Case studies

Innovation in a large-scale urban waterfront development project – the case of HafenCity Hamburg, Germany

ABSTRACT

Large-scale urban development projects in particular open up a vat number of additional structuring opportunities for inner city areas. By effectively combining regional and local as well as public and private interests they can create new forms of urban quality. However, this requires an active commitment on the part of public decision makers regulating the market-related context of large-scale projects. Best practice urban development provides an operational interface between market-driven real estate development and developing the city as a public good. Using the HafenCity Hamburg project as a case study, the aim is to demonstrate how public and private interests can be reconciled in major, largely private-sector funded real estate development.

Comprising 155 hectares of land directly adjoining the Elbe River as the future home of 12,000 residents and 40,000 service sector employees, and the location of outstanding cultural facilities and public spaces, HafenCity Hamburg is one of Europe’s most significant central city urban developments extending the central city area of Hamburg (1.8 million inhabitants, 4.3 million inhabitants in the metropolitan region) by 40%. About 5 billion euros of private sector investment matched by 1.2 billion euros in public funding create the basis for a sophisticated multi-use concept, featuring also high-quality public spaces, social, academic and cultural facilities. With a public ownership share in the land of over 90% at the start of the project (former harbour use) the sophisticated process management of HafenCity Hamburg can act as a benchmark project for similar developments in other metropolitan areas.

BIOGRAPHY

Juergen Bruns-Berentelg, CEO, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, Hamburg, Germany

After graduating from high school ( Des Moines, Iowa, USA and Germany) and his military service as a naval officer, Juergen Bruns-Berentelg obtained his major in geography studying at Hannover and Oldenburg Universities. Following a postgraduate period at the ISS in The Hague, The Netherlands, in development studies he worked as a consultant in Africa.

After receiving an additional degree in real estate economics at the European Business School (EBS) he entered the real estate business at the end of the 1980s. He was Deputy Head at the Berlin branch of the British real estate consultancy firm Healey and Baker, and from 1996 was the managing director of the German branch of the globally active real estate development company Tishman Speyer in Berlin. He was involved in major urban renaissance projects (eg. Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin). Juergen took over the responsibility for real estate development as a member of the management board at B&L Immobilien AG, moving to Hamburg in 2000. In 2003 he became the CEO of the state owned HafenCity Hamburg GmbH development company and thus made the change over to the public side of urban development. In this position he is responsible for one of the most important waterfront development projects internationally.

Juergen is a member of a number of professional organisations including the Urban Land Institute (Washington), the Society for Research into Real Estate Economics (gif), the German Council of Shopping Centres and the DVAG (German Association of Applied Geography) and is an active lecturer at universities and to the public.

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