Urban Regeneration: an award-winning redevelopment project in Berlin

A Just over a kilometre south of Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, near the left bank of the Landwehr Canal, an extensive, triangular-shaped area of waste ground once separated the neighbourhoods of Kreuzberg to the east and Schöneberg to the west. Known as Gleisdreieck, meaning ‘triangle of rails’, it was formed by the intersection of different railway lines built in the mid-nineteenth century that entered Berlin from the south. Tracks, sheds and warehouses belonging to three old railway stations -- Dresdner Bahnhof (1875--1882), Potsdamer Bahnhof (1838--1944) and Anhalter Bahnhof (1839--1952) -- are situated on a raised area some twenty hectares in size, at a height of four metres above the surrounding ground level.

B As the railway infrastructure gradually ceased to be used, the whole area of Gleisdreieck became increasingly run down and abandoned, to the point of being used as a rubbish tip after 1945. Meanwhile, vegetation took over, turning it into a surprising, natural haven in the middle of built-up areas. The closeness of the wall which divided the city of Berlin between 1961 and 1990 also contributed to the fact that Gleisdreieck was for decades clearly identified as no-man’s-land. Only a station of the same name in Berlin’s underground railway system testified to its existence. Shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, however, the German Museum of Technology was established there, attracting large numbers of visitors and giving visibility to the site. More importantly, the unification of the formerly divided city gave the location more centrality, at which point it became imperative to identify a purpose for it.

C After 2006, the State of Berlin put forward the proposal of converting Gleisdreieck into a large urban park that would integrate the different urban zones which converged there. The decades-long isolation of the site, which had formerly presented a problem, now represented an opportunity for joining the southern area of Potsdamer Platz with Kreuzberg and Schöneberg. The creation of the park would trigger one of the biggest urban expansions inside Berlin, all within a framework of multiple uses, and social characteristics. It was necessary to stimulate the development of sixteen new hectares of local amenities that would be capable of integrating different generations and social groups in a sustainable way, and in harmony with nature. Following intense discussion with local proprietors and residents, the need to reconcile these goals with the conservation of railway heritage also emerged.

D Once the area had been subjected to a process of undergrowth clearance and decontamination, it was then organized around a combination of existing and added elements. The project as a whole was planned around a large central meadow, intersected from east to west by a concrete footpath, and from north to the south by a pair of railway lines. Once a month, a train slowly travels along these lines from its parking shed to the German Museum of Technology. The concrete footpath, which is a continuation of one of the main Kreuzberg boulevards, starts in the east, bridges the four-metre difference in ground level by means of a stairway, and suddenly ends in the west on reaching the underground lines.

E North of the meadow, there is a large concrete slab with rounded edges. Being south-facing, this functions as a big sunny terrace, full of benches complete with footrests. In the south, the meadow overlooks Yorckstrasse, an underpass crossed by more than fifteen former railway bridges. To the east of the meadow there is quite a dense forest of pre-existing maples, oaks and birches, as well as newly planted trees of the same species. In this area, a couple of large metal frames each hold two swings. The edges of the park are finished with a collection of distinctive, functional spaces, for example a nursery, sports fields, concave surfaces for skateboards, stages for dancing, community gardens, or simply areas covered in gravel obtained from the site itself.

F Although initially the regeneration of Gleisdreieck Park was the subject of disagreement between those who were in favour of safeguarding the railway heritage, and those who wanted to regenerate the adjacent neighbourhoods, it was opened to the public in September 2011. The heart of Berlin now has a new green lung, in which the atmosphere of various small, very different corners fit neatly into a large-scale, wide-ranging and robust general order. This has been possible precisely because the intervention was not limited to conserving industrial remains in order to promote railway history. And as a reminder of the six decades of human absence, during which nature took over, the park has been able to conserve to some extent the spirit of the non-place that preceded it.

Marketing and the Information Age

A For the early practitioners of marketing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the business of selling was simply a matter of continually finding new customers. By contrast, marketing managers in the current era recognise the importance of gathering information about the market and about potential customers. They recognise that if companies are to be profitable, customers must gain and retain their perceptions of value from the brands they buy over a long time frame, rather than from a single transaction. This also means that customers must see value in returning continually to the stores where they shop, as well as to the service providers they deal with.

B Marketing practitioners and marketing scientists have never worked more closely than they currently do. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that this is the information age where convergence in telecommunications, media and technology is causing old ways to be challenged, and new methods and tools to be tested. Customer expectations have risen as new technologies allow new approaches. For instance, the subscriber-TV music channel Channel [V] encourages its viewers to sign up for text messages and email alerts that tell them when their favourite artists and songs are about to be broadcast. Competitive advantage lies in being able to recognise which customers can be given greater attention, not just because they demand it but because it makes commercial sense to provide high levels of product quality and service.

C Modern marketing information systems rely on information technology to enable marketing intelligence to be gathered and to store and analyse marketing research information. While some of the information used is gathered by government bodies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Statistics New Zealand, most of it is purposefully gathered by marketing organisations for client companies. In the process, computer technology is used to manipulate the data and then to present the information in such a way that executives can readily identify any problems or issues, and quickly arrive at solutions.

D In order to produce superior value and satisfaction for customers, marketing managers need information at almost every turn. They need information about customers--end-users and resellers-- as well as competitors and governmental and other forces in the marketplace. One marketing executive put it this way: "To manage a business well is to manage its future, and to manage the future is to manage information." Increasingly, marketers are viewing information not just as an input for making better decisions but also as an important strategic asset and marketing tool. As household incomes increase, choice widens and buyers become better discriminating, so sellers need information about how buyers respond to different products and advertising campaigns.

E The supply of information has also increased greatly. It has been suggested by the futurist and best-selling author John Naisbitt that the United States and, by observation, developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore are moving from industrial to information-based economies. These post-industrial economies earn 70-80% of their Gross Domestic Product from services, and have entered what some commentators have termed the "Information Age" or the "Information Technology Era".

F One study found that with all the information now available through supermarket scanners, a packaged goods product controller is bombarded with one million to one billion new numbers each week. As Naisbitt points out: "Running out of information is not a problem, but drowning in it is." Yet marketers frequently complain that they lack information of the right kind but have plenty of the wrong kind, or they claim that marketing information is so widely spread throughout the organisation that it takes great effort to locate even simple facts. In addition, subordinates may withhold information they believe will reflect badly on their performance, and important information often arrives too late to be useful, or on-time information is not accurate. So marketing managers need better information. Although marketing organisations have greater capacity to provide managers with information, they often do not use it well. As a result, many marketing organisations are now studying their managers’ information needs and designing information systems specifically to meet those needs.

G One solution is to use a Marketing Information System (MIS). This consists of people, equipment, and procedures which, when put together, are able to gather, analyse, evaluate and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision-makers. The MIS begins and ends with marketing managers. First, it interacts with these managers to assess the information needs they have. Next, it develops the needed information from internal records, marketing intelligence activities, and the research process. The analysis unit processes the data to make it more useful and, finally, the MIS distributes it to managers in the right form and at the right time to help them make better marketing decisions.

H However, the costs of obtaining, processing, storing, and delivering information can mount quickly. In some cases, additional information will do little to change or improve a manager’s decision, or the costs of the information will exceed the returns from the improved decision. For example, if an organisation estimates that launching a new product without any further information will yield a profit of $500,000, then it would be foolish to spend $30,000 for additional information that would increase the profit to only $525,000. By itself, information is valueless--its value comes from its use.