Planning for and Designing a Publicly Owned Commercial Courtyard Infrastructure—The Case of Berlin

The attempt by the Berlin Government to develop a publicly owned commercial courtyard infrastructure is anchored in various district and city‐wide planning frameworks. The main rationale is to support small and medium‐sized enterprises from manifold branches (light manufacturing, crafts, start‐ups, cultural industries) with appropriate and affordable spaces for future industrial and commercial‐based services of general interest ( gewerbliche Daseinsvorsorge ). The general urban and architectural design concept for what has been dubbed commercial courtyards 2.0 ( Gewerbehof 2.0 ) is derived from the traditional Berlin Mix ( Berliner Mischung ) based on mixed‐use development, short distances, local sourcing, and a vertical commercial building structure adapted to contemporary framework conditions. Seven different state‐owned properties have been taken into consideration for further development whereof three of these properties (located in the districts of Mitte, Lichtenberg, Marzahn‐Hellersdorf) will be showcased here. Methodologically, we carried out location analyses, created urban and architectural designs, utilization concepts and conducted expert interviews, based on a research‐to‐practice approach and an inside‐outside perspective. Our results show that—despite great future ideas such as innovation‐oriented, mixed‐use, crafts, cultural‐creative, manufacturing‐based, and socially anchored commercial courtyards with childcare facilities—competing and conflicting uses, economic profitability considerations, the fiscal situation of public authorities, urban development policies, property laws and building regulations impose a tight straitjacket concerning its realization. Pertinent commercial courtyard planning programs and experience with publicly owned operating companies from Berlin itself in the past and in other large German cities indicate that if long‐term planning horizons for such endeavors are envisioned these ventures can be successful.