Linke on other topics

The Left wants to reclaim public spaces for neighborhood and public-interest uses and reduce commercial advertising there. According to the platform, Berlin should be less of a place for consumption and enjoyable even without money.

The Left wants squares and streets to serve neighbors more. There should be fewer ads there. People should be able to enjoy Berlin outdoors without spending money.

The party backs the aim of the "Berlin werbefrei" (ad-free Berlin) referendum. As a first step, large commercial ads on scaffolding and other construction-site installations are to be abolished across the board. Cultural venues, schools and daycare centers are to get climate-adapted open spaces, and public agencies open ground floors and outdoor areas. The quality of outdoor spaces is to improve across the city. Restaurants are to be allowed to use parking lanes for outdoor seating so that it does not get in the way of pedestrians.

The Left wants to abolish user fees at public toilets and add more locations. The platform treats toilets as part of public infrastructure and criticizes that urinals are free while stalls often cost money.

The Left wants free public toilets in Berlin. They should be open day and night. Today many stalls cost money. Urinals are mostly free. The party thinks this is unfair. There should also be more toilets.

Cleaning and maintenance are to be secured with money and staff, and sites are to be made accessible and more ecological. New locations are to be chosen in a broad participation process that especially involves representatives of people with disabilities and seniors; closeness to transit stops, green spaces and playgrounds is to count. District needs are to be surveyed regularly, and residents are to be able to report needs to a dedicated office. New facilities are to save water and, where possible, get drinking fountains, green roofs or solar panels.

The Left wants to gradually establish daily physical activity at Berlin schools and invest in sports facilities and physical education teachers to make it possible. Sports should be accessible regardless of income, background, age, or gender, with grassroots sports as the foundation. Ticket prices for sporting events should be socially affordable.

Children should be active at school every day. For this, the Left wants to build and repair sports halls. There should be more sports teachers. Sports should be possible for everyone, even with little money. Tickets for sports events should be affordable.

Daily activity periods and additional sports offerings in all-day schooling are to come first, along with closer cooperation between schools and clubs and better use of existing facilities. In parallel, the party plans more money for renovating and building sports facilities and for training and hiring physical education teachers. Sports clubs are to be strengthened in their social role, as places that counter isolation and offer civic education. Under the platform's principle, elite sports build on grassroots sports and participation. For sporting events, the Left calls for enough accessible seating.

The Left wants to back volunteering in sports by raising the allowance for volunteer coaches and using digital tools to cut paperwork. Clubs would get planning security through a renewed agreement with the Landessportbund (state sports federation) and more investment funding.

Many people work in sports without pay. The Left wants to raise the allowance they get. They should have less paperwork. Sports clubs should get reliable money from the state.

The platform calls volunteers the backbone of sports. The coaching allowance would go up, and digital procedures would ease the load on volunteers. Sports clubs would get the widest possible access to school facilities, and the districts' award ceremonies for athletes would continue. The funding agreement with the Landessportbund would be extended and updated, and the club investment program would get more money and simpler procedures. In addition, a joint fund with the Landessportbund is planned, mainly to secure staff and maintain facilities in grassroots sports.

The Left wants a decade of stepped-up investment in sports facilities and would create a central public construction office for building them. Renovating school gyms comes first so that mandatory physical education can take place again.

Many gyms in Berlin are in bad shape. The Left wants to spend a lot of money on sports facilities for ten years. School gyms should be fixed first. A new office should manage the building work. Gym times should be handed out online and fairly.

The platform calls it a scandal that some gyms cannot even be used for school sports for years. Budgets for sports facilities at schools and for the sports facility renovation program would rise, and the school construction drive would plan sports space from the start. New gyms would generally have several floors, and districts would get money for their sports development plans, which should also cover growing sports such as cricket or padel. Unused sports sites would be reactivated and handed to clubs, and seasonal facilities used year-round. Procurement would follow fair-trade standards, and artificial turf would do without plastic granules. Allocation of facilities would be digital and transparent, supported by better-staffed district sports offices.

The Left wants to renovate Berlin's public pools, keep them reliably open and make entry free for children and students under 18. ID checks at the entrance would end, and every child should be able to swim by the end of elementary school.

The Left wants to fix the public pools in Berlin. Children and teens under 18 should get in for free. No one should have to show an ID at the door. All children should learn to swim in elementary school. Pools should also be open during school breaks.

The money promised in the pool contract should flow reliably and rise along with construction and energy costs; pools at risk of closing would be secured first. Indoor pools would open on holidays and during school breaks, saunas would reopen fully, and water would be at least 25 degrees Celsius everywhere. Daycare centers, schools and clubs would keep using pools free of charge, and ticket prices should not depend on where someone lives. The Left wants to end ID checks because, in its view, they shut out people without secure documents; safety would come from social work, sports education projects and conflict management. School swimming centers and free catch-up lessons would be expanded, with swimming containers as a short-term fix. In the long run, new multipurpose pools are planned for Pankow, Spandau and Marzahn-Hellersdorf.

The Left wants to lift the blanket swimming ban in the Spree river and designate legally secure river bathing areas at suitable spots. Swimming in lakes that people already use would also become legal, so districts without an outdoor pool get public places to cool off.

Today people may not swim in the Spree river. The Left wants to end this ban. There should be river bathing areas at good spots. Swimming should also be allowed in more lakes. Each district should get at least one bathing spot.

The platform counts access to water and cool recreation areas as part of basic public services and points to more frequent hot summers. Water quality would be improved for the river bathing areas. In every district, at least one official bathing spot would be reviewed and opened. For heavily used natural bathing sites, the Left plans concepts for cleanliness, rescue services and environmental protection.

The Left opposes a Berlin bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, citing underfunded grassroots sports and shortcomings in public services. It supports a referendum on the question and says it will respect the result.

The Left does not want the Olympic Games in Berlin. It says the Games cost billions. That money would then be missing for everyday sports. The people of Berlin should vote on it themselves. The Left wants to respect the result.

The platform views Olympic values such as peace, inclusion and international understanding positively. The Left still considers a bid irresponsible because, in its view, grassroots sports are underfunded, basic public services are in crisis and the city is socially divided. It criticizes the Senate for tying sports investment to a mega-event and calls instead for steady support for the grassroots. An event costing billions must not be pushed through against the will of the city's residents, the platform says.

The Left wants to clear the renovation backlog at the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen and the Olympiapark. The Sportforum is to become a European showcase campus for elite sports, and the Olympiapark an open sports park for residents. The platform presents this as an alternative to costly Olympic construction.

Berlin has two large sports sites: the Sportforum and the Olympiapark. Both are in poor shape. The Left wants to repair and modernize them. The Olympiapark should stay open to everyone. Young athletes should get more help with school and careers.

The Sportforum Hohenschönhausen is meant to offer top-level conditions for elite sports while staying connected to neighborhood sports. The Left wants to modernize the Olympiapark carefully and in line with its protected-monument status, developing it as a green space for recreation, clubs and casual sports. It rejects commercializing the site or closing it off. For all elite sports locations, it calls for a binding support plan with individual coaching, health and workload management, and close coordination among school, training and family. Career counseling and dual-career planning are meant to prepare athletes early for life beyond competition.

The Left wants to preserve all of Berlin's ice rinks and ice stadiums and to upgrade their cooling systems through an investment program for energy efficiency. For water sports, the Grünau regatta course is to be expanded into the city's central main facility. The aim is to secure both sports despite high energy costs and aging equipment.

The Left wants to keep Berlin's ice rinks. The cooling systems should be renewed and use less energy. The rinks should not cut their opening hours. Water sports should also get better facilities. People with disabilities should get easier access to the water.

The Left does not accept shorter opening hours at ice rinks. The Erika-Heß-Eisstadion is to be fully modernized; because the party sees it as important beyond its district, the state of Berlin is to take over the renovation. The Grünau regatta course is to be centrally managed and upgraded for elite sports. New courses for water skiing, kiting and canoe slalom are to be added. The platform also calls for uniform, legally sound rules on docks across Berlin, with sports federations formally involved, and for floating docks to allow barrier-free access.

The Left wants to support sports outside of clubs and expand free exercise options in public spaces. Run-down soccer pitches and basketball courts are to be renovated through a special program. Local children and teenagers are to take part in the planning.

Many people do sports without joining a club. The Left wants more options for them. Broken soccer pitches and basketball courts should be repaired. Children and teenagers should have a say. People should be able to borrow sports gear for free.

The programs "Sport im Park" and "Berlin bewegt sich" are to grow. Plans include a campaign for table tennis tables, freely accessible courses for frisbee, golf and ninja sports, and renovated and new skate parks in public parks. Districts are to designate lit running paths so that people exercising are safer. So-called sports boxes in public spaces would let people borrow balls, rackets or fitness gear for free via an app.

The Left wants to support nonprofit structures in esports and bring gaming further into club life. Esports is to become part of municipal youth work and association work. Offerings oriented toward the common good are to be made legally eligible for sports funding.

Esports means people play video games as a competition. Many young people do this. The Left wants to support esports in clubs and youth work. The money should come with rules. For example, protection of young people should be strengthened.

The platform justifies the demand by saying esports is part of everyday life for many young people. Funding is to be tied to public-interest criteria in order to strengthen media literacy and youth protection. The Left sees this as a way to give teenagers easily accessible spaces for social contact. It wants to create the legal basis for such offerings to qualify fully for sports funding.