Population Density (2019 Edition) - Senatsverwaltung für ... (2024)

06.06 Population Density (2019 Edition)OverviewThe term population density is a measure of how many people live in a given area. Population densityas used here is the number of inhabitants per hectare (1 hectare is an area about 86 yards on a side.1 hectare = 2.47 acres, or 1 acre = 0.4047 hectare. 640 acres = 1 sq. mile). The population density ofBerlin's entire urban area is 42 people/hectare (p/ha). This figure is in the middle range for Germanand European cities. Hamburg has an average of 39 % fewer people per hectare. In the inner city ofParis, the population density on the same area is almost twice as high. As the city of Paris developed, 2however, within a limited area of around 105 km , these numbers are only somewhat comparable (cf.Fig. 1).Fig. 1: Population density of Berlin compared to other cities, in people per hectare(data from 2013-2016)Data status: Berlin / Munich: 31/12/2016; Hamburg / London: 31/12/2015; Frankfurt: 30/06/2016; Paris:Inner City, Unité urbaine: 01/01/2013; Warsaw: 30/06/2015. See notes on Fig. 2 for definition of Berlin innercity.In Paris, the inner city and the municipal border of the city area overlap. For comparison purposes with theother urban areas, the geographical unit “ Unité urbaine” , encompassing 10,601,122 inhabitants on 2,845 km²,is used as a reference value for the entire city.The population density of Berlin’s inner-city, i.e. within the so-called City Rail Circle Line (S-Bahn-Ring),lies above average at 117 p/ha and even exceeds that of London.The Map of Population Density depicts population density in terms of statistical blocks or blocksegments (cf. Methodology). Therefore, this presentation is directly comparable to the previous editionfrom 2018.High population density causes great environmental stresses, especially in close proximity to the road,such as noise and air pollution caused by traffic. Residents frequent public green areas for relaxation. 1

These areas are, however, heavily visited, often overused, and loud. Private green areas exist only to alimited extent. Some densely populated areas of Berlin are attractive residential areas in spite of this.Some block-style constructions from the Wilhelminian period are especially attractive when they haveliving quarters of generous size, and are complemented by a good infrastructure of small businesses,restaurants, cultural facilities, services, and an extensive public transportation system. Rich urban lifeflourishes here. This urbanity is missed by many living in the purely residential areas at the edge of thecity. These areas have a relatively low population density, a high ratio of open space, and less air andnoise pollution.The inner city boroughs of Mitte, Tiergarten, Wedding, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain and Kreuzbergreached their greatest population density in 1910 with 312 p/ha. Today, the population density of theseboroughs has dropped to 118 p/ha, one-third of the peak value (cf. Fig. 2).Fig. 2: Development of population density for selected Berlin boroughs (people/hectare within Berlinboroughs), as of December 31, 2018For the years 1871 and 1900, only aggregated population numbers were available for the inner city boroughs.Between 1949 and 1975, no population data was available for the eastern city boroughs. Hence, the populationdensity of the inner city boroughs could not be determined for these years.In contrast, the population in the outer boroughs rose continuously, except for a general drop in 1945,caused by war-time conditions.While in 1996 a continuous growth in population of up to 300,000 people was expected by 2010, amore complex development took place: After a peak in 1993 with nearly 3.48 Million inhabitants, thenumber decreased to 3.38 Million in 2000. Since then, the number has increased quite continuously to3.75 Million inhabitants (relating to mandatorily registered residents who have stated Berlin to be theirmain place of residence, as of December 31, 2018, Statistical Office of Berlin-Brandenburg, only inGerman).Lower population density results not only from high proportions of green and open spaces and lesserdegrees of development. Lower density can also be due to a large amount of small business, trade andservice use, as well as public facilities, etc. These property areas are included in calculations ofpopulation density, as long as they are not separated in an own block segment.Detailed and current data bases of population density in specific urban areas are useful for theplanning of various public departments. The Department of Urban Planning, for example, uses thesefigures as a basis for planning such infrastructure facilities as schools, businesses and playgrounds. 2

Landscape Planning uses these figures for analyzing the number and accessibility of green spacesnear to residential areas (cf. Map 06.05, SenStadt 2017a). Knowledge of population density also allowsconclusions to be drawn regarding environmental stresses, such as calculating the number of personsexposed to road traffic noise in their dwellings as part of the analysis of the Strategic Noise Maps (cf.Map 07.05, SenStadtUm 2017b).Statistical BaseThe present map is based on the file “Inhabitants Legally Registered at the Places of their MainResidence in Berlin”, as of December 31, 2018, of the Statistical Office of Berlin-Brandenburg. Thestatistical system of the Residents’ Registration Office evaluates the data on all legally registeredresidents. As state-specific statistics, they primarily serve to provide small-scale demographic data,and to certify foreign residents according to their citizenships. It supplements the Official PopulationExtrapolation, which was provided with an updated statistical base with the 2011 Census (valid as ofMay 9, 2011), and is used primarily for statistical purposes, for instance to calculate the size of thefederal-state revenue equalization. However, due to the different systems they use, there aredeviations between the statistics of the Residents’ Registration Office (as of December 31, 2018:3,747,936) and those of the Official Population Extrapolation (as of December 31, 2018: 3,644,826).The latter is continued biannually on the basis of census data and of new registrations/ de-registrations).As an administrative register, the Residents’ Registration Office cannot fully meet the precisionrequirements necessary for statistical accuracy. Thus, for example, the correction to account forregistration deadlines with regard to residents’ moves, births or deaths currently still involves inevitableimprecision.As a result of the issuance of uniform tax ID numbers, a particularly large number of foreigners whowere no longer present at their legally registered addresses have been officially removed from theregistry. The current results are therefore only comparable to a limited degree to those of previousyears.For the present map, all of the 398,000 Berlin address data as of December 31, 2018 was assigned tothe block and block segment areas of the land-use file of the Urban and Environmental InformationSystem (ISU), ISU 2015. That made it possible to aggregate resident data not only at the level ofstatistical blocks, but also at that of the so-called block segments of the ISU. The current presentationfor the reference period December 31, 2018 can only be directly compared with the previous year (cf.2018 Edition, SenStadtUm 2018), since the population data of December 31, 2016 was the first to bebased on the block and block segments map ISU5, as of December 31, 2015 (cf. also Chapter“Population density development between 2017 and 2018”).Several factors that influence the precision of the data stock presented: • For reasons of statistical confidentiality, cases with only one or two examples may not be presented with their real values. Therefore, in the case of block and block segment evaluations, these confidential cases (values “1” or “2”) are changed in such a way that they occur either at least three times or not at all. For this reason, no absolute resident values of less than “3” occur. • Combinations of characteristics with an occurrence of “1” or “2” are reassigned in such a way that ultimately, only combinations are present which occur either not at all or at least three times. The automatic confidentiality procedure used can not only prevent table values of less than “3” from occurring, but can also ensure that all evaluations lead to identical marginal total results. This procedure, optimized for both such issues, means that distortions are inevitable even for more frequently occurring fields in the table. • Moreover, the administrative register cannot completely fulfill the precision requirements for statistics of a population register. For instance, the deadline date excerpt contains listings of noncurrent residents and cases of non-registration of actual residents, due to moves, births and deaths.These limitations have to be taken into account when interpreting the figures.The sizes of the particular blocks and block segments have been calculated directly from the blockmap ISU5 1:5,000, as of December 31, 2015. 3

MethodologyThe spatial reference system was provided by the digital block map 1:5,000 (ISU5), as of December31, 2015. This working map contains the individual statistical blocks. Blocks with more than one useare divided into block segments. The numbering and street limit lines of blocks correspond to thoseused by the Statistical Office of Berlin-Brandenburg.The population density, the quotient of the number of inhabitants by the area size, was determined foreach reference area. The size of each statistical block, needed for the calculation of population density,was calculated using the ISU5 1:5,000 equal-area map. Figures for the number of inhabitants wereassigned to statistical blocks and block segments according to the ISU spatial reference system.Map DescriptionBerlin is characterized by a grown multi central structure with two main centers beside the specificdistrict centers: the areas "Zoologischer Garten" and "Mitte".As a rule, population density increases from the city edge toward the city center, however, there aresome focal points in the borough centers like Spandau, Tegel and Köpenick. Particularly the region ofthe central area Mitte, i.e. the area around the eastern Greater Tiergarten and in the north and south ofthe boulevard Unter den Linden, is predominantly formed by its functions as the governmental areaand as a supra regional and significant center for services and commerce. Today, only some blocksremain with more than 70 p/ha. Leipziger Straße and the new residence units on Wilhelmstraße aredensely populated and are conspicuous exceptions to general conditions in the eastern city center.In contrast, the second important city center, located around the Zoologischer Garten and along theKurfürstendamm, has been preserved largely as a residential area, contributing significantly to theliveliness of the cityscape. Here, a considerable number of blocks still count more than 150-200 p/ha.The Wilhelminische Ring stands out with a predominately high population density of 351 and morep/ha. The area has a block structure from the Wilhelminian period and is located within and on theedge of the City Rail Circle Line. Maximum values with more than 700 p/ha occur only in 50 of theoverall 14,700 blocks and block segments in Berlin. These areas are predominantly located in theboroughs of Neukölln, Kreuzberg and Lichtenberg.Outside the City Rail Circle Line, the relatively high population density continues south into theSchöneberg, Friedenau, and Steglitz boroughs. A population distribution similar to that within the innerCity Rail Circle Line is found in older development areas of Spandau, and is similar to areas such asTegel, Schöneweide, Adlershof, and Tempelhof, which were developed around the turn of the century,then on the edge of Berlin.The high-rise and industrially-prefabricated settlements at the edge of the city are relatively denselypopulated with 151 to more than 350 p/ha in large block areas. These are Märkisches Viertel,Hohenschönhausen, Marzahn, Hellersdorf, and Gropiusstadt.Smaller settlements in Spandau, Lichterfelde, Marienfelde, Waidmannslust, Bohnsdorf and Köpenick,with their post-war high-rise development, stand out with predominantly 151 to 250 p/ha in thegenerally more sparsely populated city edges. Some locations in this population density class aresettlements with block-edge and row development, however. Examples are Haselhorst, Siemensstadt,Zehlendorf, and Plänterwald.Typical for the city edge, and the most numerous, are relatively thinly populated settlements with 5 to70 p/ha. These blocks are mainly characterized by structure type 10 ("Low buildings with yards"),extending along the city boundary like a ribbon, excluding undeveloped forest areas or areas of othergreen uses.Compared with the Population Density map of 1994 (SenStadtUmTech 1996), an interestingdevelopment can be observed at the eastern city border today, almost 25 years later. Because ofdivisions of real estates in the areas of Biesdorf/Mahlsdorf/Kaulsdorf and in the consequenceconstructional compressions, the predominant number of blocks are nowadays in the density categoryof 31-70 p/ha, whereas for the data from December 31, 1994 blocks with less than 30 p/ha are in themajority. Therefore, the eastern border of Berlin is now generally no longer characterized by a lowerpopulation density than the western border.The distribution of population density correlates quite clearly with the Environmental Atlas Map UrbanStructure (06.07) (SenStadt 2016). It is apparent that area types can be assigned a certain range ofpopulation density. Table 1 shows the average population density for the individual area types with 4

predominantly residential use (share > 75 %) or a share of trade, services and commerce fluctuatingbetween 25-50 %. These calculations apply to areas, both blocks and block segments, of uniform use.Tab. 1: Average population density per area type and use, as of December 31, 2018For blocks which are used for multiple purposes, the population density can be displayed with relativelyhigh precision in reference to block segments with uniform use.Instancing the block north of the Innsbrucker Platz between Belziger Straße / Dominicusstraße andEisenacher Straße has several block segments, including a cemetery of 1.8 ha and a park of 2.5 ha.By transferring the population data to the remaining segments of the block, the population density of 88p/ha recorded for the entire block in 1994 increased to 340 p/ha in 2018, thus displaying a much moreaccurate picture of the situation.Nevertheless, there are also undivided blocks with different uses, for all cases where these differinguses do not reach a size of one ha. For example, the western part of the block at the corner of GothaerStr. and Belziger Str. also has a larger utilities area, which was not indicated separately. In light of itsinner city location, with only 182 p/ha, it is a rather sparsely populated block. Further blocks with similarpopulation numbers are assigned to the use category “Public service and other special uses”.Population density development between 2017 and 2018The population growth Berlin has seen over the last few years has led to a substantial increase in thenumber of inhabitants within the state. According to the population register, 3,747,936 people wererecorded on December 31, 2018; thus exceeding the previous year’s population count by approx.36,000 people. Overall, most of the inhabited blocks (approx. 14,800 in total) were affected bypopulation changes, compared with the previous year. Relevant changes, both in terms of increasedand decreased population values, were observed in about 1,185 blocks and block segment areas. 5

Fig. 4: Map of Changes in Population Density between 2017 and 2018. Use the layer control to switchthe levels "population density 2018" and "population development between 2017 and 2018". (The resultis also available as a map in the Geoportal Berlin).Areas displaying more substantial changes in population density (p/ha) within the year – increases ofmore than 20 p/ha or decreases of more than 10 p/ha – are not distributed evenly across the individualdistricts or even the whole city. The inner city area (the environmental zone within the City Rail CircleLine), however, was identified as a key area: - A total of 457 blocks or block segment areas saw an increase in population density of more than 20 p/ha. A disproportionately high 40 % (269) of those is located within the area of the City Rail Circle Line, which only accounts for about 11 % of the total city area. - Also located within the area of the City Rail Circle Line is a large share (~37%, 269 of 728 areas) of the blocks / block segment areas whose population density decreased considerably (by more than 10 p/ha each).Figure 4 illustrates how the affected blocks and block segment areas are distributed across this region.Blocks with above-average population increases and decreases appear clustered at times. Whatcaused these drastic changes within the period of one year could not be determined in detail. Thus,converting buildings from residential to commercial use may lead to population reductions locally, inthe same way that new constructions may increase population numbers, due to gap closures anddensification within existing developments. 6

New construction activity across the entire block plays an important role, leading to considerablepopulation increases, even in as short a period as one year. This is exemplified by the residentialconstruction projects: " “Park am Gleisdreieck” (southern part).Fig. 5: Increase in population density (p/ha) by more than 230 people between 2017 and 2018following new construction activity around the “Park am Gleisdreieck” (southern part),top: map section (for legend, see Fig. 4), bottom left: section from orthophoto 2017 (DOP 2017),bottom right: section from orthophoto 2018 (DOP 2018),Source of orthophotos: Geoportal BerlinChanges should generally be mapped and studied over a longer period of time. For this purpose, thedevelopments shall be continually recorded and updated here, while annually comparing them to thereference year (2016).Literature[1] Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg [Statistical Office of Berlin-Brandenburg] (Ed.) 2019: Melderechtlich registrierte Einwohner am Ort der Hauptwohnung in Berlin am 31.12.2018, Berlin [Inhabitants Legally Registered at the Places of their Main Residence in Berlin, as of 31.12.2018, Berlin]. 7

Internet: https://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/service/welcome.asp (Accessed on 31 May 2019)[2] SenStadtUm (Senate Department for Urban Development and Environmental Protection) (Ed.) 1990: Räumliche Entwicklung in der Region Berlin - Planungsgrundlagen, Berlin [Spatial development in the Berlin region – a basis for planning, Berlin].[3] SenStadt (Senate Department for Urban Development) (Ed.) n.d.: Bevölkerungsentwicklung in der Metropolregion Berlin 2002-2020, Erläuterungsbericht, Berlin [Population development in the conurbation area of Berlin 2002-2020, Explanatory report, Berlin]. Internet: https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/planen/bevoelkerungsprognose/ [only in German] (Accessed on 31 May 20189)Links (Data Sources, Figure 1)[4] Stadt Frankfurt [City of Frankfurt] Internet: https://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=437171&_ffmpar[_id_inhalt]=258871 (Accessed on 31 May 2019)[5] Stadt München [City of Munich] Download: https://www.muenchen.de/rathaus/dam/jcr:370fe775-89d2-4a81-b7ca- 464ddb514549/jt170102.pdf [only in German] (Accessed on 31 May 2019)[6] Stadt Warschau [City of Warsaw] Download: http://warszawa.stat.gov.pl/download/gfx/warszawa/en/defaultaktualnosci/806/3/28/1/komunikat_ ang_01_waw_2016.pdf (Accessed on 31 May 2019)[7] Statistisches Amt für Hamburg und Schleswig Holstein [Statistical Office of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein] Download: http://www.statistik- nord.de/fileadmin/Dokumente/Statistische_Berichte/bevoelkerung/A_I_1_j_H/A_I_1_j15_HH a.xlsx [only in German] (Accessed on 31 May 2019)[8] Land Area and Population Density London Internet: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/land-area-and-population-density-ward-and-borough (Accessed on 31 May 2019)[9] Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques: INSEE [The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies of France] Internet: https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques?debut=0&categorie=2 (Accessed on 31 May 2019)Maps[10] SenStadtUmTech (Senate Department for Urban Development, Environmental Protection and Technology, Berlin) (Ed.) 1996: Berlin Environmental Atlas, extended and revised edition, Map 06.06 Population Density, 1:50,000, Berlin. Internet: https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/umweltatlas/ei606.htm 8

[11] SenStadtUm (Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment) (Ed.) 2016: Berlin Environmental Atlas, extended and revised Edition, Map 06.07 Urban Structure, 1:50,000, Berlin. Internet: https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/umweltatlas/eie607.htm[12] SenStadtWohn (Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing) (Ed.) 2017a: Berlin Environmental Atlas, extended and revised Edition, Map 06.05 Availability of Public, Near- Residential Green Space, 1:50,000, Berlin. Internet: https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/umweltatlas/eib605.htm[13] SenStadtWohn (Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing) (Ed.) 2017b: Berlin Environmental Atlas, extended and revised Edition, Map 07.05 Strategical Noise Maps, 1:50,000, Berlin. Internet: https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/umweltatlas/eib705.htm[14] SenStadtWohn (Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing) (Ed.) 2018: Berlin Environmental Atlas, extended and revised Edition, Map 06.06 Population Density, 1:50,000, Berlin. Internet: https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/umweltatlas/ein606.htm 9