"City of Tomorrow" RSxEAB
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
In this episode RSxEAB of (our spinoff series recorded in collaboration with the )we focus on the future of urban living; asking the question, “What is the city of tomorrow?”. Host is joined by architect and author . The conversation begins with Max sharing how skateboarding background influenced his urban design approach, and with Mira reading a passage from their award-winning novel “Neurobiest” describing Berlin of the future topped by green rooftop communities. From there we discuss visions for the future: inclusive, polycentric urban design,...
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Toilets, Sidewalks & Parks - Who Owns Berlin? RSxEAB
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
Public space in Berlin is used for private profit. Does that rob or enrich the citizens? From business-run toilets to footpath vehicles and food sales in parks, we share our space with commerce. Can we also use private spaces like empty malls as public property? Radio Spaetkauf partners with the Europäische Akademie Berlin to invite an intelligent panel of activists and politicians to discuss the good and bad uses of public space for commercial gain. Sophie Menzel is a big fan of public toilets. She raises awareness of the need for more and better toilets in Berlin through the...
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Beauty In The Streets: Graffiti & Street Art - RSxEAB
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
Recorded live in Grunewald, Dan is joined by guests Josefine Köhn-Haskins, Ryan Balmer, Júlia Mota Albuquerque and a handful of chirping birds to explore the significance of urban art in public spaces. In partnership with the Support Radio Spaetkauf: Guests and Links: Josefine Köhn-Haskins, Journalist: Ryan Balmer, Tour Guide: Júlia Mota Albuquerque, Muralist: Editing & Mastering: Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher Written, Produced and Engineered by Daniel Stern: With kind support of the Federal Foreign Office and EU (CERV) under the project “Europe Behind the Headlines”...
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Maisie’s Voice – The Last Conversation With Maisie Hitchcock
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
Zombies in the GDR. Deutschrap. Heavenly lakes. Joy despite cancer. Days before her death, Maisie Hitchcock and I talked for one last time. In a hospital room in London, she shared her favourite memories from her years in Berlin - and revealed a few untold surprises. It's not all tears, because Maisie could be so funny. Her depth of knowledge about architecture, German history, music and culture is astounding. This is just a sample of her best moments from more than a decade of co-hosting Radio Spaetkauf. Make time for this. Take a walk. Listen until the end. Be prepared to laugh and cry. And...
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RSxEAB: Sharing Urban Space
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
RSxEAB: "Sharing Urban Space". host dives into a discussion of public spaces informed by three insightful guests. Johnny Whitlam () shares his passion for Berlin's history and hidden stories. Martin Aarts, the former head of spatial planning in Rotterdam emphasizes child-friendly cities and nature's role in urban design. Lea Fink () offers a philosophical angle, stressing the need for accessible spaces that encourage learning and reflection. In this episode we explore the balance between historical preservation and contemporary needs, the transformation of places like Tempelhof and...
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Rent Freeze #4: How To F#€k Up A Mietendeckel
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
The Berlin Mietendeckel experiment has been killed in court. Who will voters punish - the R2G parties who promoted the law, or the opponents who challenged it? Will backpayments and higher rents hurt the local economy? What hope is left for affordable housing? We interview politicians, lawyers and campaigners on this special extended podcast. Presented by Maisie Hitchcock, Joel Dullroy, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern.
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Rent Freeze #3: Don't Spend It
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
This month residents of Berlin should experience the biggest collective rent reduction in history. About 340,000 residents - one in six - may be eligible for a rent cut under the Mietendeckel, Berlin’s radical new housing policy. But landlords are doing their best to stop it through tricks and court challenges. And what are the effects of the rent freeze so far?
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How To F#€k Up An Airport #5: Crash Take-Off
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
BER is finished, but the biggest disaster could soon come. What happens if the airport goes bankrupt? Is the pandemic hiding a capacity crunch? Should it open at all? We visit Berlin Brandenburg Airport to see if it's really ready for the last episode of How To Fuck Up An Airport. Producers: Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Daniel Stern.
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Rent Freeze #2: Magic Words
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
How To F#€k Up An Airport team presents: Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin's rental revolution. The rent freeze has begun, but nobody seems to know what's going on. Landlords and tenants alike are confused about what to do next. On this episode we go inside Berlin's parliament to hear the moment the rent freeze law was passed. We hear what landlords think about the new law and how they're planning to cheat.
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Rent Freeze #1: The Experiment
Radio Spaetkauf Presents
What happens when an entire city of 3.5 million residents stops paying rent increases for the next five years? Welcome to Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin’s radical new housing law. On this episode we explain the basics and talk to Daniel Halmer of Wenigermiete.de about why the existing rent controls haven't worked.
info_outlineThe Berlin Mietendeckel experiment is finished. The city’s revolutionary attempt to freeze rental prices for five years, and reduce overpriced leases, has been killed off by Germany’s highest court.
The decision has unleashed a political storm. Everyone is angry - but who will voters punish? The R2G parties who tried to regulate rents? Or their opponents, the CDU and FDP who successfully derailed the project? We make the case for why each side is to blame.
There’s a big bill to pay, as hundreds of thousands of Berliners now face back-payments, higher rents and permanent shadow contracts. We’ll run the numbers on the potential local economic crisis that could follow.
What hope is there left for affordable housing? And what can the rest of the world learn from Berlin’s short-lived rental revolution? The experiment is over. Now it’s time to analyze the results
The Challengers
The CDU and FDP took the Mietendeckel law to the constitutional court, where it was struck down. They perpetuated a false narrative - "build, don't cap" - which claimed, incorrectly, that the Mietendeckel prevented new development (constructions from 2014 were specifically excluded from the law). The CDU was responsible for weakening federal rental regulations in the first place, enabling prices to skyrocket.
And then there's political donations - or as Joel calls it, legalized corruption. Almost 80% of the CDU's publicly-declared donations come from the real estate sector.
Joel interviews Berlin FDP leader Sebastian Czaja and challenges him on his false claim that the Mietendeckel prevented building, and on the FDP's donations from real estate companies. Czaja says his party takes donations from all parts of society.
The Supporters
Are the parties who created the Mietendeckel culpable of incompetence? The governing coalition of the SPD, Die Linke and Die Grünen - or R2G - took a huge political and financial gamble, and lost.
The R2G promised renters a revolution, but delivered a regression. Many tenants must now make large back payments for which they have not saved. They went against the advice of many legal experts who warned their law was unconstitutional.
We speak to two of the Mietendeckel's creators. Kilian Wegner is a law professor and SPD member who co-authored a policy paper which laid the groundwork for the Mietendeckel. He says the R2G was right in taking a chance on an uncertain law, due to out-of-control property prices.
Another lawyer, Professor Franz Mayer, wrote an expert opinion which argued Berlin had the constitutional right to create the Mietendeckel. He says there was a chance of success, and believes the court should have helped tenants by negating backpayments.
The Big Bill
How much will the Mietendeckel fiasco cost? We interview real estate researcher Christoph Trautvetter. He estimates the backpayments will cost renters between €100 to €300 million. Ongoing rent increases will cost around €500 million annually - that's half a billion euros flowing from tenants to landlords, money not going into the local economy.
Daniel Halmer from Conny.Legal, formerly Wenigermieter, says tenants may be able to reduce backpayments and shaddow rents by using the Mietpreisebremse - the existing rental regulation that limits rent increases to 10% of local prices.
Time to Sieze Property?
An even more radical concept is now gaining support - the referendum initiative known as Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen, who want to seize properties from big corporate landlords.
We speak to Wouter Bernhardt from the movement's podcast Von Menschen und Mieten. He says expropriation would be a permanent solution to rising rental prices.
The End of the Experiment?
The Mietendeckel experiment ran too short to answer many questions, and the data was disrupted by the parallel pandemic. But we did learn a few things. If you want a minor reform, demand a revolution. If you get your revolution, prepare for reprisal. Tenants globally now know rent control is no longer excluded from the political discourse.
Rent Freeze is produced and presented by Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern. Artwork by Jim Avignon. Music by Tom Evans and Ducks!