Portrait of Ahmet Taner, representative of the Alevi Muslim community, Berlin (Germany)

Offering local people the opportunity to take decisions about their own neighbourhoods can help transform deprived city areas into more agreeable places to live. In Germany, Berlin’s Neighbourhood Management programme has proved that this approach works, by sharing responsibility for local development with Neighbourhood Councils. This innovative project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, helps people to build partnerships and revitalise their urban environment. It is enabling Berlin to become a ‘socially integrative city’.