Grasbrook: Green City by the Water

In the future district of Grasbrook, the port and the city go hand in hand. The city of Hamburg is taking the development of former industrial and logistics areas to a new level: in two different neighbourhoods, work, living, leisure and culture are being reimagined for the 21st century in a location directly on the waterfront. In addition to innovative approaches such as the sponge city principle, this also includes a forward-looking mobility concept with low-traffic access and Hamburg's first underground railway across the Elbe.

Grasbrook is being developped opposite HafenCity, directly on the Elbe. Over the next few years, around 3,000 apartments will be built on approximately 47 hectares – socially subsidised and privately financed, for cooperatives and building associations. Up to 16,000 jobs will be created, ranging from co-working and space for start-ups, flexible and digital office concepts to research and development and urban production. The German Port Museum with the historic four-masted barque PEKING is planned as a cultural beacon.

The locations of the ‘residential islands’ and the floor space of the approximately six-hectare park are already clearly visible today. The previously predominantly sealed area is being transformed into a green district – with excellent underground and suburban railway connections.

A modern metropolis needs innovative ideas and sustainable solutions. HafenCity Hamburg GmbH (HCH) has been providing impetus for this for more than two decades. The company’s expertise covers the entire process of planning, negotiating and implementing urban development. This not only benefits HafenCity, Europe's largest inner-city waterfront development project, but also the three other major projects for which HCH and its group companies are responsible: Grasbrook, Billebogen and Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld.