HafenCity press area

Here you can find our current news, important data and facts about HafenCity, comprehensive pictorial material and a contact for your press requests

Facts & Figures

HafenCity Project

Facts & 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

(© HafenCity Hamburg GmbH)

Essential facts and figures about Europe’s biggest inner-city development project now, its varied neighborhoods and land use concepts
Status: March 2013

 Overview

  1. Basic data
  2. General planning basis
  3. Chronology of development of HafenCity
  4. Management of development and HafenCity Hamburg GmbH
  5. Uses in HafenCity
  6. Neighborhoods

With the development of HafenCity on the Elbe waterfront, Hamburg is setting new standards,
in Europe at least. By 2025 a city brimming with life will have taken shape on a site covering
157 hectares. In contrast to other city areas dominated purely by offices and retail, it will blend
maritime atmosphere with work, living, the arts, leisure, tourism and shopping. In its very
central situation and its high expectations of quality, reflected for example in the fine-grained
mix of uses, aspirations regarding urbanity and ecological sustainability, and the innovative nature of its development, HafenCity is very different from other major urban development projects on the waterfront.
In the wake of 12 years of construction, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH can boast a positive
interim balance. With its many shops, cafés and restaurants, the western section is already an
urban space with nearly 2,000 residents and attracts a growing number of visitors. Nowadays
some 9,000 people are at work in HafenCity, employed by more than 450 companies, including
40 larger businesses with space requirements exceeding 1,000 sqm for up to 1,400 employees.

Basic data

  • Overall area: 157 hectares (ha) on former port and industrial land
  • Land area: 127 ha
  • Expansion of Hamburg City by 40%
  • Gross floor area (GFA): new building ca. 2.32 million sqm
  • 6,000 homes and more than 45,000 jobs to be created
  • 10.5 km new dockside promenade / 3.1 km Elbe embankment
  • Around 28 ha public parks, squares and promenades
  • 51 projects completed; 35 projects under construction or planned
  • Development of 1 million-plus GFA through confirmed sales of land or exclusive options (with planning obligations)
  • Investment volume: private investment – around € 8 billion;
  • public investment – €2.4 billion, mostly financed from special assets fund sales of plots in HafenCity (around € 1.5 billion)

General planning basis

  • Masterplan 2000
  • Masterplan revision for eastern HafenCity 2010

Chronology of development of HafenCity

  • 1997: Announcement of HafenCity project
  • 1999: Masterplan competition: winner Kees Christiaanse / ASTOC
  • 2000: Hamburg Senate approves Masterplan
  • 2000: Start of infrastructure measures, site clearance and relocation of businesses
  • 2003: Building construction begins on large scale (Am Sandtorkai / Dalmannkai neighborhood)
  • 2007: Construction of central area, Überseequartier, begins
  • 2007: Work begins on U4 subway line
  • 2009: Completion of first neighborhood, Am Sandtorkai / Dalmannkai
  • 2010: Presentation and discussion of revised Masterplan for eastern HafenCity
  • 2011: Completion of neighborhoods Am Sandtorpark / Grasbrook (except residential) and Brooktorkai / Ericus
  • 2012: U4 subway goes into operation; construction of Am Lohsepark neighborhood starts
  • 2013: Completion of Elbarkaden, opening of HafenCity University (HCU)
  • 2013: Tendering process for Baakenhafen neighborhood begins
  • 2013/14: Partial completion of Lohsepark
  • 2016: Completion of Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall

 

Press Contact

Direct press requests to HafenCity Hamburg GmbH:

 

Your contact:

Susanne Bühler
Head of Communications
Phone: +49 (0)40 37 47 26 - 14

Or use our contact form:
 = 
 

Press Pictures

HafenCity Press Picture Database

For editorial purposes, you can download pictures, illustrations and plans free of charge after you have registered

Press Films

HafenCity Press Film Database

For editorial purposes, you can download videos free of charge after you ordered a link for download

Press Releases

13.03.2013 - HafenCity Hamburg at the MIPIM 2013 real estate fair

Sustainable development into a city for the 21st century

HafenCity Hamburg will make its next major and farsighted strides in 2013. Large green spaces are taking shape, the development of sophisticated residential plans begins, and other substantial projects in the centre, such as the Elbarkaden and HafenCity University, will reach completion during the year. And as HafenCity sets standards for the future through its unusually sustainable brand of urban development – the metropolitan feel of Europe’s largest inner-city development scheme grows.

10.10.2012 - HafenCity at the real estate show EXPO REAL

from 8-10 October in Munich

Once again HafenCity is presenting itself at the largest B2B trade fair for commercial real estate in Europe, the EXPO REAL in Munich. Around 1,700 exhibitors from more than 30 different countries and around 37,000 visitors take part with the aim to network, gain market orientation and valuable business contacts. A large stand will also represent other urban development projects in the City of Hamburg.

12.06.2012 - HafenCity Ecolabel for SPIEGEL headquarters

SPIEGEL publishing house achieves gold sustainability award

Another large building in HafenCity - the SPIEGEL publishing house - has been awarded the Ecolabel for exemplary sustainable construction. After scrutiny by external assessors, the modern media building on Ericusspitze received final certification with the HafenCity Ecolabel in gold. The award was handed over to the building’s proprietor Robert Vogel GmbH & Co. KG by HafenCity Hamburg GmbH.

23.05.2012 - Green identity for eastern HafenCity

Baakenhafen open space competition decided

The picture emerging of Baakenhafen neighborhood, a highly attractive new residential and leisure quarter wedged between the Elbe River and the largest harbor basin in HafenCity Hamburg, is becoming ever clearer. In a competition to plan the open spaces, 29 top European planning teams submitted detailed concepts for squares, promenades and special leisure spots in this eastern HafenCity quarter. The jury was won over by the multifunctional, public open spaces with their potential to develop identity of place in the prize-winning concept entered by Atelier Loidl (Berlin) – especially the design of the green play and leisure island in Baakenhafen. All designs entered in the contest are on show until 28 May in an exhibition in HafenCity. Development of the new neighborhood is under way.

11.05.2012 - Summer in HafenCity 2012

New program items and new participants

HafenCity’s program of events for the summer is about as varied as the city district itself. From June 3 through August 26 2012, HafenCity will be transformed into a public open-air stage for the ever-popular series of “Summer in HafenCity” events. The area’s many waterside squares and promenades provide an inviting open-air backdrop to a changing program – this year including new program items and new participants.

19.04.2012 - Hamburg builds for the future

HafenCity and the International Building Exhibition (IBA Hamburg) show their innovative projects at the Hanover Trade Fair 2012

Hamburg’s two major municipal developments are being presented as ‘lighthouse projects’ in the Metropolitan Solutions special exhibition at the Hanover Trade Fair. The object of the exhibition, entitled ‘Stadt neu bauen’ [‘Rebuilding the city’], is to initiate an international dialogue on intelligent municipal growth, as well as encouraging people to visit Hamburg for the IBA Presentation Year in 2013.

21.03.2012 - Building the city anew – the major city of tomorrow

A shared exhibition in the European Parliament is showcasing Hamburg’s two high-profile urban development projects. Invitations to attend the opening have gone out from EU MP Birgit Schnieber-Jastram to members of parliament, EU Commission representatives and town-planning and architecture experts.

06.03.2012 - HafenCity at MIPIM 2012 real estate show

March 6-9 in Cannes

Once again HafenCity is presenting itself at the leading international real estate exhibition in Cannes where around 4,000 investors from 90 countries and around 19,000 participants meet up for four days. In addition, a large stand will represent other urban development projects in the City of Hamburg. Altogether 407 cities from all over the world are being presented at the show.

20.12.2011 - HafenCity Ecolabel awarded for the first time

Gold sustainability accolade for Unilever building

The first building in HafenCity has been awarded the Ecolabel for exemplary sustainable construction, following preliminary certification. The Unilever building on Strandkai has received the HafenCity Ecolabel in gold, subsequent to external validation. The award will be presented to the owner of the building, RREEF Investment GmbH, and project developer HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung GmbH, in the present of Unilever’s management and entire staff.

05.12.2011 - Intelligent Quarters in Hamburg’s HafenCity

Störmer Murphy and Partners win architectural competition launched by ECE

Hamburg-based ECE plans a new project in Elbtorquartier at the heart of HafenCity called the Intelligent Quarters. The site is adjacent to the Elbe River, between Magdeburger Hafen basin and the future Hafen City University (HCU). Visible from afar, a 70m office building is to be built on the waterfront in Elbtorquartier, together with two more buildings, to will include homes and ground-floor publicly accessible uses.

04.10.2011 - HafenCity Hamburg at EXPO REAL 2011 - Building Bridges to the Future

Green and yet metropolitan – that was the image HafenCity presented in Green Capital year 2011. Through an abundance of completed construction ventures and building projects, Hamburg’s newest city district has positioned itself successfully in many different respects as a sustainable yet urban city development project.

10.06.2011 - HafenCity "bridge-building": First mayor Olaf Scholz opens festivities at Magdeburger Hafen

Now that realization of the western neighborhoods is more or less complete, the development of HafenCity has arrived in its center. On 10 and 11 June, a big public celebration marks the opening of the new squares, promenades and bridges around Magdeburger Hafen. The idea behind the event is "bridge-building" since the new central area around Magdeburger Hafen bridges the gap between HafenCity and the existing city center. Now the Inner Alster and Magdeburger Hafen are only 900 meters apart and can be quickly and easily reached on foot via the central "Domplatz Axis" in just minutes. The first mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz, opened the bridge with official celebrations on 10 June.

20.05.2011 - Osaka 9 – the new HafenCity Sustainability Pavilion

The HafenCity InfoCenter in Kesselhaus now also has a "green" branch. Since May 2011 the Osaka 9 Sustainability Pavilion on the Magdeburger Hafen promenade has been bringing HafenCity’s sustainability themes alive. The 120 sq.m exhibition space provides a compact overview of the most important topics of ecological urban development.

28.04.2011 - "Summer on the Magellan Terraces" becomes "Summer in HafenCity"

From 2006 the program for “Summer on the Magellan Terraces” was focused solely on the Magellan Terraces as a location, with a series of themes such as “summer tango”, “author readings taking the stage”, “BauTraum – planning and building for children”, and street theater.

08.04.2011 - "A park for everyone" – Sandtorpark opens with a local street party

HafenCity’s first green park, Sandtorpark, is to be opened with a neighborhood street party. From now on this green space is available to residents and visitors to HafenCity, children from the school and kindergarten or employees from surrounding workplaces to enjoy. It covers 6000 sqm, forms the green heart of the second neighborhood in HafenCity to reach completion, and is an important place for free time, relaxation and conviviality.