Berlin: poor but sexy

First off, what a cool city. Too cool, actually. I headed to Berlin with about 40 other Dutch urban planners, architects, and entrepreneurs on a study trip. My company (read: I) planned the trip and we spent about 3 days examining their strategies around temporary use, among other topics, ie,  bottom-up initiatives, user-driven transformation, organic urban planning, vacancy, co-working, urban agriculture, innovation, participation, the civic economy. 

We also really wanted to explore Berlin's unofficial motto: Poor but sexy. Why? How? 

We'd arranged guided walking/cycling tours and discussions with Berlin leaders pertaining to the specific theme. Of course our goal was to learn and see, first-hand, what makes Berlin a special place in terms of the themes of our trip. We intended to discuss challenges, opportunities, unexpected results, and the history of temporary use, development, and public participation in Berlin. We hoped each site visit and conversation revealed a concrete lesson that we might be able to apply to our own challenges in Rotterdam. You can read more about this trip and the conclusions here and here. The highlights were: walking through Neukolln, the Klunkerkranich rooftop bar and Farbfelder garden project, the city model at the urban planning department, and of course cycling through the city to the old Templehof Airport, now used as a giant park and kite-flying hotspot. Yep, cool.

A study trip to Hamburg

One of my roles at my current job at Stipo is organizing study trips. This was a different kind of study trip because it was only open to certain people who are interested in taking part of a new initiative in the Netherlands dealing with Neighborhood Improvement Districts. NIDs have not been widely used, but their big brother Business Improvement Districts, certainly have. Hamburg was one of the first European cities (actually, city-state) that implemented BIDs in the early 90s. In the early 2000s they expanded the BID model (for the first time in Europe) to a neighborhood, Steilshoop. Thus a NID.

About 25 professionals headed to Hamburg to see this NID in-person, and talk to the people behind its vision. We arrived at Steilshoop neighborhood around 2:30, had a short tour and an hour presentation by the project manager.

The general idea of a BID is to raise a chuck of change, from the businesses on a designated street, evaluate what is needed to enhance the street, and implement those physical changes. Hopefully these changes bring more people to the street and more people equals more money. Translating this idea to a 'test' neighborhood is tricky. They raise money from the residents, evaluate, and then implement. The very first NID has finally been passed by the senate, the funds have been raised (lots of money), and designs are underway. It's taken about 7 years to do this part.

After the tour, we headed to the city center of Hamburg for a second tour--of the BIDs. My first impressions of the center was that the city was very wealthy. Each BID street was fancier than the previous. This was uber high-end shopping (and living). Our tour guide was from the Chamber of Commerce and gave us a tour of the Chamber as well. Gorgeous building.

Straight after the tour (take note it was about -5ºC/23ºF with the wind), everyone was ready for dinner and a beer. I made our reservation at what turned out to be a very nice restaurant called Deichgraf. Hamburg is known for its seafood, and the chef proved that well.

The next morning, I'd arranged a tour for us at HafenCity--the new city adjacent to Hamburg--basically, an enormous redevelopment project of the harbor at Hamburg. I wrote a case study of their approach to planning the city at the eye level in our book. They use an innovative strategy for development and strict design guidelines for architects and developers. It was fantastic to see it all in person, finally.

 

After a quick lunch, we were all back on the bus heading back to Utrecht. We watched a very silly Rotterdam-based movie called De Marathon--hilarious!

Cologne? That smells nice!

On Wednesday before Christmas I found out that Friday was the last night of the Christmas markets in Germany. So at the very last minute, Elliot and I booked a cheap hotel and jumped on a Friday train headed towards Cologne, Germany.

After the 4-hr train ride, we arrived around 4pm. Coming into Cologne by train offers a dramatic entrance to the city with the view of the Rhine River and the enormous cathedral in the background. We checked into our hotel and then hit the markets. I think there were about 8 or 9 Christmas markets scattered all over the city; I thought we'd get to 2 or 3, max.

To the mountains of Bavaria we go!

This was the second time this year I had the opportunity to visit my Aunt Erika (she's really my dad's mom's sister's daughter) in her lovely home nestled between the alpine mountains of Bavaria and a stone's throw from the largest lake in Germany, the Chiemsee. Last I visited was in February--with the snow and icy temperatures. This trip would definitely have a different feel! Luckily her small town, Bernau am Chiemsee, is served by a regional train so it's fairly easy to get to. I left Rotterdam at 07h47 and after three transfers and one train break-down (and another subsequent transfer) I was finally at Munich Central Station at 17h25, an hour later than expected. When I jumped off the train, the humid heat struck me immediately--very different from Holland's chilly, wet, and drowsy summer weather. I was worried Erika and I would miss each other, but she was waiting right at the end of my train's platform [sigh of relief!]. We had a quick glass of dry German white wine and then hopped on the next train back to Bernau, another hour southeast of Munich, towards Salzburg. Views from the train were spectacular--beautiful rolling hills, intimidating mountains, plenty of cows, and lush countryside. I love Bavaria!

Eating dinner at the Badhaus in Bernau with a view of the Chiemsee