Cities are becoming deserted because traditional shops have to close

It has been the background noise in all recent elections: the fear of losing one’s identity, whatever that may be. It is often associated with places, with institutions such as Café Berio between Winterfeldplatz and Nollendorfplatz. For 73 years, the motto here has been: cake makes you happy. That’s over, probably for good. A gap is emerging that cannot be filled by even the most chic replacement restaurant in the place, if there is one. Greedy property owners and investors are once again doing a great job of damaging the diversity and identities of this city, which they so like to exploit as a background image.

Supermarket X, fancy kebab shop Y, another clothing store, the super-cool Apple store, hip restaurant Z – they are ultimately irrelevant to the character of a city. Not to mention the rampant alcohol warehouses that disguise themselves as “late-night shops”. They come and go. But a bookshop that resists the internetization of our world, the belt and bag maker in the basement that has always been there, city cafés where the whole of society meets, the corner pub that has simply been there since great-great-grandfather’s time, an ice cream parlor that bizarrely closes its doors at exactly 5 p.m. on Sundays, regardless of whether the weather is super sunny or the icy wind is blowing – they are more than just a colorful cityscape, they form character, identities.

But it is precisely these kinds of businesses that are often unable to pay the rents demanded by investors. If the operators do not own the building, a single inheritance is enough – and that’s it. Monument protection is no help here either, as it can only protect the premises, not the use. Online petitions may strengthen communities, but they rarely save shops.

This is not about businesses that are poorly managed, but rather those that are forced to close despite good business conditions due to excessive rent demands and too short contract periods. In principle, commercial rents can be negotiated “freely”. However, this alleged freedom only exists for the landlord – an institution cannot simply move. This commercial tenancy law is not the only, but one of the main reasons why city centers are becoming deserted.

In short: We finally need the rent index that has been demanded for decades for commercial rents too. And protection periods. Only then can cities preserve their character and self-image, thereby retaining people, talent, workers and ultimately tax revenue. The fact that landlords do not see this is stupid – but it is their right. The fact that the state does not finally act – that is the ultra-liberal ideology that alienates many people from this very state.