Hamburg wins "Green City of the Year" design award

"We are delighted that the city of Hamburg has been honoured with this year's prestigious ‘Green Good Design' award for its leadership and remarkable achievements in putting sustainability at the top of its urban agenda," said Kieran Conlon, Director of the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Voted as the European Green Capital in 2011, Hamburg is growing greener every year with the catchphrase "Take Nothing But Pictures, Leave Nothing But Footprints". The city is "one of the ten most sustainable cities in the world", according to the initiators. Hamburg has managed to successfully combine industrial and green with forest, verdant and recreational spaces, nature reserves and protected landscape areas covering 44.5 per cent of the metropolitan area, and a switch to climate-friendly mobility. Its ambitious sustainability goals are also being reached. The jurors praised the focus on renewable energies and high ecological standards. The city's title as a pioneer of sustainable urban development is well earned, the institute said.

Conlon stressed, "Hamburg should serve as a role model for other cities and share best sustainability practices with all other European cities." HafenCity is particularly noteworthy in terms of sustainability with its "efficient and climate-friendly urban structures, forward-looking mobility concepts and green spaces". The master plan, adopted in 2020 and updated in 2006, envisages the gradual creation of new offices and apartments for around 15,000 people and 35,000 jobs on a total area of 370 acres (150 hectares) to be completed by 2025.

The landfill/mountain-of-waste in Georgswerder was also praised for its transformation from toxic waste dump to a superior example of renewable energy generation. The area is now a mountain-source of renewable energy with four wind turbines and photovoltaic units established and an information centre where one can learn everything about the past and the glorious present of the place in an exhibition called "The Tamed Dragon". The Green Network (GrünesNetzHamburg), a green design concept, launched in 1919, also came in for praise as it continues to make Hamburg an "outburst" of green culture!

Hamburg is among 150 winners of the "Green Good Design 2021" awards and will feature in an exhibition organized by the European Center and the Chicago Athenaeum at the Contemporary Space Athens from May 14-30, 2021.
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