Berlin election driven by radical ideas

Berlin, a city-state of 3.9 million people, is famously diverse, but it's also very atomized — a city of villages, where people often don't stray beyond their district, or Kiez , as Berliners like to call them. That atomization extends to its political landscape: While the central districts of Berlin have recently voted Green or for the socialist Left Party , the outskirts — where in fact most Berliners live — is dominated by the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , and, in certain districts, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) . That makes it notoriously difficult to predict Berlin's elections, particularly in the last few years, when more parties have crowded onto the city's lampposts at election time.