Editing German reunification (section)

===Unification of Berlin===
In the context of [[urban planning]], in addition to a wealth of new opportunity and the symbolism of two former independent states being rejoined, the reunification of Berlin presented numerous challenges. The city underwent massive [[redevelopment]], involving the political, economic, and cultural environment of both East and West Berlin. However, the "scar" left by the [[Berlin Wall|Wall]], which ran directly through the very heart of the city,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarotte |first=Mary Elise |title=In Uncertain Times |date=2011 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-4909-3 |pages=13–25 |chapter=The Wall Comes Down: A Punctuational Moment |doi=10.7591/cornell/9780801449093.003.0001}}</ref> had consequences for the urban environment that planning still needs to address.

The unification of Berlin presented legal, political, and technical challenges for the urban environment. The political division and physical separation of the city for more than 30 years saw the East and the West develop their own distinct urban forms, with many of these differences still visible to this day.<ref name="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2003">{{Cite book |date=2003-06-06 |title=Urban Renaissance |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264101470-en |doi=10.1787/9789264101470-en |isbn=978-9264101463 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213042940/https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/urban-rural-and-regional-development/urban-renaissance_9789264101470-en |url-status=live }}</ref>
As urban planning in Germany is the responsibility of the city government,<ref name="Loeb 2006 67–87">{{cite journal|last=Loeb|first=Carolyn|title=Planning reunification: the planning history of the fall of the Berlin Wall|journal=Planning Perspectives|date=January 2006|volume=21|issue=1 |pages=67–87|url=http://server.filozofia.bme.hu/~kerekgyarto/Berlin%20atvaltozasai/Szovegek/fal,%20emlekezes/berlin_wall.pdf|access-date=14 May 2012|doi=10.1080/02665430500397329|bibcode=2006PlPer..21...67L |s2cid=108646113}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> the integration of East and West Berlin was in part complicated by the fact that the existing planning frameworks became obsolete with the fall of the Wall.<ref name="Schwedler 2001">{{cite book|last=Schwedler|first=Hanns-Uve|title=Urban Planning and Cultural Inclusion Lessons from Belfast and Berlin|year=2001|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-79368-8}}</ref> Prior to the reunification of the city, the Land Use Plan of 1988 and General Development Plan of 1980 defined the spatial planning criteria for West and East Berlin, respectively.<ref name="Schwedler 2001"/> These were replaced by the new, unified Land Use Plan in 1994.<ref name="Schwedler 2001"/> Termed "Critical Reconstruction", the new policy aimed to revive Berlin's prewar aesthetic;<ref name="Tölle 2010 348–357"/> it was complemented by a strategic planning document for downtown Berlin, entitled "Inner City Planning Framework".<ref name="Tölle 2010 348–357"/>

Following the dissolution of the GDR on 3 October 1990, all planning projects under the socialist-totalitarian regime were abandoned.<ref name=UrbanF01>{{cite journal|last=Urban|first=F|title=Designing the past in East Berlin before and after the German Reunification.|journal=Progress in Planning|year=2007|volume=68|issue=1|pages=1–55|doi=10.1016/j.progress.2007.07.001}}</ref> Vacant lots, open areas, and empty fields in East Berlin were subject to redevelopment, in addition to space previously occupied by the Wall and associated [[buffer zone]].<ref name="Loeb 2006 67–87"/> Many of these sites were positioned in central, strategic locations of the reunified city.<ref name="Schwedler 2001"/>