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Evan Schopke

Fall O9 ILC

Sustainable Community Development and Education

Hamburg Eco-city and Creative Industrial Complex

Hamburg Germany is a European port cityknown for paramount sustainabledevelopment. Widely known as the "GermanVenice" Hamburg is advancing urban planningand design, ecologically friendly building, andsustainability education to become one of the

world's most innovative developing ecocities.Recently, Hamburg has unveiled a design for aurban ecocity complex1 that would provide

myriad ecological and social benefits. The three fundamentalcornerstones of sustainability are equity, ecology, and economyand Hamburg's new ecocity complex hits all three. By embracingsustainable education in conjunction with strategic ecological andeconomic investment Hamburg has brought new force to the ideaof the "creative industrial complex" and the vast potential it

holds. Hamburg is also home to the Hamburg University and tothe unique Hafencity University of Architecture and CityDevelopment which offers a wide variety of interdisciplinarycourses related to eco-city innovation. It is for these reasonsthat Hamburg was nominated twice as the official city of the UNDecade of Education For Sustainable Development2 and theEU European Green Capital City for 2011.

The creative industrial complex can be defined as the fusion of

educational, expressive, and industrial capacities with in an

1. Hamburg eco-city's sustainable creative-industrial complex08.24.09Treehugger design and architecturenews: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/hamburgs-ecocity-creative-industrial_complex.php?dcitc=th_rss2. UN Decade of Education for Sustainabledevelopmenthttp://www.unesco.org/en/esd/

http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/green_cities_submenu/awardwinner_2011.htmlhttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/hamburgs-ecocity-creative-industrial_complex.php?dcitc=th_rsshttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/hamburgs-ecocity-creative-industrial_complex.php?dcitc=th_rsshttp://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/hamburgs-ecocity-creative-industrial_complex.php?dcitc=th_rsshttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/hamburgs-ecocity-creative-industrial_complex.php?dcitc=th_rsshttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/green_cities_submenu/awardwinner_2011.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/green_cities_submenu/awardwinner_2011.htmlhttp://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/http://docs.google.com/File?id=dqn74b6_89qn5qtvz3_b

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integrated and compact environment in order to promotecreativity, ecological stewardship, and cooperative businessactivity and growth. The development of the creative industrialcomplex happens by three means. First of all, there must be

appropriate infrastructure investment both in sustainableinfrastructure (green roofs, water catchment, compost andrecycling, passive and active solar design ect) as well aseducation (demonstration spaces, classrooms, laboratories,studios). This infrastructure provides the incubation environmentfor innovative businesses which will then sustain the viability ofcomplex as a whole. Having these diverse groups workingtogether who are dedicated to principals of sustainability in acompact location creates a unique cultural nexus. This happens

by means of a natural cultural feedback loop when a saturation ofcultural values that promote healthy environmental and socialpractices, diversity, and expression ends up reinforcing thosevalues with into the larger material culture. The other primarydistinguishing feature of the creative industrial complex is theinteraction with the public sphere. Through out the HamburgEco-City Complex there will be numerous educational displaysand galleries educating visitors as to the numerous environmentaltechnologies employed on site, as well as, the occupants activities

and individual contribution to sustainable practices. Thisengagement with the broader public brings education andinnovation into the public realm and inspiration into the privaterealm, where firms can then customize designs based on publicfeedback and input.

It is this unique cultural intersection thatimpacets lasting changes in behavior, ways ofthinking, and material structure. This cultureof sustainability reinforces and furthers thegrowth of the technological innovation that thecomplex employs. The hamburg ecocity will feature the latest ingreen technology and landscaping. The overall lay outincorporates easily walkable and eye catching environments thatare close to public transportation. Green roofs help to cool thebuilding and also clean storm water runoff. Energy generation in

http://docs.google.com/File?id=dqn74b6_90f9dxvcxp_b

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the form of wind and solar along with strict efficiency standardswill bring added long term benefits and cost savings. Verticallandscaping in the form of green walls adds to the aesthetic valueof the building, creates more green landscape, and cools the

buildings further enhancing other energy saving techniques.Linking residential and commericial spaces with vertical bridgesbrings the added flow of people, ideas, and resources through outthe complex. The well known philosopher Michel Focoault oncedescribe the world as complex web of heterotopias3 ordistinguishably unique spaces that are ever changing andevolving. The Hamburg ecocity complex is a perfect example ofthe sustainable heterotopias needed to maintain ecologicalstability into the future.

3. Michel Foucault. Of Other Spaces (1967), Heterotopias