Matthias Bernt Books

By drawing together widely dispersed yet central writings, the Berlin Reader is an essential resource for everyone interested in urban development in one of the most interesting and important metropolises in Europe. It provides scholars as well as students, journalists and visitors with an overview of the most central discussions on the tremendous changes Berlin experienced since the fall of the wall. It covers a wide range of issues, including inner city renewal, housing and the local economy, gentrification and other urban conflicts. The book breaks ground in two dimensions: first, by offering also non-German speakers an insight into the very controversial debates after reunification, and, second, by highlighting the ambivalent consequences of Berlin's urban transformation in the past decades.

In an elegant theoretical analysis, this book explores the intricate relationship between gentrification and the institutions that shape it. Matthias Bernt introduces the concept of the “commodification gap,” tested through three well-researched case studies. This approach expands the understanding of gentrification as a multifaceted phenomenon, fostering dialogue across diverse urban contexts. The work addresses the stalemate in urban studies between universalism and particularism, offering clarity on what is universal and what is not. It contributes significantly to gentrification studies, comparative urbanism, and urban studies as a whole. Providing an insightful institutionalist perspective, the book examines gentrification's operation alongside the institutions that influence and restrict it in neighborhoods across London, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. Bernt illustrates how varying institutional arrangements have facilitated, decelerated, or altered gentrification over time and place. Based on empirical research in Great Britain, Germany, and Russia, it includes one of the first discussions of gentrification in these countries in English. The analysis begins by critiquing the established “rent-gap” theory and subsequently introduces the novel “commodification gap.” This work is an essential resource for researchers and academics in human geography, housing studies, urban sociology, and spatial planning.

30 Jahre nach der Wiedervereinigung sind ostdeutsche Städte von starker sozialer Segregation geprägt. Matthias Bernt und Anne Volkmann gehen der Frage nach, wie es dazu kommen konnte. Am Beispiel der Stadt Halle (Saale) analysieren sie »Weichenstellungen« für die Stadtentwicklung und ihre Bedeutung für das Wohnverhalten unterschiedlicher Haushaltstypen. Im Fokus stehen dabei drei exemplarische Segregationsprozesse: die Gentrifizierung von Gründerzeitvierteln, der Wandel der Großwohnsiedlungen sowie die Suburbanisierung und Abwanderung in das Umland. So entsteht ein komplexes Bild über die Spezifika ostdeutscher Städte.