Hamburg’s HafenCity continues to grow. The Senate approved the new development plan for the western part of the Elbbrücken district on Tuesday. Around 1,400 apartments are to be built there. Around a third of these will be subsidized housing under construction, which will then be rented out as social housing.
The Senate passed a corresponding ordinance on the development plan for the HafenCity 13 area at its meeting on Tuesday.
Offices, retail, gastronomy, daycare centers, hotels and leisure facilities should also find space around the port head of Baakenhafen, as the authority for urban development and housing announced. The goal is a climate-friendly district with short distances.
Part of the district is already under construction. In addition to many green areas, Germany’s tallest wooden residential high-rise, called “Roots”, is being built in the new development quarter. Also already under construction is the “Moringa”, Germany’s first green residential building, for which particularly recyclable and non-toxic materials are used.
The basis for the new quarter was an urban planning competition in 2015 and an open space planning competition a year later in 2016. Since then, the drafts at that time have been revised and become the development plan.
The HafenCity 13 planning area is “exemplary” in many areas, said Senator for Urban Development Karen Pein (SPD) after the Senate decision. Pein has been a senator in Hamburg since December 15. Previously, as managing director, she was responsible for the urban development company IBA, which plans innovative districts for Hamburg.
According to Pein, not only will around 460 subsidized apartments be built in the district on the Elbbrücken, but the area also has a very special focus on climate protection. Between the buildings there are impressively designed open spaces for everyone in Hamburg, such as the already completed Amerigo-Vespucci-Platz, the largest square in HafenCity.
The “excellent connection to local public transport, a cross-district car sharing system located in the underground car park with a high proportion of e-cars and short, barrier-free routes between uses” are not only convenient, but also serve to protect the climate. “Anyone who wants to can do without their own car here in the future,” said Senator for Urban Development Pein.