ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the negotiation of belonging in the historical context of structural transformation in post-unification Berlin by analyzing spatial, temporal, and social references drawn by actor groups involved in the debates on the urban development of Berlin Mitte and the symbolically laden public space at the Spreeinsel. The analysis, firstly, illustrates that actor groups such as state politicians, experts, civic initiatives, and local residents shared divergent senses of belonging that referred to specific spatial-temporal-social semantics. Secondly, the chapter outlines ways in which divergent senses of belonging were negotiated and argues that particular notions of belonging governed by specific socio-political values were promoted and standardized, while dissenting approaches were structurally marginalized. The analysis concludes that state politics of discursive determination and non-participatory decision-making pre-defined socio-economic developments and cultural representation and thereby thwarted belonging by choice in a time of structural change when senses of belonging became fluid.
