ON THE EDGES OF THE GERMAN CAPITAL - REGIONAL CULTURE AND SUBURBANIZATION PROCESSES ON THE PERIPHERIES OF BERLIN - BETWEEN HIGH-TECH CATHEDRALS AND NATIONAL-PARK GDR

The shift of the dynamics of growth towards the edges of the cities ga ve extra significance to suburbanization processes. Most analyses of t hese processes proceed in a fairly objectivistic manner - concentratin g on functional and material flows between centres and peripheries or centering upon the breakdowns of settlement densities in 'magmatic' ci ty regions. Cultural and life style patterns as structural factors and symbolic means to integrate and influence economic, political and soc ial developmental paths at the outskirts of the cities seldom appear a s systematical parts of explanation. In the first part of the paper th e special case of the metropolitan area of Berlin-Brandenburg permits a presentation of strong arguments for a more complex type of suburban ization and regional developmental analysis, taking into consideration the explanatory value of cultural patterns and regional cultural form s. This leads particularly to a more adequate analysis of the factual development of social spaces on the edges of the metropolis of Berlin. In the second part of the paper three case studies with different con stellations of actors try to back up the main thesis with empirical fi ndings, i.e. the explanatory importance of regional cultural forms and city cultures in relation to the specific developmental paths of subu rbanization processes: firstly, institutional actors from the field of spatial planning (and planning culture) are analysed; secondly, infor mal networks and NIMBY groups; finally, private actors and new entrepr eneurs with their specialized cultural and spatial needs.