Oberbillwerder

In the context of the ‘growing city of Hamburg’, ensuring good housing and living conditions in the city while at the same time creating additional living space are the greatest challenges. Two complementary strategies are needed in order to achieve this: (1) greater density in the inner city – ‘More city in the city’ – in order to manage growth in the existing districts with good infrastructure and (2) Hamburg’s expansion in its outer suburbs towards more urbanity– ‘More city in new places’. In the light of this, the Hamburg Senate has commissioned the IBA Hamburg GmbH to carry out the first planning phase for the Oberbillwerder area. This phase comprises the creation of a master plan, including a costs and financing plan and a high degree of local citizen participation.

The plans are now in the early stages

The plans for this area of around 120 hectares are in their early stages. The intention is to create lively neighbourhoods offering many different options for living, working, education, leisure, sport and recreation. One of the challenges lies in interlinking landscape and housing. In addition to a wide range of residential accommodation, the development of the new district offers an opportunity to create new, attractive workplaces for the present and future population of Bergedorf and of Hamburg as a whole.

The intention is for Oberbillwerder to appeal to residents of different origins, incomes, ages and life situations. Various options are under consideration, from student accommodation to barrier-free living and from owner-occupied to publicly funded rental housing. Other objectives of the planning process concern density, height and urban planning targets for the new district. Forward-looking ideas in the fields of sustainability, mobility, and energy and heating supply are to be taken into consideration in the plans.

Process and involvement

During the next two years a master plan for the Oberbillwerder area will first be produced in a cooperative planning process. The IBA Hamburg will collaborate on this in close consultation with the Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen (Ministry for Urban Development and Housing) and the Bezirksamt Bergedorf (District Office Bergedorf), as well as with experts, urban and rural planners, architects, politicians and local players. The aim is to involve experts and interested public parties in generating ideas, discussing alternatives and working out high-quality urban planning solutions for a varied and liveable district. Experience from comparable successful European projects will feed into the process at the same time.

The IBA Hamburg has taken on the task of issuing detailed information about the upcoming planning process for Oberbillwerder and inviting participation. This includes events, dialogue with associations and initiatives, target-group oriented workshops, bids for online participation, a public ideas workshop with experts, surveys and consultative participation in Bergedorf. The whole process must also be transparent and will be continuously documented.

The entire planning and realisation process for Oberbillwerder is expected to extend over 10 to 15 years. During this period there will always be opportunities for improvement.