After German reunification, residential quarters constructed with prefabricated concrete slabs had to be made ready for the future. With holistic innovation concepts, many of these residential areas were turned into sustainably viable city quarters—ecologically viable, with stable social structures, and a satisfied population.

The experiences we made have been seen as an opportunity for transfer and have resulted in numerous collaborations with other large housing estates across Europe undergoing a transition toward market-driven development.
The independent non-profit association recognised as working for the common welfare methodically pools the experiences gained in this transformation process in order to make it available to regional and local authorities and their housing societies, in particular in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

All important stakeholders of the transformation process are members of the association: the authorities of the districts of Marzahn-Hellersdorf and Lichtenberg, professional associations of the housing sector, housing societies and cooperatives, banks, many architects and engineers, construction and service businesses, and individuals.

In the scope of the structural support by the European Union (E.U.), European standards of urban development have been elaborated over the last years, in particular based on the experiences of the Community initiative “Urban”.

The enhancement of the large housing estates of Eastern Berlin and Eastern Germany has fully complied with these standards and has resulted in the development of attractive residential quarters.