Hamburg’s science and research landscape comprises many locations where ideas are translated into innovations, and the districts of Harburg and Altona are particularly relevant in this regard. The Harburg district, which is home to the Hamburg University of Technology, has a strong track record as a centre of innovation, and Altona is currently developing Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld – one of Hamburg's boldest infrastructure projects of the coming decades. It integrates science, research and teaching, as well as business and urban development. In collaboration with Hamburg Invest, additional settlement opportunities are currently being created for research-intensive companies in particular. These will be located in the vicinity of DESY, and especially in the Altona Innovation Park. With DESY as the local anchor institute, the City of Hamburg, the Bahrenfeld research campus and European XFEL are thus establishing an ecosystem that combines research, teaching and innovation in a unique way.
When it comes to urban development projects, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH is currently in charge of as many as four centrally located development ventures: HafenCity Hamburg, Grasbrook, Billebogen, and Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld. While each of these have their very own locational and development logic, Hamburg’s urban development guidelines apply equally to all four ventures. The HafenCity project has certainly set new standards in many areas, especially in terms of sustainable urban development. In future, the project’s innovative impact will be further harnessed, and opportunities in the field of digitisation in particular will be integrated more closely.