16 December 2011

HafenCity ~ Achieving Urban Vitality By Design?

Der Spiegel video and article spotlight the latest developments at HafenCity Hamburg...
"HafenCity sits less than a kilometer from the Hamburg town hall and its success is essential to Germany's second largest city. But how to ensure that success? How can one make certain that this very important piece of real estate actually becomes a living, breathing part of the city -- a place where people want to both work and spend their leisure time? Indeed, how can one guarantee that a brand new neighborhood actually feels neighborly? [...] Many of the new structures are certainly aesthetically pleasing, but HafenCity does not feel like a city center. In fact, apart from a couple of lit windows and one or two pedestrians out with their dogs, it feels like nothing so much as an oversized ghost town."

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