How should a diverse metropolitan region such as Berlin-Brandenburg reinvent itself, while preserving its character, nurturing its attributes and simultaneously preparing for climate change? This book offers an analysis of these important strategic questions, along with constructive solutions. As the first survey of the entire Berlin-Brandenburg region, it presents essays, maps and projects in a large-format atlas. Its findings are based on extensive research into complex subjects such as the circular economy, social equity, energy and water management, environment, population density, inclusion and urban culture.

Given the urgent need for a public debate about the future of Berlin-Brandenburg, this book presents a solid factual basis and offers new approaches, projects and ideas. Wide-ranging contributions are supplemented by the pioneering visions of Hobrecht & Virchow, the Gross-Berlin competition of 1910, and Martin Wagner’s idea of a metropolis.

With contributions by Dean J. Almy III, Meta Berghauser Pont, Aron Bohmann, Ricky Burdett, Chen Feng, Abdelrahman Helal, Barbara Hoidn, Tilman Latz, Lars Marcus, Rozana Montiel, Yoací Pardo, John Peponis, Paul Rogers, Jan Sahlberg, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Wilfried Wang, and Marc Weissgerber.


Wilfried Wang is an architect and co-founder of Hoidn Wang Partner in Berlin. He is the O'Neil Ford Centennial Professor of Architecture at the The University of Texas at Austin and a member of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.

Barbara Hoidn is an architect and curator and a co-founder of Hoidn Wang Partner in Berlin. She was Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, taught at various international universities and is author of a variety of books on urban design topics.