A better life as millions to the Big City Centers power the World Economy generating an unbelievable seventy five percent of global g. D. P. Today but city dwellers compete for foldable housing for example and that is a problem topic today here are made in germany big cities on the move. The laws of economics say supply and demand determine the price of a good if many people want to live in say berlin and housing is scarce you have to blow a big chunk of your income on your rent for decades berlin has been a happy place rents were famously low ten years ago for example tenants paid five euros per square meter today its nearer ten compared to other big cities around the world in paris you pay twenty six years and in singapore you have to fork out three times as much as the average berlin bus property develop developers have discovered this lucrative market and show little respect for the fact that every flat they want to make profit on is also someones home. Every tenant in berlin every tenant if youre paying rent youre a risk. If you can nobody has an automatic right to live in a central urban location for. The summer and at some point you just give up and pack up your things. That ought to be primarily there for those who live and work in applicant otherwise the city stops being a city that offsets. To cities belong to and who can afford to live in them the issue has become the subject of heated debate in berlin with a growing number of tenants battling against rising rents kurtzberg is a popular multicultural neighborhood its home to households with both high and low incomes and to families up with the mobile singles and students. Who rents an apartment in a classic roseburg tenement building. Here. Originally from england he moved into the neighborhood over fifteen years ago but now he fears hell have to move out. Very sort of sent letters sort of buildings cloud against all of us said no we went to court about it in this was a scare tactic doldrums clogger is used by landlords to force residents to either move out or accept modernization plans for their apartment block and the resulting high rents in this case theyre set to double the building is owned by for next place which drives out tenants in order to raise the rents or resell the tenement blocks at a profit. No one has the right to destroy the community that ive taken a part in building the companies dont like to be named and shamed the shareholders dont like it. The government and the senate who are doing nothing about this needle vote and we need to shout more to them about doing something about it to. Make in the city. The companys website openly states its Business Model the acquisition renovation and optimize ation of properties to drive further reinvestment into the portfolio. And while the properties are being optimized so is the companys tax bill as revealed in the paradise papers. Please send its profits to offshore accounts on the English Channel island a tax haven and the company owns a range of buildings in berlin. The bell in Real Estate Market is currently one of the most attractive in Europe Property prices and rents have risen continually over the last two decades with investors from around the world descending on the city looking for easy profits vienna based as in most altered buying properties over ten years ago. Its still cheap compared to other major cities we estimate that berlin will catch up with the rest so it makes sense to compare prices with other places. Theres still plenty of scope for increases a lot of other cities underwent that process decades ago and berlin is only doing so now its happening at an extremely fast pace so we can understand why some people find it daunting. That has some development researches worried and their eyes the conflicts between investors and residents jeopardize livelihoods and neighborhood stability. You can blame private Property Owners and investors for pursuing Investment Products on the Real Estate Market by their economic logic if theyre trying to get the most out of these properties. But the result is that these. G. S. R. Diametrically opposed to the needs and interests that keep a city running so the solution is relatively easy or placing limits on those market forces. And tenants are now also being driven out of less central less fashionable areas of such as vice. After fighting a series of legal battles this couple having to move out of their apartment they told me how they feel powerless and at the mercy of the buildings owner which is again. Im really disappointed about the way theyve treated us. Citys a Population Center thats supposed to be places for a living not speculating. Town planners architects and builders have taken up the challenge of providing Affordable Housing for tens of thousands of new berlin as every year while keeping the city attractive for investors and tourists alike not a small task as my colleague found out when he talked to one of the ins chief plan. Brooklyn is not the best place right now for an apartment hunter theres not enough rental housing to meet demand the majority of new apartments that are being built are for private ownership and prices that are beyond my budget at the same time rents are going up and up. Every year some fifty thousand people moved to the german capital but last year just fourteen thousand new apartments were added to the Housing Stock ive come to see renowned project developer philip wood two years to find out whats gone wrong on the urban planning front. Will there be any Affordable Housing in central berlin in the future because it wasnt the most important thing would be to build a significant number of new apartments but thats where we and other projects come in and we have to ensure that those apartments remain affordable. But nobodys doing anything about it as there is building going on but not enough affairs and due to lack of funding if there is enough power. Little available but we have only limited space to build on. You could build upwards thats the point were bound to return to could stand a couple more high rises. And theres still demand for office space thats the thats the other big issue the people coming here also need work and if we project the numbers through twenty thirty there will be no more sites available for offices and industry so were going to be saying increasing competition in that sector to. His plans also involve job creation here at berlins table airport scheduled to close down in the near future. To turn the site into a hub for state of the art research and industry. We have two Major Projects one we call the urban Tech Republic its a research and Industry Park for a future technology the aims to boost the local economy and attract Innovative Companies and create new jobs we envisage seventeen to twenty thousand new jobs there. And the other project involves five thousand Housing Units for ten thousand people. If thats a kind of disneyland style future. Style and im wary about comparing this project with Silicon Valley because we do have a different culture in europe and what were aiming for is not disneyland we want to retain berlins mixed composition that social structure its about using new technologies to improve the standard of living. And thus the whole debate here should always be centered on how we can deliver a more livable city. And not how we can introduce more technology. But the objective of a livable city should also include enabling people to live there where do they live here and there in the eastern part and a huge residue. Area. Which isnt on the map no not yet i mean what is getting so no apartment here for me to move into any chimes soon its still not clear whether the project will actually get off the ground the site will not become vacant until after the new airport on the other side of the city has opened. And that new airport famously is more than five years behind schedule whatever happened to german officials staff and expensive living space is only one problem that city dwellers face these days another one is traffic after years of jammed streets and badly organized public transport the city of hamburg has now made a remarkable recovery Smart Technology is helping to avoid gridlock. As our cities become increasingly congested with more and more people on the governments have to come up with new solutions to improve traffic flows and these days the digital this brand new software is helping hamburg to improve the coordination of its construction sites. Were very pleased weve had some astonishing results the program is very intuitive its very similar to a smartphone or tablet anyone can use it its very own problematic and i was seeing a big improvement in coordination. This software shows where a construction site is plugged if it looks like the plans will cause traffic snarl ups building what can be postponed open dealt with other projects. Its a lesson. In how traffic lights and signals are already coordinated digitally with technology that optimizes signal timing to create a succession of green lights the city buses the Traffic Control centers software shows how best to keep the rest of the traffic flowing in the mornings there are lots more cars and motorbikes heading into the city as opposed to out of it so signals a program to optimize traffic in that direction as were floated to the top to. Is a pioneer in the field of Smart Mobility in twenty twenty one the city will be hosting the Intelligent Transport SystemsWorld Congress over the next few years the local authorities will be taking action to ensure residents spend as little time as possible stuck in traffic as would be the main focus is communication between traffic lights and cars signalling to motorists when lights are green. The green wave concept will be replaced by a system providing information on traffic lights including a cross roads so that approaching cars dont have to stop and start on for. The most dependable way to avoid traffic jams is by rail. Those who dont have a station on their doorstep can travel to and from one with four wheels. And. Hamburgs overhead rail system is also linked up to car sharing schemes. Escape moment and i theres an app for hamburg that shows what public transport options are available where the nearest car sharing station is the nearest underground station overground station and the distances between them yes you have been and outsourcing in through comfort and we want to create a platform where the entire process is seen to from leasing on to registering and paying. Complex big and. The inhabitants of big cities need to be able to move about efficiently and also get along together. At the hamburg hafen City University researchers have developed digital models to analyze behavior patterns such as where people tend to congregate. New hope first of all we research how public squares work we track people who are out walking their dogs shopping hanging out to see how Public Places function and we collaborate with companies and other Research Institute who also have an interest in Public Places working well and attracting people to know the things go to dog and often. Building contractors can therefore see if their projects meet criteria and compare potential sites in terms of advantages and disadvantages proximity to a Research Institute or an airport for example digitalisation give city dwellers new opportunities to enhance the urban experience. Now as living space becomes a sort after commodity more and more people are starting to realize that small actually beautiful micro flats might be a remedy for the housing crisis the Tiny House Movement is a trend that is coming soon to a city near. How much space do we need to live in. Works in theater in berlin and he thinks we dont need much he lives in whats known as a tiny house on wheels. A scooter is cool the thing is that as soon as you enter youre in the bedroom the living room the kitchen and the hallway at the same time or in through a life that. Doesnt its designed so that everything can be folded up and unfolded when its needed youve got everything you need. It measures just nine square meters but theres a surprising amount of Storage Space built into the walls and floor. So this is. The best buys heres one example when youre finished in the kitchen you have to put away the stove. Or. Even thats the basic concept. It takes a lot of getting used to but in the long run its a really functional system in every way. A tiny house wouldnt suit luxury lovers who like to surround themselves with lots of possessions but its a living space alternative that appeals to a growing number of people. In cities that need more Affordable Housing tiny houses are an interesting option cabins like these could be installed on land thats not being used. Or even on the roofs of existing buildings housing is growing ever scarcer in more and more city is. One for lin entrepreneur has a vision of a city above a city. Has talked. About infrastructure extends right up to the roof of the house you know and thats where we want to talk about cabins. And cities infrastructure is everywhere. Up here on the roof ive got up power connection that connects me to the grid and it could also work with water and sewage. But also force. With twenty square meters these cabins would be relatively spacious for the time being they only exist as a mock up but the first prototype is currently under construction it will cost fifty thousand euros the startup already has some potential customers lined up. And. The concept and the product allow us to make use of spaces that are unsuited to conventional housing or of simply gone unnoticed and we would like to use any space that is large enough to accommodate the many houses. We have our sights set on any leftover space where many house could be placed on the onion Housing Solutions have to be found just one example berlin needs seventeen thousand new apartments every year. Living on the Square Footage of a bass towel maybe a money saving trend in europe but in cities in other parts of the world big families have been sharing tiny flats for a long time out of sheer necessity and forced to pay outrageous rents in one part of our series founders valley we follow tech entrepreneurs twenty of debts not to hong kong where he found out how people deal with the extremely chronic conditions that both at home and i work and how that lack of space is also inspiring new business ideas. Its a human yeah. And the way its shot its like as if you would be the person being there. These photos its like you can really imagine. Being in the screens. This is kind of. You know. Life in hong kong behind the facades of the skyscrapers lies a shadow world entrepreneur for just steps now has been traveling through asia talking to people about the global phenomenon of urbanization. A social worker has brought him to this apartment block which the landlord has subdivided into miniscule units theres barely space to move. Sometimes he has some small people on the make and sitting. There rent amounts to over one hundred eighty year is a month can i ask you how big this room is this is the less than thirty. Minutes yet. The government puts names on i think its pretty hard on the thirteen year old son. He realizes the situation is difficult. He told me its all good with his friends because he can invite them home to three square metres of space. Threw it out leads to social problems for getting let down. He cant just bring his friends home in a normal way to play Computer Games say. On the computer. As were seeing here is the effect rental prices can have on the lives of people who dont earn enough money to afford a decent life. For the engines name to. Come calling his one of the most expensive cities in the world the Financial Services hub attracts millions of workers and the cramped Living Conditions take their toll says architect vicky chan. If you look around people like you see a lot of people smiling you know. Generally kind of unhappy one in seven people actually has Mental Illness here not because theyre stressed out at the office. And so sometimes it is not so much about the physical environment theres also like the mental part of it. How to make cities more livable places in the future vicki chan focuses on green living bringing nature back to the concrete jungle making building sustainable and Energy Efficient the architect founded his business with a small team he has an office in new york and one here in hong kong. But implementing his ideas requires a new approach to urban planning. To make a sustainable city i believe is very important to their regulations. If im in them away so that they become less about restricting how we can make a city but more power providing a platform that people can use their creative freedom to generate a space that they want thats the. Dream but theres a serious lack of Affordable Housing in hong kong at least two hundred thousand people live in appallingly cramped conditions. Yet you know why actually even those people there in hong kong then that not everyone they know about the situation of the poor and then some people they even dont believe this of their people that even very poor conditions it was new to the german startup founder to know. Yeah year it we have that measure here by it today already because size. We try youre already a bit of it because. Its very different from what hes used to. And youll be a mentor to all your phasor there so there were so many feel face you know all for your brand theres no you have you have less space because you need to store your yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Tiny accommodations can mean big business entrepreneur eric one presents the sweet capsule he developed it has wife i t. V. And air conditioning and its even said to be earthquake proof the boxes im mainly sold to hotels in asia. Well its all i came up with the idea because im from hong kong where the room is a really small. I asked myself how theres no rooms could be made more pleasant especially in the evening and. I had an active imagination as a kid i used to imagine flying to space for. The first version of the bed culture was very simple. Then i developed it and this is the latest generation almost all the devices in the control by mobile phone so. I dont just make a box money. Box to tell me that this is your new school our life. This is exactly what we have right now. Vicki chan teaches schoolchildren on a voluntary basis about architecture and urban planning. Goes along to attend one of the lessons. The architect wants to encourage the children to come up with the own designs for living solutions. The children have so many great ideas. A lot of them are realistic but still its good and healthy to question things that have always been the same. And often mentions the concept of copy and paste architecture. Its a useful term. But i think ultimately its in the hands of the people who provide the money. But they have to think differently and as long as that doesnt happen i think it will be hard to change. Changing cities takes time and money and capping rising rent prices is a job for policymakers. But people like architect vicky chan china to transform the world one vision at a time. Inspiring stuff next week. To taiwan and you can find out much more about all of his adventures in asia on our website w dot com slash found us valley thanks very much for watching. Argentina for decades farmers here has been using a controversial herbicide like to say. Now cancer and birth defects are on the rise as are the voices protesting against the use of chemicals in agriculture people here are speaking up. Like to say the Sick Children of argentina. Fifteen minutes. The fast pace of life in the digital world. Shift has the lowdown on the web that it shows a new developments useful information and anything else worth knowing. Prisons the latest finds. Looks over the shoulders of makers and users. In forty five minutes. Im not proud of it they will not succeed in dividing us about not succeeding taking the people off the streets because were tired of this dictatorship. Taking a stand global news that matters. Made for minds. Their black and living in germany. Hes reminded what that means on a daily basis presenter john up like this not being a bit too long. And i was. No different than the way. She travelled across germany to meet other black people and to hear their stories. It seems that. I grew up in a white family in a white neighborhood it was definitely a challenge. She decided to put me up for adoption. The main thing was to keep your head down and your mouth shut of course of the face like this i could never completely disappear if you see all these stereotypes about africa its good to see you. Do something for your country but youre still the black guy with an. Afro germany starting december tenth d. W. This is due to the news live from berlin a Seismic Shift in the middle east President Trump is expected to confirm that the u. S. Embassy in israel will move from tel aviv to jerusalem that means recognizing the city of the capital of israel one palestinian diplomat has called it the kiss of death for the two state solution also coming up