Disputes Over Public Space in Neoliberal Planning: The Civic Conquest of Tempelhof

Abstract

The triumph of the civic will that, through the appropriation of the old Tempelhof airport in Berlin, resisted the pressure of real estate interests and successfully defended the public character of the place through a referendum, provokes reflections on the shades of grey of neoliberal collaborative planning and simulated participation and offers lessons and warnings for the redevelopment of large-scale intraurban wastelands, which is an important issue in the contemporary city.