The Berlin Mitte district office is investigating both the need for traffic calming and the feasibility of creating safe, quiet and liveable neighborhoods by reducing through traffic. Now 28 Kieze have been pre-selected for online participation and traffic counts are being carried out.
Why is prioritization necessary?
As financial and human resources are limited, it is important to select the Kieze with the greatest potential for improvement and the highest probability of feasibility. The index helps to create a transparent, objectively measurable and comprehensible ranking of the potential in the Kiezes.
How did it come to the selection of exactly these 28 Kieze?
The district office takes a close look at every Kiez. As a first step, the entire Mitte district was divided into individual Kieze. The boundaries of Kieze are formed by the main roads, as these serve traffic through the city, and the larger bodies of water (the Landwehrkanal, the Spree and the Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal). Kiezblocks can only be created between main roads, as the district is only responsible for the secondary roads and can therefore only order measures there.
More than 130 possible Kieze have been defined in Mitte, but not every theoretical Kiez is suitable as Kiezblock. One reason may be that no through traffic is possible. Furthermore, the need for measures varies from Kieze to Kieze. For this reason, a scientifically based neighborhood block index was developed to calculate the priority of Kieze. This index evaluates the defined Kieze using several factors that are available as current, valid and automatically analyzable data. The result is a prioritization list of Kieze.
What factors are included in the assessment?
A total of 16 indicators were selected for which sufficient data is available in the Berlin district of Mitte to carry out comprehensive assessments of all Kieze. The indicators are assigned to the defined objectives of the district and weighted differently:
Supply structures and mobility services
- Subjective through traffic: Kieze where a lot of through traffic has been reported are prioritized somewhat, as traffic calming is particularly desirable here.
- Public transport accessibility: Kieze with good connections to buses and trains are particularly suitable, as the mobility alternatives to the car are already particularly convenient to use. These Kieze are therefore prioritized.
- Shared mobility: The availability of bike and e-scooter sharing services facilitates the use of sustainable and alternative means of transport to the car. Therefore, Kieze with a high availability of these services is somewhat prioritized.
- Level of supply: The walking distance to places with short-term needs such as supermarkets and pharmacies reduces the need to travel by car. Kieze with a high level of supply are prioritized.
- Social facilities: Schools, daycare centers and nursing homes are destinations for people with specific mobility needs, who above all require safe traffic conditions. The more of these facilities there are in a Kiez, the more Kiez is prioritized.
Health protection
- Lärmbelastung: Kieze mit hoher Lärmbelastung werden etwas priorisiert, da eine Kfz-Verkehrsberuhigung zur Lärmreduktion beiträgt.
- Luftschadstoffbelastung: Hohe NOX-Werte (Stickstoffoxide), die durch Autoabgase entstehen, sind gesundheitsschädlich. Kieze mit einer höheren Belastung werden daher etwas priorisiert.
- Grünversorgung: Kieze mit wenig Erholungsflächen profitieren besonders von mehr Aufenthaltsqualität und Entsiegelungsmaßnahmen im Straßenraum. Diese Kieze werden daher priorisiert.
- Thermische Belastung: Starke Hitzebelastung in versiegelten Straßenräumen in den Sommermonaten kann durch Begrünung und entstehende Luftbewegung gemildert werden. Auch diese Kieze werden daher priorisiert.
- Soziale Benachteiligung: Kieze mit sozial benachteiligten Bevölkerungsgruppen sollten vor Mehrfachbelastungen durch den Kfz-Verkehr besonders geschützt werden, daher werden diese Kieze besonders priorisiert.
Road safety
- Unfalldaten: In Kiezen mit einer hohen Unfallhäufigkeit oder schweren Unfällen profitieren besonders von verkehrsberuhigenden Maßnahmen. Je mehr und schwerwiegende Unfälle stattfinden, besonders in den Nebenstraßen, desto stärker werden die Kieze priorisiert.
Feasibility
- Kfz-Erreichbarkeit wichtiger Standorte: Kieze mit wichtigen Einrichtungen wie Kranken-häusern, Polizei oder Feuerwehr mitten im Kiez sind besonders sensibel hinsichtlich der Kfz-Erreichbarkeit, sodass solche Kieze nicht priorisiert werden.
- Wohnnutzung: Kieze mit hohem Wohnanteil werden priorisiert, da hier die Verkehrsberuhigung besonders vielen Anwohnenden zugutekommt.
- Fahrradstraßen & Radnetz: Wenn bereits Fahrradstraßen vorhanden oder zukünftig zur Umsetzung des Radnetzes geplant sind, findet bereits eine Kfz-Verkehrsberuhigung statt, die den Kfz-Durchgangsverkehr verhindert. Daher werden diese Kieze priorisiert.
- Fördergebiete: Wenn ein Kiez in einem Gebiet eines Förderprogramms liegt, erleichtert das die Finanzierung der Maßnahmen im öffentlichen Straßenraum für das Bezirksamt. Daher werden solche Kieze priorisiert.
- Akzeptanz: Lokal bestehende politische Beschlüsse der Bezirksverordnetenversammlung (BVV) oder bürgerliche Initiativen fördern die demokratisch geforderte Umsetzung von Kiezblocks, daher werden Kieze mit unterstützenden BVV-Beschlüssen oder Initiativen priorisiert.
How is the index calculated?
Each Kiez receives a score between 0 and 1 for each indicator. These scores are weighted differently depending on their relevance to the objective and combined to form an overall score. The weighting of the objectives and indicators was carried out in a workshop with the district office to enable an overall assessment in the form of the index. The Kieze with the highest values have the best suitability for traffic calming and are prioritized. As some of the data requires a great deal of effort to collect (e.g. traffic counts), additional studies will only be carried out for the best-rated Kiezes. The next step will be a participatory process to shape the plans with the input of the people in the Kiezes.
What was the result of the prioritization methodology?
The neighbourhood block index is a method for prioritizing neighbourhoods based on transparent and quantifiable, i.e. comparable, data. The combination of environmental and traffic data and the consideration of political decisions and the commitment of citizens ensures that measures are planned where they will have the greatest positive effect on quality of life and where implementation is possible. The analysis resulted in a ranking of Kieze, where Kiezblocks is most urgently needed and most suitable for implementation. Some Kieze are already being planned, implemented or have already been implemented, such as the Bellermannkiez. These have already been sufficiently examined in advance and will not be considered further in this project. The calculations showed that – in addition to the Sprengel, Bellermann and Brussels districts Kiez, which have already been implemented – the Malplaquet and Auguststrasse districts and Böttgerblock are the next most suitable. For example, all three Kieze are affected by through traffic, have a high thermal load and are the scene of numerous traffic accidents.
What happens now?
From all the defined Kiezes in Mitte, the 28 with the greatest potential for improving the quality of life through traffic calming were selected for further processing:
- Gesundbrunnnen: Böttgerblock, Brunnenstraße East, Brunnenstraße West, Gesundbrunnen, Grenzstraße, Soldiner Kiez East, Soldiner Kiez West, Uferstraßenkiez
- Center: Arkonaplatz, Augustraßenkiez, Dircksenstraße, Gartenstraßenkiez, Gendarmenmarkt, Karl-Marx-Allee North, Karl-Marx-Allee South, Krausenstraße, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Scheunenviertel
- MoabitBeusselkiez North, Lehrter Straße, Moabit West, Ottopark, Stephankiez, Wilsnacker Straße
- Tiergarten: Flottwellkiez
- Wedding: Kameruner Straße, Malplaquetkiez, Schillerpark South
Everyone has until April 7, 2025 to get involved in an initial online participation.
The results of this online participation and the first-ever traffic surveys on through traffic in the side streets will be incorporated into the further assessment, for which 24 Kieze neighborhood block designs will be created in the next round. On-site walks and a second online participation will take place for these drafts in a further participation phase. With the feedback, these Kieze will be reduced again to around twelve Kiezblocks, which can be implemented from 2026.
Under “Questions & Answers” you will find more answers to frequently asked questions.