Abstract
Since reunification Berlin has been facing a great challenge. With its new geographical advantage, the city is erupting into a booming metropolitan region. Since the eastward expansion of the European Union, Berlin has shifted from the periphery to the center of the EU and will soon become the crossroads of the trans-European network.
When the wall fell in Berlin in November 1989, this city moved back from its decade-long marginal and insular position into the centre of a Germany which was reunified shortly afterwards and - from a geographical point of view - into the centre of a Europe which was moving ever closer together. The new capital city has been under construction in Berlin since 1991. The total annual volume of construction is now around 30 billion Deutschmarks. The transfer of the Federal Government and Parliament into our city, the establishment of a new centre, the reconstruction of streets, squares and highways - this is a task which should, in reality, span many decades. However, it must be completed in the briefest possibly space of time, in a time-lapse, if you like. Construction specialists, architects, engineers and politicians face a true challenge.