Community centres in increasingly diverse neighbourhoods
Policies and practices of community building in post-war housing estates in Switzerland
Keywords:
community building, collective spaces, high-rise housing estates, local initiatives, post-war SwitzerlandAbstract
This paper uses research conducted in Swiss post-war high-rise estates to focus on policies and practices of community building in neighbourhoods with an increasingly diverse population. Initially, the estates were mainly populated by Swiss and Southern European lower to middle income families, but latterly the household structures have become very heterogeneous with residents coming from all over the world. The planning and development policies of the estates are based on specific ideas about creating a community, which are still evident in the building and management of community centres but also in various facilities for common use (playgrounds, football and sport fields, community rooms and kitchens, libraries, petting zoos, cafés, crafts rooms, etc.). The community centres, along with community work, are key to encouraging encounters, connecting people and activating cultural life in the neighbourhoods and have played a pioneering role far beyond the boundaries of their respective estates. However, individualisation and pluralisation processes, the aging of the facilities and built structures, and economic pressures pose challenges for the community centres. The current Covid-19 crisis reinforces these challenges by limiting and impeding cultural activities and direct (physical) social encounters. The paper analyses the potential and the challenges of community building in the context of growing diversity among residents, and acknowledges what we can learn from these experiences when thinking about creating and strengthening communities in a multi-faceted world today.
References
Althaus, E. (2018). Sozialraum Hochhaus. Transcript Verlag.
Althaus, E., Glaser, M. (2015). Legacies of Modernism. House Biographies of Large Post-War Residential Complexes in Switzerland. In Caramellino, G., Zanfi, F (Ed.), Post-War Middle-Class Housing. Peter Lang, p. 243-262.
Bäschlin, E. (2004). Wohnort Grossüberbauung. Das Tscharnergut in Bern. Benteli.
Bäschlin, E. (1998). Im Tscharnergut zuhause. In Lüthi, C., Meier, B. (Ed.) Bern – eine Stadt bricht auf, Haupt, p. 197-217.
Baldwin Hess, D., Tammaru, T., & van Ham, M. (2018). Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges. The Urban Book Series.
Besmer, F., & Bischofberger, H. (2012). 37 Jahre Gemeinschaftszentrum Telli. Vom Neubau zum Umbau 2011. GZ Telli.
BfS Bundesamt für Statistik. (2014). Bevölkerung. Panorama. Neuchâtel.
Ciemiega, M. A. (2021). Communitas: Globale Problemlösung oder unmögliche Theorie? Crisis and Communitas. https://crisisandcommunitas.com/?communitas=communitas-globale-problemlosung-oder-unmogliche-theorie
Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria, Qualitative Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988593
Delanty, G. (2018). Community, in Community. 3rd Edition. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315158259
Foroutan, N. (2019). Die postmigrantische Gesellschaft, transcript, https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839442630
Furter, F., Schoeck-Ritschard, P. (2013). Göhner wohnen. Wachstumseuphorie und Plattenbau. hier + jetzt.
Gysi, S, Dubach, H, Henz, A. (1988). Das Erbe des Baubooms. In M. Bassand, A. Henz (Ed.), Horizon 2000 – Wohnen 2000. Libraire Polytechnique EPFL, 177–285.
Fuchs, F., Hanak, M. (1998), Die Wohnsiedlung Telli in Aarau. Aarauer Neujahrsblätter, 131–160.
Harnack, M., Stollmann, J. (2017). Identifikationsräume. Potenziale und Qualität großer Wohnsiedlungen. Universitätsverlag TU Berlin.
Hitz, H., Keil, R., Lehrer, U. (1995). Capitales Fatales. Urbanisierung und Politik in Finanzmetropolen. Rotpunktverlag.
Huber, W., Uldry, D. (2009). Bern baut. Ein Führer zur zeitgenössischen Architektur 1990 - 2010. Scheidegger & Spiess
IBA (2012), Leben mit Weitsicht – Großwohnsiedlungen als Chance. Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt.
James, P. (2006). Globalism, nationalism, tribalism: Bringing theory back in. SAGE Publications.
James, P., Nadarajah, Y., Haive, K., & Stead, V. (2012). Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Development. University of Hawaii.
Koch, M. (1992). Städtebau in der Schweiz 1800 - 1990. Verlag der Fachvereine.
Kraft, S. (2011). Die Großsiedlungen – Ein gescheitertes Erbe der Moderne? Arch+ (Planung und Realität), 48–53.
Kelly, A., & Sewell, S. (1988). With Head, Heart and Hand: Dimensions of Community Building. 3rd edition. Boolarong.
Müller, M., Woitek, U. (2012) Wohlstand, Wachstum und Konjunktur, in P. Halbeisen et al. (Eds.), Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Schweiz im 20. Jahrhundert (pp. 85–222). Schwabe.
Patricios, N. N. (2002). Urban design principles of the original neighbourhood concepts. Urban Morphology, 6(1), 21–32.
Schnell, D. (2013). Die Architekturkrise der 1970-er Jahre. hier + jetzt.
Shore, C., Wright, S., & Pero, D. (2011). Policy Worlds: Anthropology and the analysis of contemporary power. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.639792
Stadt Aarau. (2020). Bevölkerungsbewegung per 31. Dezember 2020.
Stadt Aarau. (2021). Telli Statistics (own analysis).
Stadt Bern. (2018). Monitoring sozialräumliche Stadtentwicklung 2012 – 2017.
Stadt Bern. (2021). Die Wohnbevölkerung der Stadt Bern 2020.
Steiger, B. (1963). Der Mensch in der Grossiedlung. Eine Aufzeichnung der soziologischen Struktur in der neuen Siedlung Tscharnergut Bern-Bümpliz. Bern.
Streit, M. (2020, March 16). In der Krise hilft Bern sich selbst. Der Bund.
Sulzer, J. (1989). Stadtplanung in Bern. Benteli.
Tönnies, F. (1912). Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft. Grundbegriffe der reinen Soziologie. Karl Curtius.
Uehlinger, H. (2011). In der Beiz erfuhr ich, was die Leute brauchen in AvenirSocial. In U. Binggeli, & C. Buhler (Eds.), Wir haben die Soziale Arbeit geprägt. Haupt Verlag.
Zeller, C. (ed.) (1994). Schweizer Architekturführer. Band 2. Werk Verlag.
Yildiz, E., Hill, M. (2015). Nach der Migration. Postmigrantische Perspektiven jenseits der Parallelgesellschaft, transcript.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Eveline Althaus, Liv Christensen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Cidades, Comunidades e Territórios by DINÂMIA'CET-IUL is licensed under a Creative Commons Atribuição-Uso Não-Comercial-Proibição de realização de Obras Derivadas 4.0 Unported License.Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mailto:cidades.dinamiacet@iscte.pt.