HafenCity Project

HafenCity - facts and figures

The most important facts and figures about what is currently Europe’s biggest inner-city development project, its varied quarters and land use concepts

Essential facts and figures about Europe’s biggest inner-city development project now, its varied neighborhoods and land use concepts
Status: March 2012

 Overview

1. Essential facts  & figures
2. Development Management and HafenCity Hamburg GmbH
3. Development of HafenCity
4. Land use - current status
5. Sustainable HafenCity
6. Quarters

 

1. ESSENTIAL FACTS & FIGURES

HafenCity covers an area of 157 hectares, making it one of the most prominent inner-city waterfront development projects in the world. Based on a new concept for urban living, it will increase the size of Hamburg City by 40 percent (Hamburg has a population of approx. 1.78 million, the Hamburg Metropolitan Region 4.3 million). Between the historic Speicherstadt warehouse district and the River Elbe a new city with a cosmopolitan mix of homes, service businesses, culture, leisure, tourism and commerce is emerging. Structures typical of a port will be retained. The development is being managed by HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, a 100-per cent subsidiary of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The time-frame for development of the entire area extends to circa 2025. HafenCity is already rated as the model project for international waterfront and “new downtown” development.

Key data

• Total area: 157 hectares (ha)
• Land area: 126 ha
• Expansion of Hamburg City by 40 %
• Gross floor area (GFA): new building circa 2.32 million m²
• 6,000 homes and more than 45,000 jobs will be created
• 10.5 km of new waterfront with promenades and squares
• Around 26 ha public parks, squares and promenades
• Currently 49 projects are completed; another 35 under construction or planned
• Over 1 million m² GFA already confirmed through sales of land or exclusive options with planning obligations
• Previous to sale approx. 99 % of sites suitable for construction are publicly owned (“Stadt und Hafen” special fund under public law represented by HafenCity Hamburg GmbH)
• Investment volume: private investment approx. € 8 billion; public investment: circa € 2.4 billion, primarily financed out of sales of land in HafenCity (circa € 1.5 billion)
• General basis for planning:
  ◦Masterplan 2000
  ◦Masterplan revision eastern HafenCity 2010

 2. DEVELOPEMENT MANAGEMENT AND HAFENCITY HAMBURG GMBH

Major urban development projects call for strong interaction and coalescence between conception and realization. In particular, because of the high level of development and the considerable intricacy involved in closely coordinating public investment (circa EUR 2,4 billion) with acquisition of private investment (around EUR 8 billion) the resulting responsibilities are very complex and demand strong management.

In 1997 a port and location development company (GHS) was set up to manage the development of HafenCity – since 2004 it has been known as HafenCity Hamburg GmbH. It is responsible for the "special city and port fund" under public law: sales of land and areas of HafenCity almost completely owned by the City of Hamburg finance the lion’s share of public investment, notably roads, bridges, squares, parks, quays and promenades. In addition to this financing responsibility, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH also clears and prepares sites, plans and builds infrastructure and public spaces, acquires and contracts real estate developers and larger users, and is responsible for public relations and communication.

HafenCity Hamburg GmbH is a 100 percent subsidiary of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.  It is developing HafenCity at Hamburg’s behest.  Public supervision, cooperation, and the division of responsibilities are demanding: the supervisory board of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH consists of members of the city senate. Hamburg is a municipality and one of the 16 federal states of Germany. Sales and options (with an obligation to plan) on land purchases have to be approved by the Land Commission; zoning plans are subject to consultation and approval from the Commission of Urban Development (made up largely of parliamentary and local government representatives), zoning plans are processed by the Ministry of Urban Development and Environment and permits issued by it. Competition juries for urban planning and open space competitions as well as competitions for buildings are constituted, in addition to representatives of private developers and independent architects, by the Ministry of Urban Development and Environment (chief planning officer), the district council, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH and several politicians (from Mitte district or the city parliament).

By concentrating non-official functions in a dedicated development company of its own, Hamburg can ensure the efficiency and quality of the urban development project, yet through intensive division of labor and control also retain a high degree of public accountability.

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Opening of new Busanbrücke bridge

For the past few days the new Busanbrücke bridge across Magdeburger Hafen (formerly Magdeburger Brücke) has been open for use again and makes up part of the new Magdeburger Hafen square concept. The new bridge sign was unveiled in a celebration by Mr. Beom-do Heo, deputy mayor of Busan (Republic of Korea), with Hamburg city parliament president Dr. Lutz Mohaupt, state secretary Dr. Detlef Gottschalck, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH chief executive Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg, and Professor Peter Tamm, benefactor and founder of the International Maritime Museum Hamburg. The most important bridge connection in central HafenCity has thus opened once again for pedestrians and cyclists, and its name simultaneously reinforces the partnership between the two port cities of Busan (formerly Pusan) and Hamburg.

Busanbrücke is an arched bridge dating from 1931. It is 36 meters in length and 14 meters wide. In the context of remodeling of promenades and squares by HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, the bridge has been given a new function and a new name. The bridge is now a large pedestrian bridge, forming a part of the ensemble of the square in front of the museum and the promenades along Magdeburger Hafen. It remains at its historical level and was left in its original historic condition, but is to be resurfaced. The bridge becomes a linking element in HafenCity’s newly emerging central expanse of water around Magdeburger Hafen.

Busanbrücke is an important connection in many ways: it joins old and new; HafenCity's western and central neighborhoods with its eastern section; Überseequartier, the heart of HafenCity, to historic warehouse Kaispeicher B, home of the International Maritime Museum Hamburg since 2008. Through its name-giving, too, the bridge also forms a link between the cities of Busan and Hamburg. The two city parliaments have had a partnership since June 2009 and the two cities have been twin port cities since December 2010. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea after Seoul. It is situated at the southeastern end of the Korean peninsula on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Busan port is the world's fifth largest container port.

The bridge was given its Asian name as part of the process of naming streets and public spaces in HafenCity. Central HafenCity features the names of Asian and (North/ US??) American cities.

Busanbrücke is much more than a bridge - it is a place on the water which invites people to stop awhile. Like the rest of the design concept by Catalan architect Beth Galí (Büro BB + GG Architectes), it is paved in various natural types of stone laid in a stripe pattern, like the surrounding promenades, which integrates it visually into the open space concept. Benches invite passersby to pause and admire the inspiring architecture and detail of this urban setting: to one side the gaze takes in the imposing red-brick Kaispeicher B building dating from 1879; to the south, as of spring 2011, construction of the Elbarkaden begins, a meandering ensemble of buildings in which the German headquarters of Greenpeace, design center designport as well as apartments will be housed. On the other side, the buildings in the northern section of Überseequartier rise up, with arcade passages? along Osakaallee, where the old Hafenamt port authority building is sited. This, together with southern Überseequartier, will make up the urban heart of HafenCity - which more than 40,000 people will be using every day.

Historically Busanbrücke is also a significant structure which bears witness to the historic docklands that once predominated in this part of HafenCity. When Magdeburg and Brooktor harbor basins were constructed between 1881 and 1888 the area became a hub for cargoes using the eastern and central German waterway systems. Bananas, oranges and fruit in general landed up in the storage sheds of Magdeburger Hafen. A first connection across Magdeburger Hafen had already been built in 1871: the Meyerstraßenbrücke. This was replaced in 1931 by Magdeburger Brücke (today Busanbrücke).

Photos for editorial purposes at HafenCityPresspicture 

Press contact:
Susanne Bühler, Press and Public Relations, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH
0049 40 37 47 26 14
buehler@hafenCity.com

Ulfert Kaphengst, Parliament of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
0049 40 4 28 31 24 08
ulfert.kaphengst@bk.hamburg.de