Germany has reformed building codes in a marshaling of political will known as the "Culture of Welcome" for an expected one million refugees. German cities, many of them shrinking for decades, see the refugees as an opportunity and a responsibility.(via Planetizen)

To receive a million people a year (at least 30 per cent of whom will be accepted as refugees, government officials say), Germany has put itself on something resembling a war footing. Two weeks ago, ministers met to rewrite the country’s rigorous building code to allow for lower standards of housing so that hundreds of thousands of prefab homes can be built under government contracts in months.

Barbara Hendricks, the federal minister responsible for housing construction, announced last week that her ministry would be funding the construction of 350,000 public-housing units for refugees, and another 350,000 next year. She pledged $207-million in immediate funding for the crash construction project, and a doubling of the current $770-million budget for public housing in municipalities. (She said this would directly create 25,000 jobs in the construction industry.)

In a speech here in Leipzig, Ms. Hendricks called on Germany to “mobilize” to build hundreds of thousands of refugee apartments in a matter of months. “Recognized refugees will need to enter the normal housing market sooner or later – those who have the prospect of remaining here should be treated the same [in housing] as citizens with corresponding income.”

In the German system, refugees are assigned to cities by quota, in a system that takes into account each city’s housing supply, labour shortages and current immigrant mix (it favours cities with fewer immigrants). In practice, it has become something of a bidding war.

In Leipzig, a thriving city in the former East Germany, Mayor Burkhard Jung says he wants to house as many refugees as possible, on both altruistic and practical grounds. “It is both a responsibility and an opportunity for us,” he says.1

• 1. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/why-german-mayors-are-leading-the-migrant-welcome-wagon/article26482154/