Park Chat #1 - Tempelhof Park, Berlin Germany (October 19, 2023)
... Urban Pioneers and Institutionalized Informality
Vlog Overview
This free parks and urban planning vlog is intended to share my 30+ years of parks practitioner experience married with my recently completed (2019) Phd exploring park and urban planning decision-making processes in Edmonton in the 1960-2010 period. The opinions expressed are mine and mine alone. They are not intended to be the definitive answers or positions, but instead suggest or may hopefully engender reflection on your own practices. For more information about my vlog, and why you should subscribe, please read the vlog entitled “The Use Case for Parks Are Like Icebergs Vlog.,” March 5, 2023. Please subscribe and share with your friends to allow me to continue to my informed knowledge sharing initiative.
Park Site Chats #1 - Tempelhof Park, Berlin Germany (October 19, 2023)
I am introducing a new feature in my vlog - park site chats. In previous vlogs I have talked about what you can and cannot see in parks that are important to understand as we plan for new park sites, redevelop existing parks and provide park services. Park chats will be a focus on the micro (site) activities and development considering macro factors and implications (i.e., policy, politics, history, ecology, economics, health and wellness). Let me first introduce the site from the eyes of the user in a short video from Bianca. This is Berlins largest park in almost the middle of the city, and is new… how rare is that…
Berlin
The capital city is the largest in Germany and the European Union, with 3.85M people. The city is densely populated with 4-6 story buildings serviced by mature transit system and strong bike culture. It has both a rich and sad history, with a culturally diverse population and amazing food culture. It has a temperate climate, that reminds me very much of Vancouver. Anecdotally there are some interesting but different park policy and management choices than what I have experienced in Alberta if not Canada. Berlin has amazing public places, one of them being Tempelhof Park - the subject of todays park chat. Tempelhof transitioned to a park from an airport in 2008.
Tempelhof Park Amenities
This is Berlins largest park at 380 hectares, larger than Central Park in New York. After an animated public discussion about the best use of Tempelhof Flug, the airport was closed and repurposed as a *checks notes* public park. The existing runways were left as is and are home to bikers, roller bladers, walkers, etc, but no motorized scooters allowed. The site is also home to baseball and softball fields, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts, community gardens, three dog off leash areas, a barbecue area, trails, walkways, outdoor music theatre venues, a naturalized area, washrooms and concessions. The entire site is fenced with three major gated entrances. The airport terminal was turned into a temporary housing site for refugees pouring into the country from middle east wars and conflicts after 2008. Other small areas have also been turned into temporary housing of refugees using what looks like retrofitted seacans. There are historical aviation features retained, including at least one airplane. There is on-going environmental mediation occurring.
The site is largely void of trees, which is very different than most large parks in Berlin (i.e., Hasenhide Park, Treptower Park). New tree planting has been discouraged as there remains hope by some economic interests that residential development will occupy the site, or significant portions thereof, using inauthentic sustainable city rhetoric. Benefitting from a more temperate climate the site is well used in their much longer (than Alberta) in the spring, summer and fall time periods, as well as winter (i.e., dog off leash areas).
The BBC estimted that 10,000 people visit this site every day. An excellent summary of the park complete with pictures is provided below.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221031-tempelhof-the-single-site-that-embodies-berlin
To get a more virtual feel feel for the site, view the 5 minute walking tour of the site next.
My Take On What Makes This Unique/Special
These reflections are based on my park experiences here in Edmonton and area as well as extensive time spent in Tempelhof Park in Berlin. I find that separating the elements below into categories is artificial in many ways because each element informs the other as communities transform spaces created in land use change processes into places. Nevertheless…
History. The site was at one time parade grounds for the military before the airport was constructed by Hitler and the german government. It had a storied history that reflects the politics and culture of Germany. The airport was the site of the allied airlift that provided humanitarian aid for the german citizens at the conclusion of the war. The aviation and war history of the site is present in multiple places across the site. Over time, the size of planes landing at Tempelhof Flug required a longer runways, and the future of the site needed to be revisited. Germanys’ and Berlins recent history is of course tortured and conflicted. Since the end of world war II Germany has taken steps to remember that ugly past in multiple ways (i.e., art, commemorations, refugee accommodations, etc). This shows up all across the City including Tempelhof.
Site Retention Process. A public referendum was held that asked the site be retained for public us. Initially “the city administration perceived the appropriation of the myriad number of vacant areas, buildings and infrastructure sites (such as Tempelhof airport) as weakening their aspirations of developing the new capital city into a major world city” (Haid 2017, pg. 291). However attracting international investment was weak, and they pivoted to creating a new public space. In some areas 90% of residents supported retention as a public space.
Size, Location and Configuration. The massive oval shaped site was located in the middle of a dense residential development area. The site is surrounded by main roads (arterial or collector) with street parking available. Tempelhof Park is bordered by high density residential areas of Neukolin and Kreuzberg.
Design Approach. The adopted approach was to combine a top down and bottom up approach to develop the site in something researchers called “institutionalized informality,” where temporary and informal uses were valued. Informal occupations of portions of the site were adopted as distinctive features and assets, provided the use remained non-exclusive. This approach meant that no radical shift in policies would be visited on this site, which is a stretch for planners. These “urban pioneers” and were intended to capitalize on the “poor but sexy” image of the site and area. Fifteen groups actually became resident on site. In essence the idea from the drop was to let the community have a strong role and voice in its program and development.
Program. The amenities were described above in the introduction (i.e., Park Amenities). While there are special events (i.e., kite festivals) and programmed activities (i.e., ball fields), the public organically floods to the park for informal and unstructured opportunities to gather, connect with their neighbours, their family, community and nature. Informality was planned and anticipated goal, and lack of physical change to the large grassed areas was not a criteria of success per se.
Policy. The singular most impactful policy change was described this way. “For official city planning, the integration of ‘urban pioneers’ necessitated a simultaneous regulation of these pioneers’ informal practices, a formalization limiting the impact of radical shifts in city development.” (Haid 2017.pg. 292). City leaders felt these urban pioneers would be motors of development, with spillover effects outside the site, which has occured through new commercial opportunities and ultimately increased property values. Unfortunately, the original intent of letting the community drive the design ultimately was slowed by administrative minutae that is the german state - their attempts to formalize the informality, which is counter intuitive. This is an on-going story, but the site use is still hugely successful.
Construction Standards. Compared to Edmonton, there is not alot of park furniture, and those that are there are not standardized. There are benches of different standards and types, but not alot of picnic tables, formal plazas or lighting. There is no manufactured play equipment like in Edmonton found on site, nor not terribly common in Berlin. There is no evidence to create more manicured spaces, and little effort to plant more trees. One of the dog off leash areas has dog training and play equipment, and what I would call rudimentary benches.
Turf and landscape quality is a different if not reduced standard compared to Edmonton. The turf itself is uneven with patches of missing grass and exposed dirt that are not repaired. The three dog off leash areas are fenced and pockmarked by holes dug by dogs, searching for mice and voles, which are again not repaired. The lack of good quality turf is not a barrier to the community.
Operations. Maintenance appears to be a mix of government and community. The constructed amenities (i.e., runways, paved trails, washrooms, sports fields) tend to be well maintained, but the turf areas are not well groomed, nor is the park furniture. This lack of grooming appears to be an artfact of landscape practices in Berlin where many non park areas (i.e., roadway boulevards where present) are left to naturalize, I suspect reflecting environmental policy choices. In the fall they literally bail the expansive grassy areas, and use them as a type of park furniture. The disposal of beer bottles occurs at gates where bins are left, or placed near the bins for people to collect for returns. Edmonton also uses a shared operations as well, but organized in a different way.
Security. During my visits to the site security was not terribly visible, but police presence in the community and parks generally is not unsual. Research has shown in Berlin that a flexible approach to enforcement occurs where more affluent neighbourhoods tend to be policed and protected more than others. The drug trade in nearby Gorlitzer Park is more prominent and tolerated (Haid 2017). Dogs can discourage criminality, as can the volume of people on site. There was no visible security cameras, and no on-site police stations. As a senior visiting the site, I felt safe at Tempelhof Park, but the walking surfaces required attention at all times.
Final Thoughts
The goal of my vlog beyond knowledge dissemination is to reveal what you can see and can’t see in a park that speaks to how the site is planned, designed, constructed, programmed and maintained. What you see are some park amenities and supportive infrastructure, nothing in the way of legal boundaries or demarcations, but a flood of people who come to enjoy and experience the wide open spaces in Germanys biggest dense city.
This is an un-aesthetically pleasing (to me but not to others) programmatically diverse park site that accommodates a wide range of activities. As a practitioner what resonates most with me is the potential of of institutionalized informality by urban pioneers - where community wisdom is formerly invited into the process, albeit incompletely, in the case of Tempelhof. The urban pioneers approach valorizes community and people over development, even excluding substantive traditional park development itself common in Edmonton (i.e., manufactured play equipment, sportsfield sites, recreation centres, community halls, etc). The second much longer video shows the incredible success of the site measured by use, absent significant capital development or even what would be considered minimum maintenance standards in Edmonton. While the site could have generated land development profits for economic interests, the community health and wellness benfits, and ecological goods and services, are equally massive and beneficial along with increased nearby property values and business income as Tempelhof has become a destination place.
So why is this site so popular? Berlin is a densely populated green city whose populations live mostly in small expensive apartments or condominiums. The availability of private or semi-private spaces is very limited. Connecting with friends and families can be constrained at home. Small spaces are not limited to residential properties as grocery stores, restaurants, offices, bakeries, bars, etc are plentiful also small with limited space. The open, wide expanse and fresh air of Tempelhof Park provides a welcome break from constricted spaces to connect with their friends, nature, families and communities. The agglomerations of people facilitates connection between people of different ages, cultures, language, sexuality, and education with a vibe that attracts people to their public spaces.
Berlin is also a liberal city with diverse political/ideological values, and unique even in Germany in that regard. There is a community of anarchistic groups not visible but apparent nevertheless whose focus is on supporting those left behind by german society, be that by income, education, language, religion, ethnicity or sexuality. The institutionalized informality is in effect a nod to a fundamental way for Berliners to support those less fortunate that relies less on government, the business community or economic interests. The magic is in how 10,000 people self program the site on a daily basis with and without community organizations who are resident or have occupied the site. It is important that as land use or parks practitioners we understand who actually creates and owns these public places.
References
Goldmann, A. J. “Urban Design: Repurposing Tempelhof” Wall Street Journal Retrieved from http://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/docview/885042063?accountid=14474 2011, Aug 25
Hasse, Dagmar, et al. “Greening cities - To be socially inclusive? About the alleged paradox of society and ecology in cities.” Habitat International, 64 (2017) 41-48 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2017.04.005
Haid, Christian G. “The Janus face of Urban Governance: State, Informality and Ambiguity in Berlin.” Current Sociology Monograph 65, no. 2 (2017): 289-301. doi: 10.1177/0011392116657299.
Sobral, Laura. Doing It Together. Co-Operation Tools for the City Co-Governance. Berlin Germany. A Cidade Press, 2018.