Hamburg – A welcoming city of opportunities

18 January 2019

Discover how Hamburg balances growth with liveability through affordable housing, inclusive planning, and bold urban renewal.

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Through the provision of good affordable housing and education, strong social integration efforts, inclusive planning processes, and respect for built heritage as well as a distinctive cultural identity, Hamburg has created good quality of life within a conducive environment for its inhabitants. In this photo essay, we look at the various strategies and initiatives that make Hamburg a good city to live in.

Catering for a growing city

Hamburg is Germany’s second largest city after Berlin with a population of 1.78 million. Once a historic port city, behind only London and New York in terms of import and export volumes before First World War, Hamburg today remains a major port and a global service, media, logistics and industrial hub. In July 2015, Hamburg’s historic warehouse district and its neighbouring counting house district (Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel), were listed as world heritage sites by UNESCO.

Hamburg’s population is growing and expected to reach 1.9 million by 2030. Population growth is driven by birth surplus as well as immigration – young people in particular are moving to Hamburg for job opportunities and further education. As a growing city, Hamburg has to provide sufficient space for housing, office and industrial use, as well as improve its urban mobility.

Aerial view of a dense urban cityscape with brick buildings, a river, harbor, and docks on a sunny day.

Aerial view of Hamburg © Andreas Vallbracht

A black steel arch bridge spans a narrow canal beside large red brick warehouse buildings in Hamburg's Speicherstadt.

The historic Speicherstadt district – a UNESCO World Heritage Site © Thomas Hampel

Aerial view of Hamburg harbor with the Elbe River, docked ships, historic buildings, and a cloudy sky.

The River Elbe © Dirk Rußmann

A busy shipping port with rows of colorful cargo containers, cranes, and wind turbines in the misty background.

The Port of Hamburg © Christian Spahrbier

HafenCity: more city in the city

HafenCity is a redevelopment of a former inner-city brownfield site that radically transformed the underused 157 hectares of harbour and industrial space into a dynamic mixed-use district, while complementing the adjacent Speicherstadt district. It is a demonstration of the city’s focus on densification in the built-up area of the city and utilising inner city space more efficiently rather than building on peripheral areas, following the strategy of 'More City in the City'.

HafenCity is a plan-led urban development and one of its major objectives is the urban mix of housing, workplaces and recreational use on a small scale. It deviates from the old model of dedicated office districts, in that there are no single use buildings and users are ‘forced to meet their neighbours’, leading to cohesion and integration. Like all major urban development projects in Hamburg, new projects in HafenCity consist of three equal parts: one third social housing, one third condominiums, and one third privately funded rental housing. This ensures the right conditions for a good social mix and diverse urban neighbourhoods.

Black and white aerial view of a busy harbor with ships, warehouses, and a sprawling city in the background.

Aerial view of HafenCity before redevelopment © City of Hamburg

Aerial view of a large city with a river, dense buildings, and a modern concert hall along the waterfront.

HafenCity today © Andreas Vallbracht

People relax along a waterfront promenade with modern glass office buildings and trees in the background.

Marco-Polo-Terrassen © Thomas Hampel/EBBE&FLUT

Aerial view of a modern waterfront city district with mixed-use buildings, a tree-lined promenade, and a river.

Public waterfront showing the diversity of mixed developments © Thomas Hampel/EBBE&FLUT

A tall cylindrical glass tower stands in an urban plaza with trees, people, and modern buildings under a blue sky.

Office buildings around Sandtorpark © Thomas Hampel/EBBE&FLUT

People walking and cycling on a riverside promenade with a metal bridge and a small pavilion visible in the background.

HafenCity is developed as a city of short distances that promote walking and cycling © Thomas Hampel/EBBE&FLUT

People sit on a bench with bicycles watching others play basketball in an urban plaza surrounded by modern buildings.

Play spaces for everyone © Thomas Hampel/EBBE&FLUT

Two modern red brick apartment buildings with multiple grey balconies, seen through green trees in the foreground.

Residential developments that incorporate affordable housing components © Thomas Hampel/EBBE&FLUT

Outdoor market with a crowd near a brick building, red bunting flags overhead, and vintage furniture arranged outside.

Oberhafen – railroad yard as cultural quarter © Thomas Hampel/EBBE&FLUT

A living laboratory of innovative urban solutions

After the great storm surge of 1962 that claimed the lives of hundreds of people in Wilhelmsburg in the south of the city – the largest river island in Europe, many residents left the area. In subsequent years this area became a 'problem area'. Following a Conference and a policy paper in the 2000s, Hamburg developed the International Building Exhibition (IBA) as a powerful tool to develop and boost the growth of the booming metropolis.

IBA implemented some 70 innovative projects in the area, many of which are experimental and/or demonstrative in nature, seeking to address the many urban issues that Hamburg and many other cities face today. Similar to that of HafenCity, IBA adopts an integrated holistic approach which is broadly decoupled economically from political budgeting processes.

Aerial view of a city and surrounding fields with a blue dashed route traced along a winding river.

The extent of Wilhelmsburg © IBA Hamburg GmbH

Aerial view of a mixed urban district with modern buildings, green spaces, roads, and railway tracks.

New developments in Wilhelmsburg with access to public transportation © IBA Hamburg GmbH/Falcon Crest Air

A long red brick apartment building with dormer windows, bare trees, and a trimmed hedge along a quiet street.

A row of red brick apartment buildings with green benches and shrubs along a sunny sidewalk.

Social housing in Wilhelmsburg – before and after showing the interventions to create a more intimate and liveable environment © Johanna Kähler & IBA Hamburg GmbH/Martin Kunze

Children playing in a circle on a concrete playground in front of a massive dark brutalist concrete tower.

Large brutalist concrete building with cylindrical towers and a grid-like metal roof structure, surrounded by green lawn and trees.

Aerial view of a large construction or land development site surrounded by suburban neighborhoods and trees.

Aerial view of a racing circuit surrounded by trees, wind turbines, highways, a river, and fields.

A former landfill site is converted into 'Energy Hill' – a renewable energy for 40,000 households and a viewing point © IBA Hamburg GmbH/www.luftbilder.de

Inclusive planning processes

Over the last decade, Hamburg has made it a point to involve citizens in urban planning on a level that by far exceeds the statutory provisions stipulated by building and planning law. People have the opportunity to participate in the very early stages of planning – the results often lay the groundwork for the actual planning – through various channels including but not limited to workshops, face-to-face interviews, online participation, surveys or town hall meetings.

An example of such an inclusive planning process is Hamburger Deckel – the decking over for parts of the Autobahn A7, which currently divides densely populated neighbourhoods of the city, to provide noise protection. The conversations and discussions with citizens enabled the administration to convince gardeners holding allotment gardens within the implementation site to give up their existing plots and be compensated with new ones to be built on top of the new decks.

When completed, the decks will provide several additional benefits besides protection from traffic noise – enable land along autobahn to be developed; safe crossings for school children; and pedestrian/cycling shortcuts reconnecting previously divided parks.

Aerial view of a city with a curved highway, dense green trees, buildings, and a river in the background.

Aerial view of the motorway (Autobahn A7) in 2016 – an urban artery leading to the tunnel under the River Elbe © Ministry of Urban Development and Housing/Matthias Friedel

A multi-lane highway with vehicles, a curved noise barrier wall, and a tall brick apartment building beside it.

Side-by-side comparison of a busy open highway and a rendering of the same road covered with a green park above a tunnel.

The A7 today (left) and a visualisation of the future Autobahndeckel over the A7 (right) © Ministry of Urban Development & DEGES/V-KON

Aerial 3D render of a highway with a tunnel underpass surrounded by trees, green spaces, and buildings.