HafenCity
Encyclopedia
HafenCity is a quarter in the District of Hamburg-Mitte in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It is located on the Elbe river island that use to be called Kehrwieder and Wandrahm.

HafenCity Hamburg is a project of city-planning where the old port warehouses of Hamburg are being replaced with offices, hotels, shops, official buildings and residential areas. The project is the largest rebuilding project in Europe in scope of landmass (approximately 2,2 km²). The area of the HafenCity used to be part of the free port
Free port
A free port or free zone , sometimes also called a bonded area is a port, port area or other area with relaxed jurisdiction with respect to the country of location...

, but with the decreased economic importance of free ports in an era of European Union free trade, large container ships and increased border security, the Hamburg free port was reduced in size, removing the current HafenCity area from its restrictions. When completely developed it will be home to about 12,000 people and the workplace of 40,000 people mostly in office complexes. The prospect for completion is not very clear but will probably be around 2020-2030.

History

On 1 March 2008, due to a law of Hamburg, the neighborhood HafenCity was assigned the official status of a quarter.

Education

The area is served by the Katharinenschule, an elementary school. It will also be the future home of HafenCity University, a new school focusing on architecture and urban planning.

Culture

The city of Hamburg has been building a new concert hall on top of an old warehouse since 2007, to be called the Elbe Philharmonic Hall
Elbe Philharmonic Hall
The Elbphilharmonie Hamburg is a concert hall under construction in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. The concert hall is designed by Herzog & de Meuron on top of an old warehouse...

. The project was supposed to be a new landmark for the city, but has been plagued by vast cost overruns and is currently about three years behind schedule. It is scheduled to be opened by 2013.

Economy

The area is currently home to the German headquarters of both Kühne & Nagel, an international shipping conglomerate, The Spiegel Group
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...

 new headquarters on the Ericusspitze and Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

 . Greenpeace is expected to open its new headquarters in Hafencity by 2011. The Hamburg-America Center opened its doors in 2009.

Infrastructure

The Honorary Consulate of the Kyrgyz Republic
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...

 (Kirgisistan) established in Hamburg in 1995 is located in the street Am Sandtorkai 77.

Transportation

The area will be served by a newly constructed underground line, the U4
Hamburg U-Bahn
The Hamburg U-Bahn is a rapid transit system serving the cities of Hamburg, Norderstedt and Ahrensburg in Germany. Although technically an underground, most of the system's track length is above ground. The network is interconnected with the city's S-Bahn system, which also has underground...

, to be completed by 2011. The line will feature two new stations Überseequartier and Hafencity University.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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