If we understand the city as not merely a series of houses, streets, and squares all densely located in one place, but as the product of social negotiation processes, a complexity becomes manifest, which is difficult to comprehend with conventional planning methods. The actors involved in the production of the city seem overwhelmed by this situation. In order to develop adequate solutions to complex problems within the context of planning, urban practice must be examined on site and local expertise has to be included in the planning process.

At the end of 2014, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg published two concepts in context with current plans that deal with urban development in the eastern part of Hamburg. Both designs show substantive parallels, but were developed largely independent of one another. The development concept “Upstream on the Elbe and Bille,” initiated and developed by municipal authorities, is dedicated mainly to a spatial vision for this area of Hamburg. The “Alliance for the Neighborhoods” was conceived largely autonomously by different actors in the housing sector and is a presentation of the topology of the areas to be developed. In other words, ideas have been developed that demonstrate how urban development can be organized in a different way. Both concepts focus on the development of new residential space and create possibilities for a functional mix of working and living. Both concepts emphasize how their objectives are to be achieved in a collaborative process. For example in the development concept “Upstream on the Elbe and Bille”:
“Urban and private housing industry work together with the relevant authorities, the district, and the citizens to build new, affordable housing, the necessary infrastructure, and to design the living environment. Residents, business owners, and neighborhood initiatives are on site, designing Hamburg’s Eastend by means of commitment and local investments.” (FHH 2014: 16)

The chief architect of the city of Hamburg, Jörn Walter, is even talking about a “revolution” (Walter 2014: 17) in urban development.

In this context, the question arises as to what extent these desired cooperative process — involving housing industry, public authorities, the public, and commercial enterprises — may be able to use the knowledge and skills of the individual players, in order to better consider the complexity involved in the planning process in context with a relational understanding of space. This leads to the research question of this study: To what extent can cooperation in planning processes be an approach to account for the complexity resulting from a relational understanding of space?

This has been examined with reference to the “Upstream on the Elbe and Bille” and “Alliance for the Neighborhoods” concepts in this work, and put in context with the current practice of urban development in the field study of Rothenburgsort-West.