Living With Flooding in a German Port Town

HafenCity, a development in the German port city of Hamburg, sits outside the city's main flood protection dike. Yet the community is being hailed as "a model for climate change resilience," writes Peter Yeung, thanks to its innovative use of centuries-old techniques that mitigate the effects of flooding, which is anticipated to become more severe as extreme weather worsens.

Rather than fight the flooding, some of HafenCity's structures, like the public promenades along the river and retrofitted brick warehouses, are built to withstand being flooded. "It’s a dramatic example of how a city can plan new development around the certainty of future flooding. While Hamburg sits more than 100 kilometers from the North Sea, its lowlands are vulnerable both to storm surges and heavy rainfall."

While most of the city is protected by a dike, HafenCity fell outside the area which could reasonably and affordably be integrated into the dike's domain. Its designers used another ancient Dutch technique: the terp. "Based on an ancient Dutch technique for building atop artificial mounds, the practice predates the modern era of seawalls" and promotes "[t]he concept of living with water rather than attempting to wall it off." The practice is also used in other parts of Hamburg to mitigate seasonal flooding. These strategies are coupled with a Storm Surge Warning Service that broadcasts announcements and provides information in the event of more unpredictable, catastrophic events.

Hamburg's success provides useful lessons for flood adaptation strategies that "focus on flexible, multi-use designs that are nature-based."