Berlin – It’s going to be high again in Kreuzberg. As elsewhere in the city, the mobility transition is discussed here, but almost nowhere is so much anger, if not hatred, about traffic calming as at Lausitzer Platz, opposite Görlitzer Park. In a new online procedure for Kiez participation, there are many cynical and malicious suggestions for redesign. Including these two: a “very large hate car memorial at Lausitzer Platz” should be set up or a “party space at Lausi with large loudspeakers” should be set up.
These comments can be found on the website Mein.Berlin.de, on which the Senate, districts and project managers list more than 400 urban development projects in order to encourage citizens to participate. In the Lausitzer Platz case, the commissioned project office Stadt.Menschen.Berlin
A digital bulletin board has also been set up at Padlet.com, on which the comments are even more blatant.
“Drugs for everyone at the Lausi and permanent party. More space for dealers and a police-free zone. Kiezplatz for everyone ”, is one of the exclusively anonymous suggestions, presumably frustrated residents are hiding behind it. “Please don’t forget to throw up vomit bags. The drinking holiday tourists like to throw up on the Lausi, ”is another comment.
Some remarks are still humorous, for example: “Workshops on how to turn cannabis cones correctly”. Others are just plain tasteless, as the following sequence of comments shows. It starts with this suggestion: “Litter bins for dealer syringes at Lausi.” The answer to this: “Litter bins that small children can access would be great.” And then this addition follows: “After all, the little ones need something to play with. Drug waste is an excellent way of doing this, I’ve heard. “
“Kiezblock” with bollards and concrete blocks caused criticism
Where does the anger come from that is discharging in the online trial that has been running since October 28? The district office set up a car-free zone at Lausitzer Platz in November 2020 and expanded it in June 2021, with bollards, planters and concrete blocks as a so-called Kiez block. The initiative “Lausi zu Laut” then turned to the Berliner Zeitung and complained that the green district government “is making decisions in grand style, without even allowing criticism to be heard”.
Now there is the required participation, critics can finally express themselves – but the debate is extremely destructive. Mein.Berlin.de also has serious suggestions for redesigning the square that are worth discussing, such as building fountains, boules or bouldering areas. In addition, however, there are ideas such as “Voluntary carrying service for the elderly, the weak and everyone who needs it”, which at most point very indirectly to real problems.
“The atmosphere at the place is in the bucket”
When asked, Claus Fleischhauer, spokesman for “Lausi zu Laut”, was not aware that his initiative was behind the comments. “I don’t know who is writing something where, I don’t even know the site,” he says. He also has no knowledge of the fact that dog waste bags were apparently placed in the Spielstraße. According to Fleischhauer, the online statements merely reflected “that the mood at the place was upset”. His initiative insists on “proper public participation” on the question of whether the square should be cordoned off at all. Everything else is just cosmetics.
In addition to the online forums, the Stadt.Menschen.Berlin project office also holds offline events such as participation workshops. “The digital is only a tiny part of our work,” says an employee who does not want to be named. You perceive a lot of anger on the spot, it’s an emotional issue. “We can stand it when people complain, but it is frustrating when suggestions are not constructive.” When asked, the district office said it was not unusual for people to anonymously misuse something on the Internet and referred to netiquette rules at Mein.Berlin.de. It is assumed, however, that the citizens will “discuss constructively” at the participation workshop on November 24th.
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