BER 2040 Master Plan
Strategic airport development planning and urban development consolidation Midfield Gardens
From transport infrastructure to economic engine in the south of Berlin: With the development of BER, the focus of urban development is shifting towards a dynamic center of gravity around the airport and the future Airport City.
Large airports are much more than just transportation hubs. Due to their location and importance in the international mobility network, they contribute to the global gross domestic product (GDP). They therefore generate extensive added value, directly, indirectly and resulting from external factors. Airports are transforming into ‘cities in miniature’ and turning into urban centers complete with offices, housing, leisure, hotels and logistics zones, embedded in well-designed open spaces. The share of so-called ‘non-aeronautical’ sales is becoming more important. This offers new sources of income, but also requires strategic planning and partnerships.
According to forecasts, around 55 million passengers will use BER every year in 2040. This makes it a valuable urban development area and economic driver for the region. BER will develop into a central economic factor in the capital region, which, in addition to airport-related companies, will also increasingly lead to the settlement of companies that will primarily benefit from the transport infrastructure and the available space. In 2040, the so-called Airport City with commercial buildings, retail, hotels and congress centers will flank the central access road to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER).
The BER 2040 master plan is based on an analysis of the airport environment and a search for a location for a second terminal building. For the planning window from 2023 to 2040, this resulted in a comprehensive economic development strategy and a spatial master plan. The economic development strategy looks at the entire site and analyzes the development potential of all existing land areas. For example, it prepares the subsequent use of the former Schönefeld terminal and the future government terminal in the north and optimizes the freight and logistics areas on the other side of the adjacent A113 freeway.
The BER 2040 Master Plan supplements the existing Terminal 1 with additional terminals and embeds the Airport City with public spaces, office and commercial uses. It considers the airside and landside site development of the airport and its surroundings and pursues two objectives: On the one hand, the spatial elaboration for the capacity expansion due to the growing passenger volume. This includes the expansion of landside access by road and rail, the handling capacities in existing and future terminals and the airside capacities on the aprons. On the other hand, the planning of an Airport City along the main access road, which will transform the particularly favorable location into a lively real estate location with a mixture of office and commercial properties embedded in landscaped open spaces.
The urban development master plan develops an urban development vision for the Airport City. Starting from a scale of 1:10,000, plots were examined in detail up to a scale of 1:1,000 and 1:500. 400,000 square meters of new space with a height development typical of the city and a diverse mix of uses create an urban city space within walking distance of the terminal. A green, pedestrian-friendly boulevard forms the heart and address of the future Airport City at BER. A variety of uses and individually identifiable urban building blocks are grouped along this spine. Uses on the first floor animate the public space and enrich the urban ambience. An interplay of robust basic structures and striking buildings creates a varied cityscape and lends the district a human dimension.
Development strategies for airports must always be considered in their specific spatial context due to their potential as the economic engine of a city or region. The BER 2040 master planning, responds to land & air-side issues across different scales within one project. Comprehensive interdisciplinary cooperation and the active participation of the various stakeholders at the airport and in the region are essential for this.
The BER 2040 Master Plan sees itself as part of the growing global importance of airports in urban and regional development. This shows that multimodal accessibility and outstanding connectivity to national and international destinations as well as the availability of suitable areas in the airport environment create the conditions for prosperous development.
Client
Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH
Size
1,800 ha
Planning
2016-2021
Service
Strategic master planning / airport development planning
Cooperation
AMD.SIGMA airport consulting, Berlin, ARGUS Stadt und Verkehr Partnerschaft mbB, Hamburg, Henning Larsen
Photo credit: ASTOC
Visualizations: moka-studio