The National "Social City Program": Findings from the Midterm Evaluation

The Soziale Stadt program, was introduced by the Red-Green coalition government in 2000, and has continued until today, despite the change in governing coalition. It is a cooperative program between the federal and Länder governments and has some innovative characteristics: cross-department cooperation at all administrative levels; integrative action plans; tackling social problems of neighborhoods in a new way; novel forms of participation and cooperation. After its first three years, the program is undoubtedly a great success, visibly addressing key issues in the cities and widening the scope for action. This article presents results of an interim evaluation showing that the results of program implementation, however, still remain modest.