Master Plan

Revision of the Masterplan: Taking the HafenCity Concept Further

Western HafenCity has developed rapidly since approval of the Masterplan in 2000. The east is still an area in the planning phase, for which the Masterplan has now been developed further. Each of the three neighborhoods in the eastern section – whether creative, active, residential and business quarter, or metropolitan center – will have an individual profile

The future district will be made up of western, central and eastern sections, divided up into ten neighborhoods (© M. Korol / HafenCity Hamburg GmbH) Start slideshow

Eastern districts get their own profiles

The eastern neighborhoods are not as spatially compact or as well integrated into the existing city as western and central HafenCity. Motorized through-traffic also poses special challenges for noise protection. But this also creates opportunities to create special identities for the eastern neighborhoods.
Their urban development structure is closely related to conditions for their utilization. Each neighborhood will have its own focus: Baakenhafen as a place to live and for leisure, Oberhafen for creative and cultural uses, and Elbbrücken as a metropolitan location for business and housing.

Additional land area will be gained, for example, by partially filling in Baakenhafen harbor basin, which will lead to more green landscape and allow a second line of residential buildings in a location protected from noise. In place of the original target of around 1.5 million sqm of gross floor area (GFA) in the whole of HafenCity, increased area and density now mean that 2.32 million sqm GFA can be realized. Land area overall increases from 123 to 126 hectares.

In eastern HafenCity housing can be built in places previously not considered very suitable. A total of 2,800 housing units can be created in Baakenhafen and Elbbrücken, raising the total number of homes in HafenCity from 5,500 to 6,000, with an increased average unit size of 110 sqm GFA. Community building associations will receive more consideration in site tenders and subsidized public rented housing will also be built. Additional primary and secondary schools as well as child daycare facilities will also enhance HafenCity’s attractions as a place for families to live. The number of potential jobs also rises markedly from 40,000 to well over 45,000. The new jobs will be primarily in leisure, retail, catering and hotels.

More green and high sustainability standards

The leafy character of HafenCity will be considerably intensified. Squares, small and large, and links between them will advance urban spatial integration. Lohse-park, the “Central Park” of HafenCity, will be extended down to the River Elbe. In the south, an Elbe promenade may encourage people to stroll on to Enten-werder; an area for play and leisure is to be created in Baakenhafen harbor basin.

The total area of public spaces in HafenCity increases from 24 to 26 hectares (not counting private areas accessible to the public); the public waterfront extends from 10 to 10.5km. The high standards of sustainability set in the western neighborhoods will actually be outdone by the east. This progress is due to the innovative heat supply concept as well as the planned high proportion of new buildings qualifying for the gold HafenCity Ecolabel. The extension of the U4 subway line to Elbbrücken station makes another important contribution to environmental quality.

Eastern HafenCity has excellent road infrastructure. Its accessibility for through traffic, however, will result in heightened exposure to traffic noise in some places. For such locations, intelligent urban planning and technical concepts will therefore be applied. Along Versmann-strasse – the main traffic artery – mixed use buildings, with their broad backs turned toward the road, provide noise-protected areas to the southern side. The semi-closed residential ensembles will form inner courtyards, which will ensure sheltered neighborly coexistence.

The reworking of the Masterplan further reinforces HafenCity’s function as a city. For the first time the plan’s provisions for the urban development scheme now embrace the entire area through to its eastern most point, laying down highest standards.