Postmigrant Spatial Justice? The Case of ‘Berlin Develops New Neighbourhoods’ (BENN)

Abstract

This article discusses the introduction of a new urban policy in Berlin, Germany, in the frame of postmigrant spatial justice. In 2017, Berlin established so-called ‘integration management programs’ in 20 different neighbourhoods around large refugee shelters as a response to the growing challenges local authorities faced after the administrative collapse in 2015/16. A new policy agenda provides the opportunity to learn from previous policies and programs—especially when it is addressed to the local dimension of integration, a widely and controversially discussed issue. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Berlin in 2018 and 2019, this article discusses how migration is framed in urban social policy against both postmigrant and spatial justice theory.

Keywords

• benn
• berlin
• critical urban research
• forced migration
• migration policy
• refugees
• postmigration
• social city
• spatial justice