Editing German reunification (section)

===Unified Berlin ===
[[File:BrandenburgerTorDezember1989.jpg|thumb|right|Crowds at the Brandenburg Gate on 1 December 1989. The entrance to the Western side was still not opened.]]

While the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] had broad economic, political, and social impacts globally, it also had significant consequence for the local urban environment. In fact, the events of 9 November 1989 saw [[East Berlin]] and [[West Berlin]], two halves of a single city that had ignored one another for the better part of 40 years, finally "in confrontation with one another".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Grésillon|first=B|title=Berlin, cultural metropolis: Changes in the cultural geography of Berlin since reunification|journal=Ecumene|date=April 1999|volume=6|issue=3|pages=284–294|doi=10.1191/096746099701556286}}</ref> There was a belief in the city that, after 40 years of division, the unified city would be well placed to become a major metropolis.<ref name="Grésillon 1999 284">{{cite journal|last=Grésillon|first=B|title=Berlin, cultural metropolis: Changes in the cultural geography of Berlin since reunification|journal=Ecumene|date=April 1999|volume=6|issue=3|page=284|doi=10.1177/096746089900600303|s2cid=144040097}}</ref><ref name="Tölle 2010 348–357">{{cite journal|last=Tölle|first=A|title=Urban identity policies in Berlin: From critical reconstruction to reconstructing the Wall.|journal=Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management|year=2010|volume=27|issue=5|pages=348–357|doi=10.1016/j.cities.2010.04.005}}</ref>

[[File:KohlModrowMomperBrandenburgerTor.jpg|thumb|right|East German Prime Minister [[Hans Modrow]], [[West German Chancellor]] Helmut Kohl, and [[mayor of West Berlin]] [[Walter Momper]], among other figures, take part in the official opening of the Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989.]]
[[File:Berlin Palastabriss1 b.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Palace of the Republic (Berlin)|Palace of the Republic]] was demolished in 2006 to make space for the reconstruction of the [[Berlin City Palace]], which was finished in 2020, but houses the [[Humboldt Forum]] museum.]]
[[File:Landmark Traffic (26992261693).jpg|thumb|right|Traffic crossing the site of the former Wall near the Brandenburg Gate in 2016]]

Another key priority was reestablishing Berlin as the seat of government of Germany, and this required buildings to serve government needs, including the "redevelopment of sites for scores of foreign embassies".<ref name="Loeb 2006 67–87"/>

With respect to redefining the city's identity, emphasis was placed on restoring Berlin's traditional landscape. "Critical Reconstruction" policies sought to disassociate the city's identity from its [[Nazi]] and [[communist|socialist]] legacy, though some remnants were preserved, with walkways and bicycle paths established along the border strip to preserve the memory of the Wall.<ref name="Loeb 2006 67–87"/> In the center of East Berlin, much of the modernist heritage of the East German state was gradually removed.<ref name=UrbanF01/> Unification of Berlin saw the removal of politically motivated street names and monuments in the East in an attempt to reduce the socialist legacy from the face of East Berlin.<ref name="Tölle 2010 348–357"/>

Immediately following the fall of the Wall, Berlin experienced a boom in the construction industry.<ref name="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2003"/> Redevelopment initiatives saw Berlin turn into one of the largest construction sites in the world through the 1990s and early 2000s.<ref name="Schwedler 2001"/>

The fall of the Wall also had economic consequences. Two German systems covering distinctly divergent degrees of economic opportunity suddenly came into intimate contact.<ref name="Frank 2007">{{Cite journal |last=Frank |first=Douglas H. |date=2009 |title=The Effect of Migration on Natives' Employment Outcomes: Evidence from the Fall of the Berlin Wall |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1021951 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |doi=10.2139/ssrn.1021951 |s2cid=18564127 |issn=1556-5068 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213043505/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1021951 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Despite development of sites for commercial purposes, Berlin struggled to compete in economic terms with Frankfurt which remained the financial capital of the country, as well as with other key West German centers such as [[Munich]], [[Hamburg]], [[Stuttgart]] and [[Düsseldorf]].<ref name="Krätke 2004 511–529">{{cite journal|last=Krätke|first=S|title=City of talents? Berlin's regional economy, socio-spatial fabric and "worst practice" urban governance|journal=International Journal of Urban and Regional Research|year=2004|volume=28|issue=3|pages=511–529|doi=10.1111/j.0309-1317.2004.00533.x}}</ref><ref name="Häußermann 2005 189–222">{{Cite book |last1=Häußermann |first1=Hartmut |chapter=Berlin: From Divided to Fragmented City? |last2=Kapphan |first2=Andreas |year=2013 |title=The Berlin Reader |publisher=Transcript Verlag |isbn=978-3-8376-2448-9 |pages=77–94 |doi=10.14361/transcript.9783839424780.77 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The intensive building activity directed by planning policy resulted in the over-expansion of office space, "with a high level of vacancies in spite of the move of most administrations and government agencies from Bonn".<ref name="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2003" /><ref>{{Cite book |date=2003-06-06 |title=Urban Renaissance |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264101470-en |pages=20 |doi=10.1787/9789264101470-en |isbn=978-9264101463 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213042940/https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/urban-rural-and-regional-development/urban-renaissance_9789264101470-en |url-status=live }}</ref>

Berlin was marred by disjointed economic restructuring, associated with massive [[deindustrialization|deindustrialisation]].<ref name="Krätke 2004 511–529"/><ref name="Häußermann 2005 189–222" /> Economist [[Oliver Marc Hartwich]] asserts that, while the East undoubtedly improved economically, it was "at a much slower pace than [then Chancellor Helmut] Kohl had predicted".<ref>{{Citation |last=Kubicek |first=Paul |editor-first1=Katharina |editor-first2=Jana Evans |editor-last1=Gerstenberger |editor-last2=Braziel |title=The Diminishing Relevance of Ostalgie 20 Years after Reunification |work=After the Berlin Wall |year=2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1057/9780230337756 |isbn=978-0230337756 |s2cid=183674585 }}</ref> Wealth and income inequality between former East and West Germany continued for decades after reunification. On average, adults in the former West Germany had assets worth 94,000 euros in 2014 as compared to the adults in the former communist East Germany which had just over 40,000 euros in assets.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Germany's wealth distribution most unequal in euro zone: study|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-wealth-idUSBREA1P1VJ20140226|newspaper = Reuters|date = 26 February 2014|access-date = 23 September 2015|archive-date = 23 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150923111850/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/26/us-germany-wealth-idUSBREA1P1VJ20140226|url-status = live}}</ref>
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the factors described above led to [[mass migration]] from East Berlin and East Germany, producing a large labor supply shock in the West.<ref name="Frank 2007"/> Emigration from the East, totaling 870,000 people between 1989 and 1992 alone,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mellor |first=R.E.H. |date=April 1996 |title=Book Reviews: Eric Owen Smith 'The German Economy' Routledge, London, 1994, pp. 592, ISBN 0-415-06288-8 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/096977649600300212 |journal=European Urban and Regional Studies |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=185–186 |doi=10.1177/096977649600300212 |s2cid=153436467 |issn=0969-7764|url-access=subscription }}</ref> led to worse employment outcomes for the least-educated workers, for blue-collar workers, for men, and for foreign nationals.<ref name="Frank 2007"/>

At the close of the century, it became evident that despite significant investment and planning, Berlin was unlikely to retake "its seat between the European Global Cities of [[London]] and [[Paris]]", primarily due to the fact that Germany's financial and commercial capital is located elsewhere ([[Frankfurt]]) than the administrative one (Berlin), in resemblance of Italy ([[Milan]] vs [[Rome]]), Switzerland ([[Zürich]] vs [[Bern]]), Canada ([[Toronto]] vs [[Ottawa]]), Australia ([[Sydney]] vs [[Canberra]]), the US ([[New York City]] vs [[Washington, DC]]) or the Netherlands ([[Amsterdam]] vs [[The Hague]]), as opposed to London, Paris, [[Madrid]], [[Vienna]], [[Warsaw]] or [[Moscow]] which combine both roles.<ref name="Tölle 2010 348–357"/>

Yet, ultimately, the disparity between East and West portions of Berlin has led to the city achieving a new urban identity. A number of locales of East Berlin, characterized by dwellings of in-between use of abandoned space for little to no rent, have become the focal point and foundation of Berlin's burgeoning creative activities.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Jakob |first=Doreen |date=December 2010 |title=Constructing the creative neighborhood: Hopes and limitations of creative city policies in Berlin |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877916611000063 |journal=City, Culture and Society |language=en |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=193–198 |doi=10.1016/j.ccs.2011.01.005 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308193549/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877916611000063 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> According to Berlin Mayor [[Klaus Wowereit]], "the best that Berlin has to offer, its unique creativity. Creativity is Berlin's future."<ref name=":1" /> Overall, the Berlin government's engagement in creativity is strongly centered on marketing and promotional initiatives instead of creative production.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung (BPA) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004337862_lgbo_com_161075 |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens Online |date=2017 |doi=10.1163/9789004337862_lgbo_com_161075 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213044111/https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/lexikon-des-gesamten-buchwesens-online/*-COM_161075 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>