Inclusive Neoliberalism in Wilhelmsburg: The Role of the State and the Middle‐Class in Hamburg's Majority-Minority District

Abstract

The article examines the aftermath of the "Leap Over the River Elbe" urban development project in Wilhelmsburg, a majority-minority district located in the south of Hamburg, Germany. The project introduced several housing and development initiatives aimed at transforming Wilhelmsburg into an economically vibrant yet socially inclusive mixed district. The article draws on the literature of neoliberal urbanism, racial capitalism, and governmentality to critically examine why the urban development project in Wilhelmsburg failed to achieve genuine social inclusion. The article argues that this failure is not primarily due to the exclusionary behaviors of middle‐class residents, as is often proposed in the literature, but rather the result of the urban planning by capitalist state and its market alliances. The empirical part of the article draws on interviews with 20 Wilhelmsburg residents. The study finds that middle‐class residents without a migration background play an ambivalent role. They extend state control into local neighborhoods and migrant communities while simultaneously also challenging this control. Long‐established residents without a migration background welcomed some aspects of the project, as they believed it countered the downward spiral of the district and them becoming a minority. For new incoming middle‐class residents from other parts of the city, the project offered various incentives that made moving to Wilhelmsburg appealing. However, increasing marginalization has led many long‐established residents and newcomers to voice their critiques of the project. This forced local authorities to rethink their approach to social inclusion.