Berlin has supply, the limited resource are vintage buildings (pre-war or rebuilt in the same layout) and no market force can create more of them. The abundant 1970ies style developments will never see gentrification.

>"Berlin has supply, the limited resource are vintage buildings (pre-war or rebuilt in the same layout)"

Is this the courtyard style apartment building you see in Berlin? Is there a name for those? I'm guessing these are the desirable ones?

It's called Altbau and is usually combined with Blockrandbebauung, which the other commenter mentioned. I don't understand why this style hasn't seen a comeback yet.

Its most charming qualities are high ceilings (3-4 meters), historicist ornamentals / stucco, natural ventilation (Fugenlüftung), wooden flooring and boy-type windows. All of these increase quality of living substantially and I wouldn't want to live in any other kind of building if given the choice.

Thanks! Indeed this is what I was asking about/referring to. I spent a few months in one and the ventilation and the light due to the windows facing into the courtyard made for a pleasant living experience.

It's called Mietskaserne https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mietskaserne

Blockrandbebauung. I don't know a name for the opposite though, parallel lines on an open lawn. The latter wouldn't even be so bad of it wasn't usually scaled out of proportion. One of the earliest examples is also in Berlin ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Großsiedlung_Siemensstadt ) and it's actually quite nice. But it is incompatible with ground floor business, a key element of gentrification in cities that are not New York or London (but I guess in this case, being an UNESCO world heritage site wasn't too bad of a substitute, again something you can't just pot into the design specification of a new development).

That picture wasn't quite what I was thinking of. I think the name might be "Mietskasernen"? Basically you have a square "Hof" or courtyard in the middle of a square apartment complex where the bike rack and recycle bins will be and apartments look down into it. And through the courtyard is how you enter the individual apartment. Is Mietskasernen the correct term?

Sorry for the confusion, everything after the initial "Blockrandbebauung" was about the opposite, for contrast. "Mietskaserne" is really just a derogatory nickname and could be applied to any form of high density, low quality rental apartment building.

Yes it is, although it implies community toilet on the floor and general resemblance to barracks (ger. Kaserne). So proponents wouldn't generally call it that.

Thanks, Altbau was the term I was grasping at, a commenter above managed to articulate it where I failed.

>vintage buildings

I don't get the fascination with this. Sure, it's prettier than the Soviet blocks, but that's all they've got going for them. People don't build new buildings that way for a reason. The Soviet blocks are a bad alternative because they were made so cheaply, not because they're newer. I would much rather live in something from this millennium than something "vintage".

>The abundant 1970ies style developments will never see gentrification

If the city keeps growing and getting wealthier then it will. Ok, maybe they'll have to tear them down and build new or something, but those areas are not "safe".

> Sure, it's prettier than the Soviet blocks, but that's all they've got going for them.

That's not true, the big thing they offer is lively streets. First by providing the necessity density (houses in the backyards) and usually come with a commercial space in the ground floor that can be used for a shop, a bar or restaurant.

You simply don't find those with new developments, or rather it's the exception then the rule.

I guess it's easier to sell a house with a big garage in the ground floor than a bar, but in the end that just leaves the street dead.

That's strange that new development wouldn't have commercial ground floor space, even more so if the torn down building had it. Everywhere in the USA that has urban gentrification strongly encourages retail on the first floor and apartments/condos on top. It's a huge attraction to residents above as well. Worse case, cities could mandate it.

Newer developments will have commercial spaces on the ground floor, but a problem is that rents are generally higher, so it limits the types of shops that open up there.

In San Francisco, I've talked to the owners of a few bikeshops, and they have good relationships with their landlords. The landlords are willing charge less rent because they feel the neighborhood needs certain types of shop. A commercial developer may not share these same ideals.

Well yes, we complain about lack of housing but want to keep a giant airfield in Tempelhof, well, because we like to hang out there.