Civil Society is Driving Germany’s Mobility Transition

In their contribution to the recently published Handbuch Mobilität und Gesellschaft (Mobility and Society Handbook) the authors note that while there is broad support for the mobility transition in Germany, little progress has been made. Despite the adoption of the Berlin Mobility Act (2017) and local government approving many Kiezblock projects, only a handful have actually been created.

What are Kiezblocks ?

Kiezblocks are neighbourhoods in which motorized through traffic is prohibited. In 2021, the new coalition government in Berlin signalled its willingness to green-light plans for Kiezblocks. The concept is inspired by Barcelona’s so-called Superblocks and includes the vernacular term for a neighbourhood or district in Berlin – Kiez – transplanting the concept to the German capital.

In the example given in their contribution, a local community initiative took matters into their own hands and collected signatures to force the local council to vote on the issue. Parallel to this, the initiative supplied local media outlets with information and photos about the project, organised campaign events, gave interviews and published updates on social media.

Changing transport policy is a major challenge, not least because policy decisions have favoured motorized vehicles for decades. “As a mode of transport, cars have been privelleged legally, fiscally, and politically for almost a century – even the Building Code and othe standards reflect this," explains RIFS researcher Dirk von Schneidemesser. “This makes it very difficult for new people to bring new ideas into decision-making processes."

In their article "Civil society as a driver of the mobility transition", the two RIFS researchers describe this discrepancy between policy announcements and expectations on the one hand and implementation on the other as a 'responsivity gap'. According to their analysis, there is a gap between the expectations of the governed and the measures taken by those in power. 

A representative survey by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) revealed that 89 per cent of citizens believe that transport policy is geared towards the needs of industry and business and only 21 per cent believe that it addresses the interests of citizens. As of November 2024, 36 Kiezblock projects have been approved for development in Berlin, but very few have actually been established.

It comes as no surprise, then, that people have increasingly turned to the tools of democracy to get the mobility transition on track. In order to address the responsivity gap, many initiatives are looking to leverage democratic decision-making processes and bolstering their efforts through media agenda-setting. Von Schneidemesser and Kirby refer to this as a the creation of a 'claimed space': a space for action carved out by citizens. In Berlin, these are established through submissions to the responsible municipal assemblies, where citizens are legally entitled to claim a 'space for participation'. Unlike citizens’ assemblies, which focus on a predetermined topic, these submissions grant citizens the power to set the agenda for discussions.

Analysis “Kiezblocks are an example of how civil society can drive transformations of urban space," explains RIFS co-author Dirk von Schneidemesser. "This desire to shape the city should fall on fertile ground, but old habits die hard and this is also true of political processes. The privileging of cars in our cities has been cemented over many decades – both literally and figuratively. But many citizens are ready to move into a new future." 

Similar initiatives have sprung up in at least ten other German cities - from Leipzig to Darmstadt and Hamburg. Changemakers in politics and public administration who want to make the mobility transition reality could build on this enthusiasm. Similarly, local governments could engage with civil society actors by convening representative-deliberative formats such as citizens' assemblies. “This would reward the efforts of civil society actors who are campaigning for a mobility transition in Germany and could help to push the issue further up the political and media agendas," concluded Kirby and von Schneidemesser.

Publication:
Dirk von Schneidemesser and Nicolina Kirby: Zivilgesellschaft als Treiber der Mobilitätswende: Kiezblocks als Beispiel für Stadtgestaltung von unten, Handbuch Mobilität und Gesellschaft 2024.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-37804-2_28-1.