In Hamburg, surviving climate change means living with water
The German city relies on an innovative mix of new and ancient techniques to keep new waterfront development dry amid rising sea levels and more frequent storms.
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Schaper is referring to a 157-hectare, semi-artificial island on the banks of the River Elbe in the German port city, which experts describe as one of the world’s most innovative urban flood protection systems — even though it uses a technique that’s millennia-old.
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Officially established in 2008, much of HafenCity is built on top of an artificial sand terrace, known as a terp, that lofts new construction, roads and public spaces 7.8 to 8.5 meters above the high-tide line. Some older buildings, including the district’s UNESCO-protected red-brick Speicherstadtwarehouses that date back to the 1880s, remain at their original lower level, but they have been hardened to withstand occasional inundation, with direct exits to the upper level and reinforced windows and other forms of waterproofing below. Public promenades along the riverside are likewise designed to be floodable.
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Instead, HafenCity’s designers turned to a time-tested alternative: the terp. Based on an ancient Dutch technique for building atop artificial mounds, the practice predates the modern era of seawalls. “It’s a very old system,” says Gönnert. “But bringing it to a dense urban area with modern architecture is new. Nowadays we are able to protect the city against storm surges and sea level rise in a very safe way. Sea level rises will become greater after 2100, but we have research and working groups to find new defenses. In the old times, we simply reinforced the dikes. But now we need to be creative.”
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