ABSTRACT
The fifth scene takes us to Hoyerswerda, where the emigration of the young population and the ageing of the remaining one required a reduction in the housing stock and social infrastructure, generating disputes and resistance from the local community. Hoyerswerda is considered one of the most emblematic shrinking cities in all of Germany. Here the spatial image of reunification becomes the massive demolition of the GDR’s housing stock and infrastructure assets. Guided by federal incentives and subsidies, the progressive dismantling of the socialist past becomes the central vision of the future. Yet, it is a vision of the future outlined by a few solid players, who have very different interests, perspectives and strategies for enhancement than those of the local population. Initially, the public demolition policies seem removed from any critical reflection. In recent years it has been possible to identify a sprinkling of cultural practices and projects that also attempt to reveal the social implications of the processes taking place in the city. Hoyerswerda has become the monument of the failure of reunification, where the processes of controlled demolition introduced by public policies have accompanied the contraction of space to that of rights. The demolition processes still under way in the city will generate housing and social uncertainty in the remaining population, feeding the perception of feeling like second-class citizens. At Hoyerswerda, attention shifts to the need to dismantle aesthetic visions and reveal the harshness of the living conditions of the population who remain in empty spaces and closed businesses.
