Andreas Schulten: Lord of the numbers

Andreas Schulten: Optimism. And a belief in justice.

Andreas Schulten: I have to grin at the subtle question. It's well known that I'm a child of the Ruhr area from the 1960s. With department stores on every corner, the first all-day schools made of exposed aggregate concrete. Mülheim, Dinslaken and Hamborn - my stations - were all similar: with small shops, motorway projects and long factory walls that were already crumbling. When we travelled by car from Duisburg city centre to Hamborn in the dark, I always waited to see if I could see one of these dramatic blast furnace taps from afar. It was a bit like a volcanic eruption at night. That's probably where the landscape park is now.

But it was the Ruhr University Bochum that left its mark on me - professionally. Today, the concrete steps there rattle like a volcanic eruption. Sorry for this flat analogy. The ongoing observation of (structural) change really appeals to me. In all German - and European - cities.

Andreas Schulten: Of course, success and size are always fascinating. In this respect, Berlin has been quite exceptional worldwide over the last 20 years. At the beginning, there was an unemployment rate of almost 20 per cent in the bad Diepgen and Landowsky years around 2001, and the federal state sued the federal government for 35 billion euros to solve its debt problems after the collapse of Bankgesellschaft Berlin...

Then came the "Easy Jet generation" at the same time as political reforms - including Agenda 2010 at national level - and, building on this, the explosive internationalisation of Berlin with its strong pull in everything where IT and digitalisation played a role. All accompanied by a property market that had turned completely to the left. Or rather "turned to the right". After all, the beneficiaries were not socially deprived households, but private investment companies. An investor like Amir Dayan alone is likely to have made billions in profits in the so-called best years. But the honestly stable and smaller cities are also worth a closer look! But who can really judge what are good and what are bad policy consequences? As you know, I am an avowed fan of Hanover. I would love to see the discipline and power of the coordinated round tables there transferred to Duisburg, Essen, Bochum and Dortmund. But - perhaps this eternal competition of the "closest successive ICE-H

Andreas Schulten: My "company"? That makes me smile again. At some event at the beginning of the year, I had to have a company name and wasn't allowed to go on stage with just my first name and surname. So I chose this name. But my message behind it is that property prices and yields are a very precise indication of the value of locations and buildings for residents and businesses. City politicians and planners should take a much closer look at this! When I have time, I'll update the urban values of the cities in the Ruhr region. In all their facets: per inhabitant, in their relative change over the last ten years, in their weighting of residential and commercial property, etc.

Andreas Schulten: Big question... The question is deliberately aimed at the sector and not the market? The issues of building stock, the common good - i.e. less private profit and the high monetary value of buildings and land with good infrastructure will certainly occupy us for decades to come. I do believe that a certain degree of sufficiency, i.e. more modest use of resources, will be a challenge for society and politics. And property companies will be responsible for the practical implementation. So there are many tasks, interesting jobs and a lot of new positioning, I think.

Andreas Schulten: I like the laconic pragmatism and the sense of proportion in the Ruhr region. Berlin is unfortunately unfoundedly more arrogant - but my main residence was and will continue to be there. That's not so bad either.

Andreas Schulten: Giving as many good projects as possible a tailwind and being able to take an afternoon nap in between.