Hamburg Hafencity: a district still in the making

SAP set up its regional headquarters here in 2003, joined by others such as Kühne & Nagel and Unilever. As the project progressed, the pace of change accelerated, with the Germanischer Lloyd maritime classification society opening its new headquarters in spring 2010, followed by Spiegel in December 2011. At the end of 2011, there was talk of "more than 300 companies that have already created 8,400 jobs"in HafenCity. But the final goal is still a long way off. While the district is taking shape, development plans are still being drawn up for the next 10-15 years. In the pipeline are the university, the Greenpeace headquarters, the science centre, the green Lohse park and the Elbphilharmonie, a spectacular concert hall destined to become a symbol of the district. Eventually, HafenCity should be home to 12,000 residents, 45,000 jobs and all the shops and restaurants needed to liven up the area. To see if the promise is kept, see you in 2025.