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Development plans for Tempelhofer Feld: Berliners clearly say no!
Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin receives resistance to development. Citizens and competition winners rely on the law being upheld.
Development plans for Tempelhofer Feld: Berliners clearly say no!
A lively open space has been established at the former Tempelhof Airport, which has no longer been used for flight operations since 2008. Tempelhofer Feld has now become a popular place for relaxation, leisure and sport, attracting Berliners for activities such as roller skating and inline skating. The area belongs to the state of Berlin and enjoys the protection of the “Law for the Preservation of Tempelhofer Feld”, which was passed in a referendum in 2014 to counteract the ongoing risk of development.
An architectural ideas competition is currently being held to shape the future of Tempelhofer Feld. Four of the six award-winning designs did not provide for any development. These creative minds from Some Place Studio, FWD Landscape Architecture, Raumlabor, Franz Rechke Landschaftsarchitektur and BBZ Landschaftsarchitekten are warning of a change in the law that could open up new avenues for development. They advocated maintaining the existing regulations under the Tempelhofer Field Act in order to protect the unique heritage of the field. This information was also confirmed by the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, which initiated the competition as part of a comprehensive dialogue process on the future use of the field that takes public opinion into account.
Citizen engagement
The discussion about the development of the Tempelhofer Feld is keeping Berliners on tenterhooks. A total of 275 randomly selected citizens took part in the last dialogue workshops, the majority of whom spoke out against development. At the third dialogue workshop, which took place recently, almost 40 of around 80 people present signed a declaration in which they also advocated against development. Their concerns are primarily directed at the possibility that citizen engagement in the dialogue process could possibly be misused in order to merely simulate citizen participation. These concerns are important because they reflect the strong desire to preserve Tempelhofer Feld in its current form.
The coalition government made up of the CDU and SPD has paid particular attention to the field, as Berlin has been confronted with new challenges in recent years, especially in the housing market. Although careful peripheral development is being discussed, the majority of the area should still be preserved for recreation, leisure and culture. This is a clear course that the protagonists of the competition support.
Outlook for the future
The dialogue process on the future development of the Tempelhof field remains exciting. While on the one hand creative approaches to solutions and a broad exchange within the population are promoted, on the other hand the protection of the site from commercial interests is a central concern. The crux of the matter now lies in finding a balance between the urban development and social demands as well as the recreational needs of the citizens. nd-current reports on the developments as the Senate Department for Urban Development continues to actively engage in dialogue with citizens.