In 2010, the land transfer of the former Twente military airbase (480 ha) took place from the state to the province of Overijssel and the municipality of Enschede. Since the departure of the military, the mysterious landscape of aircraft shelters, vast grassy plains and remote army camps has changed into a varied living, working and recreational area.

The area development - one of the largest in the Netherlands - required a long-term and complex planning process, in which we had to find our way within the choppy waters of economics, politics, community involvement and laws and regulations. The book ‘Vliegwiel’ is a reconstruction of that turbulent project history. It is a story of trial and error, of how perseverance gave the old airbase a second life.

Discount campaign

The book is available from 15 November at Broekhuis bookshop or through Blauwdruk publishers: www.uitgeverijblauwdruk.nl/vliegwiel. Normally the book costs €27.50, but until 21 November there is a promotional price of €24.50.