Berlin TXL: If We Could Just Restart the Cities We Have Now

    In 2020, the Tegal Aiport in Berlin was permanently closed. Since then, a massive reuse project has taken off. This massive plot of land just outside of Berlin spans around 500 hectares. The overview of what the master plan will encompass an ambitious smart city. At the root of the project is sustainable practices and ecologically friendly technology. The developer plans to transition the abandoned air port into 5,000 homes, 1,000 businesses, and the Urban Tech Republic (hosting around 5,000 students). 

    From a sustainability point of view, Berlin TXL plans to be a net zero energy city. It plans to produce  all of the energy necessary for the city to function. Solar power and geothermal will provide the energy for the project. The geothermal heat will pair with the heat generated from the industrial parts of the city as well as the sewer network and biogas. Heat can also be extracted from the buildings on warm days and stored for later, cooler days. The plan of powering such a massive project is impressive. If it works, it will pave ways for established cities to transition to similar methodologies. All water will be captured and reused throughout the project. 

Berlin TXL Master Plan
Tom Page, “Reclaim the Runway: $8 Billion Project to Transform Shuttered Berlin Airport into an Eco City,” CNN, October 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/berlin-txl-tegel-airport-redevelopment-spc-intl/index.html.

    The residential buildings will be made entirely of locally sources wood and other materials. Efforts have also been made to ensure that the environment created will be suitable for humans and animals like bird species and welcomed insects. 

Berlin TXL Residential Sector

Tom Page, “Reclaim the Runway: $8 Billion Project to Transform Shuttered Berlin Airport into an Eco City,” CNN, October 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/berlin-txl-tegel-airport-redevelopment-spc-intl/index.html.

    From a merantile perspective, Berlin TXL plans to house shops, sporting venues, schools, day cares, and restaurants and bars. The project will truly be everything someone could need within the city. 

    In addition to the residential and mercantile spaces, the airport hexagonal Terminal A will be home to the Urban Tech Republic and 5,000 students. Here, innovation in technology will flourish. Maker spaces and labs will fill the terminal. This space is meant to be a place for students to explore their ideas, create prototypes, and launch new ideas. 

    Movement around the project will be completely car free making Berlin TXL a walkable community and city. 

 Plans for the project resemble appropriate and environmentally conscious design decisions. It's like this project is doing everything our current cities are needing and lacking. The building and everything within its vicinity will work as one cohesive machine. Systems will work together. Builings will share energy. People will live their lives with a strong sense of community because of this. It feels like Berlin TXL is an example of a city if we could just hit the restart button on all of them. Obviously because of current infrasture and the pure cost, this isn't a feasible thing to change in every living city, but in a perfect world, this could and would happen.