Negotiating the Right to the Corner: A Multi-Sited Ethnography of Informal Social Spaces and Gentrification in Post-Industrial Berlin

In post-industrial Berlin, rapid gentrification and the financialization of real estate have drastically altered the urban landscape, leading to the displacement of marginalized communities and the commodification of public space. While macro-level residential displacement is well-documented, the micro-politics of informal public spaces remain under-theorized. This article examines "the corner" (die Ecke)—specifically the social zones surrounding Spätkauf (Späti) kiosks and informal street plazas—as critical sites of everyday negotiation, spatial justice, and resistance. Drawing on a 14-month multi-sited ethnography in the gentrifying districts of Neukölln and Wedding, we analyze how diverse urban actors, including long-term working-class residents, racialized diaspora communities, and newly arrived gentrifiers, contest and co-produce these spaces. We argue that these informal corners function as essential social infrastructure and safety valves for marginalized populations. Ultimately, we conceptualize "the right to the corner" as a localized, everyday manifestation of Henri Lefebvre's "right to the city," illustrating how micro-spatial claims challenge the sanitizing impulses of neoliberal urban planning.