Airport City Limits: A Critical Assessment of the Redevelopment of Berlin's Flughafen Schönefeld

A large airport and its “airport city” can be a regional economic driver. Berlin—capital of a rich nation yet home to a stagnant economy—is building a new airport. The government is involved on many different levels, as it hopes this new airport, Berlin Brandenburg International, can spur economic development. The best and chosen site for this new airport is actually an old one, Schönefeld, yet old airports tend to be near settlements dense enough to cause substantial pushback from some of the neighboring population. The inevitable anti-airport protest recently has produced a legal settlement that allows for the new airport’s construction, but it curtails certain aspects that would make it more of an economic driver. Also, the various levels of government have competing motives for what sort of “airport city” development occurs nearby. This paper examines the projected impacts—both positive and negative—that Berlin Brandenburg International airport is likely to produce. It also evaluates other claims and projections made by those for and against its construction, by placing commercial aviation in Berlin in the contexts of Germany and Europe. Next, it critiques the airport planning process and identifies the process’s stakeholders, ascribing the potential impacts to each stakeholder, given three scenarios of what might happen. Finally, it recommends possible steps to improve outcomes, in Berlin or elsewhere. Berlin will build a new airport that will meet passenger demands for the foreseeable future. The airport will be a regional transportation node, for areas beyond Berlin and Brandenburg (and even for western Poland). However, the ban on nightflights and the lack of inter-jurisdictional and public-private cooperation on “airport city” development will hamper gravely any economic impact from the airport on the region.Master of City and Regional Plannin