In order to be able to objectively consider the study hypotheses, it was necessary to ascertain how the actors from government, industry and university perceived the planning process for the Adlershof housing project Wohnen am Campus. A comparative analysis of the semi-structured expert interviews with regard to the selected main and subordinate hypotheses has yielded the following findings.
Interaction hypothesis
The first finding is that interaction did take place between actors from government, industry and university for the purpose of residential development in the Berlin-Adlershof science and technology park. In 2009, a workshop on the Wohnen am Campus project was held with actors from government, industry and university. The workshop was attended by representatives of the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment, the district office (Bezirksamt) of Treptow-Köpenick, the Humboldt-University of Berlin, the IGAFA (Joint Initiative of Non-University Research Institutes in Adlershof), and also private developers, architects, planning offices and Adlershof Projekt GmbH. The focus was on four thematic areas: (1) the urban development framework, (2) the energy concept, (3) considerations relating to the real estate market and (4) the potential for marketing to co-housing groups.
-
(1)
In the discourse on the urban development framework for the new residential area, participants agreed on an "urban ambience", to be achieved by a wide range of dwelling types (SenStadt 2009: 6, translated). A large number of building types - from urban villas and town houses to blocks of flats and student housing - is designed to appeal to a broad range of prospective residents (ibid.: 3). According to the statements of the interviewees, the infrastructure links to the inner city via the direct motorway connection and stops or stations in the local transport network were emphasized as a factor which would make the science city more attractive as a place to live. The target group is not explicitly the employees and students already on the site.
-
(2)
To supply energy to the new residential area, the decision was made to create an energy efficiency plan, aimed at cooperation with locally based companies from the energy supply sector (SenStadt 2009: 11).
-
(3)
From a real estate point of view, the workshop participants state that the planned housing project is located in an area with a stable social structure, close to recreational spaces such as the Landschaftspark, and has good infrastructure links (SenStadt 2009: 14). In the context of the city as a whole, Berlin is experiencing population growth and a simultaneous shortage of available homes in the inner city (SenStadt 2009: 13). Young families in particular find it increasingly difficult to secure homes suitable for families in the city centre. This is exacerbated by the low level of new building activity, which will not be able to prevent further housing shortages in the immediate future. The market situation in the Treptow-Köpenick district is characterized by a low rate of vacancy, below-average rents and a high proportion of elderly residents and families. There is potential for developing ownership models for families and senior citizens, rental property for people employed on the site short-term and student housing.
-
(4)
According to the assessment of the participants, one area of potential for the housing project is development by a co-housing group. The prerequisite for this is a firm basic concept and development concept for the area (SenStadt 2009: 16).
Two further collaborations - bilateral interactions relating to residential planning - also need to be highlighted. In 2005, in preparation for the building project, the helices of government and university negotiated over the availability of land on the site of the future housing project. The Humboldt-University of Berlin was entitled to reserve areas in the immediate vicinity of its locally based institutes. These reserve areas were to be redesignated by the Senate Department for the completion of the housing project. The Humboldt-Universität was happy to cooperate. Its interest in the implementation of the housing project is explained partly by the increased attractiveness this is expected to give the campus and partly by the university's hope that the establishment of a student hall of residence will cover the housing requirements of its students. A second bilateral interaction in the planning process was identified between the helices of industry and university. The Humboldt-University of Berlin entered into an agreement with the investor of the planned student hall of residence, in which the HU Berlin pledged to fill 120 hall of residence places, including a penalty clause if the places were not occupied. The interviewees also indicate that the topic of the housing development is often mentioned at informal encounters such as summer fêtes, phone conversations and meetings arranged at short notice.
In the analysis carried out for this study, the workshop organized in the course of the planning process is understood as a one-off trilateral interaction and serves to confirm the interaction hypothesis (H1.1).
Equality hypothesis
When the expert interviews were analysed in terms of equality between actors from government, industry and university in the context of the above-mentioned interaction, the government helix turned out to be dominant. In the course of the planning process for Wohnen am Campus, the planning law measures were administered by the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment and the Treptow-Köpenick District Office. It was also possible to establish that Adlershof Projekt GmbH, as trustee and development agency for the land belonging to the federal state, also acts on behalf of the Senate Department on the site. The starting point is the establishment of an urban development programme on the premises of the science city, which makes it possible ‘to develop an area as a single project, actively, quickly, and with a clear goal focus, and to impose the same obligations on owners and local authorities’ (SenStadt 2007: 5, translated). In its capacity as trustee, Adlershof Projekt GmbH markets sites owned by the federal state to prospective investors throughout the development area. While the Wohnen am Campus housing project is underway, Adlershof Projekt GmbH accompanies the prospective buyers from sale negotiations to the beginning of construction. In its capacity as development agency, it is also charged with expanding the infrastructure.
Within the framework of the urban development programme, the Senate Department has authority in terms of planning law. This includes financial controlling and urban land-use planning. Given the budgetary constraints faced by the federal state of Berlin, financial controlling serves to contain the costs of providing infrastructure to the area prior to construction. At the Adlershof location, the issuing of planning permits falls to the civil engineering and road construction department of the Treptow-Köpenick District Office, while the Senate Department is responsible for changes to the zoning plan, the establishment of design guidelines for developers, and negotiations with the Humboldt-University of Berlin over the availability of reserve areas.
Compared to government, the other helices play a subordinate role in the interaction process on the site. A representative of local industry does not see the creation of housing as being within his company's sphere of interest and does not discount the possibility that the housing might be used by his employees. The university can, according to its own statements, only contribute to the success of the housing project to a very small extent. The reason for this is a shortage of financial and human resources, which prevents any extensive form of participation and collaboration.
Based on the statements of the experts, then, the trilateral interaction regarding the residential development in Berlin-Adlershof did not involve all three spheres working together on an equal footing. Decisions about the residential development were made by the government helix right from the start. The equality hypothesis can therefore not be confirmed.
Intermediary hypothesis
Intermediaries are ‘those organizations that are (intentionally) situated between the state, industry, and higher education’ (Metcalfe 2010: 507). According to this definition, analysis of the expert interviews suggests that Adlershof Projekt GmbH can be understood as an intermediary in relation to the residential development on the site under study. As a 100% subsidiary of WISTA Management GmbH, it carries out mandatory tasks such as the development, urban land-use planning and supervision of construction projects and also functions as an intermediary between various co-developers. True, Adlershof Projekt GmbH did not emerge endogenously (as in Metcalfe's model) from all three helices, but it actively influences the formation of relations of exchange between the three helices by means of its function as trustee and development agency (Metcalfe 2010: 504, 507). It was Adlershof Projekt GmbH which, in the light of a growing shortage of housing in popular inner-city locations in Berlin, revived the original idea of developing housing in the Berlin-Adlershof science and technology park.
By initiating the workshop, Adlershof Projekt GmbH brought together all relevant actors from the different helices early in the planning process. All the experts interviewed regard Adlershof Projekt GmbH as being - throughout the planning process - the initiator and organizer of all content-related interaction and of the urban development framework, for the Wohnen am Campus project. The intermediary hypothesis (H1.3) can therefore be confirmed.
Main hypothesis
After considering the findings from the three sub-hypotheses, we have to conclude that none of the models of the triple helix represented in Figure 1 can be usefully applied, in its pure form, to the interaction of actors in residential development in a science and technology park. For the case study used here, it is possible to identify a one-off interaction between the three helices in relation to the development of housing. This, however, does not take place regularly, nor are the three helices involved on an equal footing.
Instead, it can be observed that selected features of the laissez-faire model are reflected in the institutional arrangements (Ranga and Etzkowitz 2013: 239, see Figure 1b). Figure 4 illustrates the adaptation of the model to the Berlin-Adlershof case study. Here the responsibilities of the actors involved in residential development are clearly defined. In the context of the urban development programme, the leading role falls to government. In addition to the model presented by Ranga and Etzkowitz (2013), an intermediary plays the key role in the planning process (Adlershof Projekt GmbH). The interactions and relations of exchange between the helices are managed through this intermediary: "When there is interaction and interrelationship among the spheres, it is expected to take place across strongly defended boundaries and preferably through an intermediary" (Etzkowitz 2003: 306, emphasis added). Adlershof Projekt GmbH must therefore be seen as a pivotal actor in residential development and is pictured accordingly in Figure 4.
The outcome of the research confirms, however, that it is primarily bilateral forms of collaboration which are managed through the intermediary. A triple helix structure in its most extensive form (balanced model, see Figure 1c) can thus not be observed in the transformation process from a science and technology park to the Berlin-Adlershof science city. The main hypothesis formulated at the outset cannot be confirmed.