Berliners live with constant construction

BERLIN (JP): Almost nine years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of the Iron Curtain, Berlin is still healing its scars.

New construction sites are all over the city, which must again live up to its image as the country's capital.

Huge apartment complexes, office buildings and a transportation system connecting the western and eastern parts of the city are being built -- projects which would strike much envy from Jakarta's nine million people.

With the reunification of the country in 1990, the city suddenly experienced a great demand for housing, offices and transportation services.

Berlin's mayor, Eberhard Diepgen, described the city as a metropolis in transition, "the workshop of German unity".

"As the capital of Germany, it is readying itself to become the seat of the German federal government and parliament and perhaps sees itself somewhat obliged to set an example for the rest of Germany by bringing Easterners and Westerners together," writes Diepgen in an introduction to a booklet on Berlin's development.

This year alone, 72,000 new apartments should be completed. The German Institute for Economic Research estimates that 143,000 apartments will be needed by 2000.

Berlin also faces the task of restoring huge numbers of old houses and buildings. There are still many Cold War era apartments to repair.

More than DM 5 billion was spent between 1991 and 1994 on the restoration of old houses and DM 1 billion a year will be used for this purpose until 2000.

Authorities estimate that the city will still have to come up with more than DM 13 billion to renovate 270,000 prefabricated apartments, which house about 700,000 people.

Giant public projects are underway as well. The city's once- famous center, the Potsdamer Platz, is being completely transformed. The project, which is already six years old, is to be completed by 2010.

The Potsdamer project is designed to restore the area to its pre-World War II function as the city's center. Its main developers include the giant electronic company Sony Corp., Daimler Benz and Coca-Cola.

But not all Berliners understand what is really going on around them.

"I wonder who's going to move in to those new apartments. I'm afraid many of them will be left empty," muttered a resident, looking at a row of new apartment towers in front of her.

Transportation

The main problem now is how to connect the transportation systems of the two parts of the city.

Before World War II, a 300-kilometer electric inner-city railway, the S-Bahn, was Berlin's transportation backbone, according to Berlin in Brief.

But, some of its lines were badly damaged during the war.

With the Wall finally opened in 1989 after separating the city for over 30 years, more than 100 kilometers of the inner-city railway no longer functioned. Some stations had fallen into disuse while kilometers of tracks required repairs.

Some 167 road links between West Berlin and East Berlin had been sealed off during the Cold War.

Following reunification, authorities found that connecting the transportation systems of the two parts of the city would require hard work.

Many streets had to be rerouted to make way for projects.

"It feels like there will be no end to the construction... it's so confusing if you have to suddenly change your route on the way to work," said Christina, a Berlin resident.

Authorities estimate they need about DM 40 billion to reopen the closed routes and stations.

Attractive services are being introduced to induce motorists to switch over to public transportation so traffic congestion can be reduced.

Passengers, for example, can switch from one inner-city train to another using the same ticket, which is valid for two hours.

Apart from using trains, commuters can also use public buses, which stop at bus shelters every 10 minutes.

"I like using public buses because the bus stop is closer to my house than the subway station," said Karl Ulrich, another resident.

Some commuters have started to consider using bicycles, at least for the more pleasant seasons, as an acceptable transportation alternative. Cyclists have a special lane on main roads.

But cars remain indispensable.

"I like going to work on a bicycle because it's faster during rush hours," said Sven Aden, an assistant lecturer at Berlin's Technische Universitt.

"But I like driving my car if I'm not really in a hurry," he added.

In Berlin alone, there were over 1.2 million registered passenger cars, 89,103 trucks and buses and 63,777 motorcycles in 1995. The city's road network has a total length of nearly 11,000 kilometers. (ste)