Tempelhofer Feld: Citizens defend themselves against dangerous development plans!

Tempelhofer Feld: Citizens defend themselves against dangerous development plans!

The Berlin Senate has launched a competition for the use of Tempelhofer Feld to find new concepts for the development of the former airport area. Beautier Christian Gaebler describes the current Situation as characterized by a tense debate. While the Senate favors a marginal development, many citizens speak out against development. A 2014 referendum has already made it clear that a majority of Berliners were a open space for the preservation of Tempelhofer Feld. The results of the competition are to be presented to the House of Representatives and the Senate, but the procedure is not legally binding for the Senate, which makes changes to the Tempelhofer Field Act all the more complicated.

six designs are currently the focus of the competition. Two of them provide for a marginal development: one from the Danish architecture firm Schønherr with the concept "Tempelhöfe" and another of "de Rittte Hond", which, however, waived a development on the southern edge of the field. Both designs also include the creation of new parking and leisure areas as well as the reactivation of old buildings. The remaining four designs complete a marginal development. “BBZ Landscape Architects” plans a dense whale ring around the field, while Franz Reschke suggests themed “Haine” with public gardens and sports facilities. "Some Place Studio" also wants to redesign existing buildings and introduce the concept of autonomously moving "field racers".

competition and citizen participation

The international ideas competition is presented in the Otto-Suhr hall in the new town house in Mitte. Iris Reuther, the chairwoman of the jury, selected six from 20 designs that have now received prices and recognition. Critics, including the "Deutsche Wohnen and Co" initiative as well as nature conservation organizations such as NABU, express concerns. These groups see a violation of the citizens' will in the designs with development. Rainer Altenkamp from Nabu emphasizes that the Senate ignores the will of the population. The majority of the participants of a dialogue workshop also spoke out against a marginal development.

A review of the past few years shows the intensive citizen participation regarding the development of the Tempelhofer Feld. On September 27, 2024, the ten -year anniversary of the largest participation process will be celebrated, which was triggered by the 2014 referendum. The aim was to preserve the Tempelhofer field, which could be secured by a plan that promotes culture, sport and relaxation. Nevertheless, there are concerns that the current participation process is not based on previous experiences. In this context, Tilmann Heuser, Managing Director of the BUND Berlin, expresses the perspective of the government fractions that the field consider as a potential building area.

The award -winning designs will be discussed in a dialogue workshop from mid -July and will be publicly exhibited from September, which offers the population another opportunity to deal with developments.

For more information and if you are interested in the events for the ten -year anniversary of the citizen participation, interested parties can contact the participation model office in order to obtain further details.