Haltestelle Fortschritt is a festival with the city of the future in mind: how should cities be designed so that their inhabitants feel comfortable? Where – in which future – do we want to live? Through workshops, lectures and, above all, many discussions, new ideas are sought on how to fill fallow land and abandoned places with life.

Whether it’s a residential or building community, cooperative living or a detached house in the countryside; The differentiation of living arrangements has experienced a boom in recent years.

At the same time, rents continue to rise in cities and conurbations, making affordable housing scarce. As a rule, profit maximization and returns are at the forefront of project development – little remains of community in many residential building projects.

The fact that residential construction is also conceivable and feasible outside of a financial market imperative is shown by the many new cooperative and public welfare-oriented projects of recent years. Their goal is not centered on economic gain, but rather the conversion of personal conceptions and preferences with living conditions as well as developing value for the society.

The setting for the festival was one of the least treasured and, at the same time, very central places in Mannheim. Shunned by many Mannheim residents*, the Rheinstraße stop with its adjacent park has great potential in our view.

As part of the festival, we also organized a workshop with students from the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences. Over the course of four days, the participants created installations on social topics, which were illustrated with the help of spatial infographics.

The Haltestelle Fortschritt festival is organized with the great guys at YallaYalla!