Berlin's Newest Plan to Curb Rising Rents: Build Higher

For Berlin, it seems the only way is up. Faced with rocketing rents, the city is hoping to build a new neighborhood of 4,700 apartments – but rather than spreading out, the city is building high. The new development will be barely two miles south of the Brandenburg Gate, and its apartment buildings will reach up to 11 floors.

This would hardly make them skyscrapers, but they would be considerably higher than existing buildings nearby, which are mainly early 20th century tenements about five floors in height. While this apparent throwback to Berlin's postwar mega projects won't please the anti high-rise brigade, the plan is an opportunity most city mayors could only dream of. The ability to create a big chunk of new, high density housing in a central area already blessed with good transport links seems too good to be true.