Neighborhood Management – Neukölln

The neighborhood "Dammwegsiedlung / Weisse Siedlung" is a public housing area of the 1970's. Distinctive are its large building strips of up to 18 storeys that stand in sharp contrast to the neighboring buildings. The characteristic light colors of the buildings, which is now owned by Puma Brandenburg Limited, gave the area its name: the "White Settlement".

The area is bordered by Aronstrasse to the north, Dieselstrasse to the east, Dammweg to the south and Sonnenallee to the west. The neighboring allotments and the park-like green areas of the settlement provide for sufficient public green spaces and areas.

The social infrastructure is well developed, with a day care center, a primary school, a neighborhood center, a tenants' café, a recreation center for older residents, a gardening school, a youth meeting point, a social counseling center, a children club house and a youth center nearby. Even though most apartments have a balcony or a conservatory and a spacious layout which used to make the settlement equally attractive to young and old, the area has lost some of its appeal in recent years. Families with a stable social background have moved into other neighborhoods, whereas socially deprived families have remained or arrived in the area.

Today, the majority of the population living in the "White Settlement" are migrant families from Turkey and the Arab countries.

The proportion of recipients of social transfer payments is at approximately 52.2%, exceeding the overall average in Berlin. This affects purchasing power, which is comparably low in the White Settlement. In some classes of the neighborhood's primary school, more than 90% of the pupils are of foreign nationalities. There are social tensions in the neighborhood, often marked by a feeling of insecurity or even defensiveness.

Aggressive behavior is prevalent even among children and particularly arises between the various ethnic groups and nationalities. These are some of the reasons why the area was established as a prevention area in 2005 (Category III Neighborhood Management area) and designated a Category II area as of January 2009. Since the demarcation of the area, approximately Euro 447,000 in socially-integrative project funds and roughly Euro 132,000 for construction projects (investments) have been approved for the area.

Selection of projects carried out to date

The launch of the project "Nachbarschaftstreff Sonnenblick" was a dream coming true for the people living in the settlement. As a socio-cultural center, the place is meant as a meeting point across generations, cultural and ethnical background. The wide range of activities (e. g. "Open Café", women's breakfast, social counseling services, creative workshops, gymnastics courses, cooking workshops and bingo evenings, and last but not least the public cinema "Flimmerstunde") are meant attract an increasing number of residents and mobilize their commitment for the place they live in. The existence of "Sonnenblick" is largely owed to the commitment of the owner corporation "Puma Brandenburg Limited", who re-designed the premises according to the residents' requirements and has since then provided the space.

The youth center "Sunshine Inn", established in late 2006, substantially contributes to improving and strengthening recreational facilities for children and young people. The youth center has become an important drop-in center, especially for boys and girls with challenging social behavior. With support of the Neighborhood Management, recreational facilities could be substantially expanded. In addition to sports (e. g. soccer, boxing), creative workshops (e. g. graffiti,hip hop, street dance, music and video production) are included in the program.

The drama project prove to be a particular success in an in-school setting, giving children in grade 4 and 5 the chance to stage their talents and improve their language skills. Whereas the school administration repeatedly expressed some surprise about how disciplined and motivated the kids are and how enthusiastically they participate in the regular rehearsals and lessons, the hard work of the little "celebrities" is amply rewarded by the audience: Their piece "The Flying Star" recently won second place in a Berlin-wide school drama competition. The drama project also includes a training component for teachers in order to enable them to implement the drama project without external assistance in the future.