Project management: Prof. Dr. Heike Herrmann
Supported by: Fulda University of Applied Sciences
Duration: 1.07.2012-31.12.2013

Project description:
Against the background of a constructivist spatial theoretical approach, the project focused on the socio-spatial transformation of a Frankfurt neighbourhood in a preparatory study. It was assumed that the establishment of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt's Ostend has provoked and is provoking a socio-spatial change that can be classified in urban sociology as a "gentrification" process (gentrification refers to the process of transforming a city district, usually located close to the city centre, which is associated with its infrastructural and urban development upgrading and with the displacement of the resident population). The aim of the explorative research was first to present the international state of research on the topic of "gentrification" as well as a description of the current structure (e.g. ownership structure, social structure data of the current residents) of Frankfurt's Ostend. By means of a (qualitative) survey of experts from the city of Frankfurt/M. (e.g. members of the city administration and social institutions in the area, business people and residents), repeated spatial observations and an analysis of newspaper articles from the local press, spatial constructions were collected, especially on Frankfurt's Ostend, which bring to light old and new identities of the Frankfurt area. The aim was also to generate hypotheses about whether and, if so, how the spatial constructions identified could influence a gentrification process.

Initial results show that more or less pronounced changes are perceived in different parts of the Ostend. In most cases, these are changes that had already begun before the planning of the new European Central Bank building, but have now been accelerated - especially around the new building. Gaps between buildings are being closed, old houses are being renovated and the infrastructure is being adapted to the consumption patterns of the middle class (e.g. in the form of cafés instead of kiosks). These are changes that suggest a gentrification process that already began in certain parts about 15 years ago, but which has gained increased momentum through the redesign of the Main embankment and the new ECB building. The results also show that the development of Frankfurt's Ostend must always be seen against the background of the politically aspired development towards a modern service city and "global city"; i.e.: political-administrative control supports the market-economy upgrading of the inner-city area. In the course of the urban (sub)development, a niche of the poor and families with many children, the "survival artists" and the not so financially strong "creatives" of the city are disappearing; according to some experts, these have been and are being displaced into other areas of the city.