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The Age
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The world's busiest airport is shutting down. Here's what comes next
Scenario 1: The World's Swankiest Urban Park Authorities could take the urban park route. Think Central Park meets Blade Runner. Runways transformed into broad palm-shaded boulevards for cycling, jogging and e-scooting, lined smart-cooling systems to tackle the desert heat. Concourse areas housing indoor gardens or vertical farms, and terminal buildings transformed into co-working hives crowned with rooftop restaurants playing vintage boarding announcements for hipster ASMR. Green, futuristic and, of course, wildly Instagrammable. Berlin Tempelhof is a masterclass in adaptive reuse. Once one of Europe's busiest airports, it played a heroic role in the Berlin Airlift – where British and American forces delivered supplies to West Berlin during the Cold War Soviet blockade. It closed in 2008 and now lives on as the 380-hectare Tempelhofer Feld, one of the world's largest urban open spaces. Locals rollerblade down its runways, fly kites across the former airfields, and gather for festivals and community events in the former aircraft hangars. Its massive terminal buildings now host trade fairs and exhibitions – from art shows to tech summits – and even emergency housing at times of crisis. And, more recently, Berlin Tegel – the capital's primary international airport that closed in 2021 and was replaced by Berlin Brandenburg Airport – is now being converted into Urban Tech Republic, a research and green technology hub for start-ups. Like Tempelhof, Croydon was one of Europe's big three pre-Second World War airports (alongside Paris-Le Bourget), and they've leaned into the vintage vibes – turning their Grade II-listed terminal into an aviation history centre and occasionally hiring it out for period film sets due to its well-preserved Art Deco architecture. It works because it's got that old-school charm. DXB, on the other hand, is more sci-fi than sepia, and too sleek and modern to pull off the retro museum look. Scenario 2: An Airport City Loading Dubai is facing a housing shortage due to a surge in population and a booming economy, so there's a high probability it might be converted into a futuristic urban neighbourhood: a hyper-connected 'aerotropolis' that blends tech, luxury lifestyle and sustainability with Dubai's signature ambition. It could be a place where residents interact with city services through personalised AI assistants – booking health appointments, making restaurant reservations, or ordering drone deliveries like those currently in use in Shenzhen, China. Where former runways become smart boulevards with kinetic pavements (to harvest footstep energy) and AI-optimized public transport and cohesive communities host rooftop parties in the former air traffic control tower or attend TED talks in aeroplane hangars rebranded as 'creative event domes'. Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport is the closest match. Once the stuff of pilot legends (and passenger nightmares) thanks to its nerve-jangling landings over apartment blocks, it shut down in 1998 and got a serious facelift. Now called the Kai Tak Development, it's a massive waterfront neighbourhood made up of schools and residential apartments organised along the old runway, which now hosts cruise ships instead of 747s, and framed by the verdant Sky Garden. A handful of others have followed suit. In Greece, the former Ellinikon International Airport near Athens is in the process of becoming one of Europe's largest urban regeneration projects. Already partially opened as the Ellinikon Experience Park, the site is set to include luxury housing, cultural venues, sports facilities, and one of the Mediterranean's largest coastal parks. And Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado, is now a walkable neighbourhood with schools and parks, where the airport's control tower has been converted into a restaurant as a playful nod to its high-flying past. For the moment, DXB's future is all conjecture. 'It should be stressed that the closure of DXB is only a distant prospect at the moment. It's too far into the future to make the decision now,' said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. Loading 'But if a bigger Heathrow was built just up the road, would you keep both open? Probably not, is the answer – it's operationally difficult and costly to maintain two mega airports, when one satisfies a city's needs, and if the site was converted into park or a development, it would allow the northern part of Dubai to go high-rise – but those are options that the Dubai Government will no doubt consider in due course.' It'll be 15 years at least before any real changes take place, but it's not hard to imagine the kids that will play tag on turf where superjumbos once touched down; travellers lazing in cafes where execs once stress-scrolled emails; and yes – TikTokers posing under the vintage departure boards (#RetroRunway). The airport that once never slept will finally chill out, reborn as a smart, stylish, sun-soaked urban playground. DXB won't fade – it'll reinvent, Dubai-style: bigger, bolder and with better Wi-Fi. Goodbye takeoffs, hello glow-up. So here's to you, DXB: no delays, no turbulence – just clear skies ahead.
Sydney Morning Herald
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The world's busiest airport is shutting down. Here's what comes next
Scenario 1: The World's Swankiest Urban Park Authorities could take the urban park route. Think Central Park meets Blade Runner. Runways transformed into broad palm-shaded boulevards for cycling, jogging and e-scooting, lined smart-cooling systems to tackle the desert heat. Concourse areas housing indoor gardens or vertical farms, and terminal buildings transformed into co-working hives crowned with rooftop restaurants playing vintage boarding announcements for hipster ASMR. Green, futuristic and, of course, wildly Instagrammable. Berlin Tempelhof is a masterclass in adaptive reuse. Once one of Europe's busiest airports, it played a heroic role in the Berlin Airlift – where British and American forces delivered supplies to West Berlin during the Cold War Soviet blockade. It closed in 2008 and now lives on as the 380-hectare Tempelhofer Feld, one of the world's largest urban open spaces. Locals rollerblade down its runways, fly kites across the former airfields, and gather for festivals and community events in the former aircraft hangars. Its massive terminal buildings now host trade fairs and exhibitions – from art shows to tech summits – and even emergency housing at times of crisis. And, more recently, Berlin Tegel – the capital's primary international airport that closed in 2021 and was replaced by Berlin Brandenburg Airport – is now being converted into Urban Tech Republic, a research and green technology hub for start-ups. Like Tempelhof, Croydon was one of Europe's big three pre-Second World War airports (alongside Paris-Le Bourget), and they've leaned into the vintage vibes – turning their Grade II-listed terminal into an aviation history centre and occasionally hiring it out for period film sets due to its well-preserved Art Deco architecture. It works because it's got that old-school charm. DXB, on the other hand, is more sci-fi than sepia, and too sleek and modern to pull off the retro museum look. Scenario 2: An Airport City Loading Dubai is facing a housing shortage due to a surge in population and a booming economy, so there's a high probability it might be converted into a futuristic urban neighbourhood: a hyper-connected 'aerotropolis' that blends tech, luxury lifestyle and sustainability with Dubai's signature ambition. It could be a place where residents interact with city services through personalised AI assistants – booking health appointments, making restaurant reservations, or ordering drone deliveries like those currently in use in Shenzhen, China. Where former runways become smart boulevards with kinetic pavements (to harvest footstep energy) and AI-optimized public transport and cohesive communities host rooftop parties in the former air traffic control tower or attend TED talks in aeroplane hangars rebranded as 'creative event domes'. Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport is the closest match. Once the stuff of pilot legends (and passenger nightmares) thanks to its nerve-jangling landings over apartment blocks, it shut down in 1998 and got a serious facelift. Now called the Kai Tak Development, it's a massive waterfront neighbourhood made up of schools and residential apartments organised along the old runway, which now hosts cruise ships instead of 747s, and framed by the verdant Sky Garden. A handful of others have followed suit. In Greece, the former Ellinikon International Airport near Athens is in the process of becoming one of Europe's largest urban regeneration projects. Already partially opened as the Ellinikon Experience Park, the site is set to include luxury housing, cultural venues, sports facilities, and one of the Mediterranean's largest coastal parks. And Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado, is now a walkable neighbourhood with schools and parks, where the airport's control tower has been converted into a restaurant as a playful nod to its high-flying past. For the moment, DXB's future is all conjecture. 'It should be stressed that the closure of DXB is only a distant prospect at the moment. It's too far into the future to make the decision now,' said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. Loading 'But if a bigger Heathrow was built just up the road, would you keep both open? Probably not, is the answer – it's operationally difficult and costly to maintain two mega airports, when one satisfies a city's needs, and if the site was converted into park or a development, it would allow the northern part of Dubai to go high-rise – but those are options that the Dubai Government will no doubt consider in due course.' It'll be 15 years at least before any real changes take place, but it's not hard to imagine the kids that will play tag on turf where superjumbos once touched down; travellers lazing in cafes where execs once stress-scrolled emails; and yes – TikTokers posing under the vintage departure boards (#RetroRunway). The airport that once never slept will finally chill out, reborn as a smart, stylish, sun-soaked urban playground. DXB won't fade – it'll reinvent, Dubai-style: bigger, bolder and with better Wi-Fi. Goodbye takeoffs, hello glow-up. So here's to you, DXB: no delays, no turbulence – just clear skies ahead.
Zawya
14-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Housing crisis: Germany plans 'turbo' construction boost
Berlin: Once a military parade ground for the Prussian army and later famously the base for the Berlin Airlift, Tempelhofer Feld, as it is now officially called, opened to the public as a recreational area in 2010. Stretching out over more than 300 hectares, it is one of the largest green urban spaces in world and a favorite for locals and tourists alike. Now, once discarded plans to build here are gaining new momentum. The Berlin government would like to see the construction of numerous five to ten-storey buildings and several individual high-rise buildings, shrinking the central inner meadow area from 305 to to 180 hectares. Fifty percent of the built-up area would become commercial space. Plans to develop the former airfield were scuppered by a locally-organised referendum in 2014. However, incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz, of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), spoke out in the run-up to the federal elections in February suggesting politicians must be prepared to build on the land even if it is against the will of local residents. The lack of affordable housing and skyrocketing rents in Germany has become perhaps the most pressing social issue of the century. There is a shortage of over 800,00 apartments, according to the Federal Statistical Office, and the median monthly asking rent in Berlin has risen by 85.2% from €8.50 per square meter in 2015 to €15.74 in 2024. To tackle the problem, Germany's incoming coalition government of the Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) has announced plans to turbo-charge housing construction ("Wohnungsbau-Turbo"), slash bureaucracy, cut taxes and provide funding programs for construction and modernisation. The plans were quickly welcomed as "a huge step forward" by the Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies (GdW). The construction industry interest group pointed in particular to "simplifications" of planning, procurement and environment law, as well as a proposed housing construction investment fund. Berlin still looking for a way out of the housing crisis Berlin's Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing estimates that over 100,000 new apartments are needed to ease the overheated market as it stands today. Around 200,000 people are expected to move to Berlin by 2040, meaning the city needs to build an average of 20,000 new apartments a year to meet the expected demand. However, its latest statistics show a decline in construction activity in 2023 where just 15,965 apartments were completed — attributed to poor economic conditions and rising interest rates. Attempts to ease the housing crisis, from rent control to stricter tenancy laws, to attempts to crack down on speculators leaving properties empty or only renting out short-term fully-furnished apartments, have all failed, says Christian Müller, chairman of the Association of Architects and Engineers of Berlin-Brandenburg (AIV). Centrally located and well connected, Müller is in favor of a well-designed development on the edge of Tempelhofer Feld as a compromise between the various interest groups — also because the site is publicly owned and therefore significantly cheaper for developers. "It is important that fairly priced apartments are built there. It should be a good mix. The state-owned housing associations must be involved and we must maintain diversity," Müller told DW. While he admits that Tempelhofer Feld has been extremely well received by local residents, like state and federal politicians, he says the housing situation has changed dramatically. "90% of Berliners want everything to stay as it is. Until they receive notice to vacate and have to look for an apartment themselves on the housing market," Müller says, adding that housing for 100,000 people could be created on the entire area without it being too cramped. Little trust in the promise of affordable homes Part nature reserve, part leisure park, Tempelhofer Feld is now home to numerous community projects from an experimental space for sustainable architecture to artist-run spaces, a bicycle repair workshop and a chess clubhouse. It's also a nesting site for several of Germany's endangered bird species, among them skylarks, and a herd of Skudden sheep, an endangered breed, have been relocated here to help promote biodiversity. "The Feld is unique. It only works as a whole — take away even a part of it, and you destroy its entire value," says Anita Möller, a member of the citizens' action group "100% Tempelhofer Feld," which organized the referendum that stopped the site being developed back in 2014. Looking out over the community gardens that have sprung up on Tempelhofer Feld where green-fingered residents grow flowers and vegetables, Möller points to a 2021 study by the Berlin Senate's own Environment Department that emphasized the unique character of the urban space with its mixture of large nature conservation and recreational areas. The study also highlighted its ecological importance in terms of maintaining biodiversity, improving air quality and cooling the densely populated surrounding neighbourhoods. Back in 2014, around two-thirds of voters (64.3%) decided in favor of protecting the space from development and the resulting preservation act prohibits the building or expansion of existing buildings on the site. Now Berlin's CDU-SPD coalition government — which came to power in a 2023 election where 39% of voters cited housing as the single most important issue ahead of any other — is once again exploring plans to build there. It's 2023 coalition agreement states that "deviations" from previous commitments to not sell state-owned land "may be permitted in individual cases for housing cooperatives oriented towards the common good." And they have already launched a series of public consultations and an international urban-planning competition for ideas on how best to develop the former airfield. For now, the suggestion is to only build on the periphery — Berlin's mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) told the Tagesspiegel newspaper in November 2024 it would be possible to build 15,000 to 20,000 apartments on the edges — but there's fierce opposition even to that. Berlin's opposition Green and Left parties accuse the CDU-SPD coalition of wasting millions of taxpayer's money on public consultations and urban planning competitions in a bid to sway public opinion in favor of building apartments that in reality only a tiny proportion of residents could afford. "They keep claiming it's about housing needs, but let's be honest: it's about money, speculation and investor dreams. If it were really about solving the housing crisis, we have better options," Möller says, referencing the government's City Development Plan 2040 that identifies other sites where up to 222,000 homes could be built. The idea that the path to more afforable homes requires more construction is outdated, according to Möller, who believes that the government needs to invest in new kinds of "democratic and sustainable" urban development that "respects our environmental limits and the value of open space." For now, at least the area is protected by the Tempelhofer Feld Preservation Act introduced after the referendum in 2014. But as Möller points out, that could easily be overturned by a majority vote in the Berlin Senate. "Affordable housing has failed elsewhere. Why should we believe it will suddenly work here? Once it's built on, it's lost forever," she says. © Muscat Media Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Times of Oman
13-04-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
Housing crisis: Germany plans 'turbo' construction boost
Berlin: Once a military parade ground for the Prussian army and later famously the base for the Berlin Airlift, Tempelhofer Feld, as it is now officially called, opened to the public as a recreational area in 2010. Stretching out over more than 300 hectares, it is one of the largest green urban spaces in world and a favorite for locals and tourists alike. Now, once discarded plans to build here are gaining new momentum. The Berlin government would like to see the construction of numerous five to ten-storey buildings and several individual high-rise buildings, shrinking the central inner meadow area from 305 to to 180 hectares. Fifty percent of the built-up area would become commercial space. Plans to develop the former airfield were scuppered by a locally-organised referendum in 2014. However, incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz, of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), spoke out in the run-up to the federal elections in February suggesting politicians must be prepared to build on the land even if it is against the will of local residents. The lack of affordable housing and skyrocketing rents in Germany has become perhaps the most pressing social issue of the century. There is a shortage of over 800,00 apartments, according to the Federal Statistical Office, and the median monthly asking rent in Berlin has risen by 85.2% from €8.50 per square meter in 2015 to €15.74 in 2024. To tackle the problem, Germany's incoming coalition government of the Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) has announced plans to turbo-charge housing construction ("Wohnungsbau-Turbo"), slash bureaucracy, cut taxes and provide funding programs for construction and modernisation. The plans were quickly welcomed as "a huge step forward" by the Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies (GdW). The construction industry interest group pointed in particular to "simplifications" of planning, procurement and environment law, as well as a proposed housing construction investment fund. Berlin still looking for a way out of the housing crisis Berlin's Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing estimates that over 100,000 new apartments are needed to ease the overheated market as it stands today. Around 200,000 people are expected to move to Berlin by 2040, meaning the city needs to build an average of 20,000 new apartments a year to meet the expected demand. However, its latest statistics show a decline in construction activity in 2023 where just 15,965 apartments were completed — attributed to poor economic conditions and rising interest rates. Attempts to ease the housing crisis, from rent control to stricter tenancy laws, to attempts to crack down on speculators leaving properties empty or only renting out short-term fully-furnished apartments, have all failed, says Christian Müller, chairman of the Association of Architects and Engineers of Berlin-Brandenburg (AIV). Centrally located and well connected, Müller is in favor of a well-designed development on the edge of Tempelhofer Feld as a compromise between the various interest groups — also because the site is publicly owned and therefore significantly cheaper for developers. "It is important that fairly priced apartments are built there. It should be a good mix. The state-owned housing associations must be involved and we must maintain diversity," Müller told DW. While he admits that Tempelhofer Feld has been extremely well received by local residents, like state and federal politicians, he says the housing situation has changed dramatically. "90% of Berliners want everything to stay as it is. Until they receive notice to vacate and have to look for an apartment themselves on the housing market," Müller says, adding that housing for 100,000 people could be created on the entire area without it being too cramped. Little trust in the promise of affordable homes Part nature reserve, part leisure park, Tempelhofer Feld is now home to numerous community projects from an experimental space for sustainable architecture to artist-run spaces, a bicycle repair workshop and a chess clubhouse. It's also a nesting site for several of Germany's endangered bird species, among them skylarks, and a herd of Skudden sheep, an endangered breed, have been relocated here to help promote biodiversity. "The Feld is unique. It only works as a whole — take away even a part of it, and you destroy its entire value," says Anita Möller, a member of the citizens' action group "100% Tempelhofer Feld," which organized the referendum that stopped the site being developed back in 2014. Looking out over the community gardens that have sprung up on Tempelhofer Feld where green-fingered residents grow flowers and vegetables, Möller points to a 2021 study by the Berlin Senate's own Environment Department that emphasized the unique character of the urban space with its mixture of large nature conservation and recreational areas. The study also highlighted its ecological importance in terms of maintaining biodiversity, improving air quality and cooling the densely populated surrounding neighbourhoods. Back in 2014, around two-thirds of voters (64.3%) decided in favor of protecting the space from development and the resulting preservation act prohibits the building or expansion of existing buildings on the site. Now Berlin's CDU-SPD coalition government — which came to power in a 2023 election where 39% of voters cited housing as the single most important issue ahead of any other — is once again exploring plans to build there. It's 2023 coalition agreement states that "deviations" from previous commitments to not sell state-owned land "may be permitted in individual cases for housing cooperatives oriented towards the common good." And they have already launched a series of public consultations and an international urban-planning competition for ideas on how best to develop the former airfield. For now, the suggestion is to only build on the periphery — Berlin's mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) told the Tagesspiegel newspaper in November 2024 it would be possible to build 15,000 to 20,000 apartments on the edges — but there's fierce opposition even to that. Berlin's opposition Green and Left parties accuse the CDU-SPD coalition of wasting millions of taxpayer's money on public consultations and urban planning competitions in a bid to sway public opinion in favor of building apartments that in reality only a tiny proportion of residents could afford. "They keep claiming it's about housing needs, but let's be honest: it's about money, speculation and investor dreams. If it were really about solving the housing crisis, we have better options," Möller says, referencing the government's City Development Plan 2040 that identifies other sites where up to 222,000 homes could be built. The idea that the path to more afforable homes requires more construction is outdated, according to Möller, who believes that the government needs to invest in new kinds of "democratic and sustainable" urban development that "respects our environmental limits and the value of open space." For now, at least the area is protected by the Tempelhofer Feld Preservation Act introduced after the referendum in 2014. But as Möller points out, that could easily be overturned by a majority vote in the Berlin Senate. "Affordable housing has failed elsewhere. Why should we believe it will suddenly work here? Once it's built on, it's lost forever," she says.
The Independent
25-03-2025
- General
- The Independent
Second World War veteran known as ‘the Poppy Man' made an MBE
A Second World War Royal Air Force navigator known as 'the Poppy Man' in his home town has vowed to press on with his work to help veterans as he nears his 102nd birthday. On Tuesday, George Kelly, 101, from St Ives, Cambridgeshire, was made an MBE by the King in recognition of more than 40 years of voluntary service to the Royal British Legion (RBL) and Royal Air Force veterans. Mr Kelly, a former president of the RBL St Ives branch, said: 'It (the honour) took me by surprise because I have just been the president of a very good team and I hope to carry on for a few more years.' His 42-year RAF career included taking part in the Berlin Airlift (1948 to 1949) as well as the 1956 Suez Crisis and he was awarded the Air Force Medal. After becoming an MBE at a ceremony at Windsor Castle, the father-of-four, who has six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren vowed that 'yes indeed' he will selling poppies this year as he approaches his 102nd birthday. He said: 'This helps the soldiers who are suffering now. There are not many of us wartime vets (from my generation) left but we have got to think of the ones (who have served) in Afghanistan and other areas now. 'They are the ones who need the help now. The people who I help are younger than me now, anyway.' He added: 'I hope to carry on for a few more years. 'It is very important because I like to go around the schools and tell all the kids what the poppy is for and they should wear their poppy with pride. 'They, and we, should all remember that all those names on the memorials are chaps that gave up their lives so that you can have freedom in yours. 'Seventy years ago I went to Buckingham Palace and was awarded the Air Force Medal (by Queen Elizabeth II). I had been flying a long time. I got it for flying Lancasters and Wellingtons. 'There were 300 trips to Berlin during the blockade and Suez.' He joked: 'Whenever there was trouble, they sent me there.' The RBL Mr Kelly's career with the RAF began during the Second World War as a navigator. His aircraft was shot down and crash-landed over Cromer, in Norfolk, and he spent his 21st birthday recovering in Norwich Hospital. Mr Kelly, who joined the RBL in 1982 after he left the RAF, is described as an 'exceptional ambassador' by the RBL. He has been a lead organiser of the Remembrance Sunday parade and service in St Ives, and gives talks to schools and youth organisations on the meaning of remembrance. The RBL said he is 'truly loved by us all', has held almost every branch post and 'is a well-known face in St Ives for bracing the elements and collecting throughout the Poppy Appeal'.
