theoretical tools as well as thematic approaches to the topic. This did not lead us to uncover the social geography of affluence in Berlin. It rather represents an attempt, to try out some empirical approaches alongside the students’ interest and within in a narrow time frame. The organisational setting for our preoccupation with affluence was the simulation of a research project with discussions, presentations, mutual knowledge transfer and narrow deadlines. The results of the students’ work groups presented here deal with the relation between urban policies and affluence, the spaces of the functional elites of the German capital, the phenomenon of luxury goods and its spatial expression, cartographic approaches to affluence and the topic of affluent migrants exemplified by Turkish entrepreneurs. An introductory chapter reconstructs the thematic and organisational frame of the course.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Human geography, economic geography

Kulturgeografi, ekonomisk geografi

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

rap (subject category)