IBA HAMBURG 2013 – SPACES FOR COSMOPOLITAN URBAN SOCIETIES

The International Building Exhibition Hamburg 2013 clearly widened the focus. It accepted the challenge to provide answers to the questions about the gain that international urban society represents for development of metropolises, about the design of “inner city edges” and, ultimately, about how to approach and design the city in exemplary fashion during a time of climate change. Here attention was directed to the islands in the River Elbe in Hamburg. With a population made up of people from more than 100 different nations the Elbe Islands in Hamburg are a place of diversity and internationality. Under the guiding theme “Kosmopolis” the question was asked “how can an urban society that is growing and becoming increasingly international develop its strength and how can social and cultural barriers be overcome through a holistic approach to planning  using the means of urban planning and architecture as well as education, culture and the promotion of local economies?” With concrete building projects as well as social and cultural programmes new urban spaces for the international urban society of the 21st century were developed, without any obligation to mix but with the possibility of building bridges.“3 For the first time in the history of building exhibitions the future of living together in the metropolis became the focus of an International Building Exhibition.

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