Supervising subject area: Prof. Dr. Lech Suwala, Institut für Stadt- und Regionalplanung, Technische Universität Berlin

Berlin's housing market has been extremely tight for several years. One aspect that has received little attention is the misuse of residential space. This includes planned or speculative vacancies, commercial use as vacation homes or the demolition of apartment buildings. So far, there are hardly any findings on how many apartments are actually misappropriated, how rental prices are influenced, which reasons there are for vacancies in particular, and what social consequences misappropriation has for residents and neighborhoods. In this research project, we have worked out interdisciplinary answers to the existing questions and identified room for maneuver for politics and administration.

Contact: undine.christian@rewi.hu-berlin.de and linus.paul.pfeiffer@hu-berlin.de