HafenCity Hamburg - City for the 21st Century
Hamburg is reinventing itself – and grasping a unique opportunity to grow its city centre by around 40 percent. HafenCity Hamburg, the largest urban development project in Europe, is being built on 157 hectares in the former harbour district. Located directly on the Elbe and directly at the port, a new city district is being created to provide a unique mix of culture and leisure, urban living and working, shopping and dining. With its parks, squares and promenades, the HafenCity offers highly attractive urban spaces.
The first three sections of the new quarter are largely completed and occupied. More than 2,000 people currently live in the HafenCity, and approx. 10,000 people work there in more than 500 businesses (March 2015). The U-Bahn line U4, opened on 28 November 2012, takes you from the HafenCity to Jungfernstieg and the central station in a few minutes. By the year 2025, more than 45,000 people will be working and around 12,000 people will be living in the HafenCity.
This new district and its developing cultural institutions are due to attract around three million visitors annually. Hamburg’s new landmark, the Elbphilharmonie, is being completed at the Kaispeicher A, the historic warehouse. Other attractions include the Hamburg Cruise Center, HafenCity University and center for Hamburg's design scene designxport.
Squares, parks and promenades on the water
The HafenCity district enriches Hamburg by providing large urban spaces along the historical port basins and by the Elbe. The Magellan-Terrassen (4,700 m2) are completed, and so are the Marco-Polo-Terrassen (6,400 m2), the Vasco-da-Gama-Platz (2,700 m2), the Tall Ship Harbour at Sandtorhafen, with moorage for up to 30 historical ships, and the open spaces north and west of Magdeburger Hafen. 2011 saw the opening of the Sandtorpark (approx. 600 m2); the Grasbrookpark (7,100 m2) is due to open in 2013. After completion there will be a total length of 10.5 kilometres of quay promenade.
