Glasgow City Heritage Trust, in collaboration with Architecture and Design Scotland and The Lighthouse ran a Commonwealth Lecture Series in 2014. Speakers travelled from various countries to speak at the series, which primarily focussed on placemaking and sustainability.
This lecture illustrates Hamburg’s green and urban development, plus the city’s background and transformation into the green network of today.
Frank-Pieter Hesse, former Head of Conservation and Planning for the City of Hamburg will speak about ‘The Hamburg City Park – Its Genesis, Change and Preservation’. At nearly 150 hectares, the park is home to various recreational spaces including gardens, playgrounds, cafes and a forest. Hamburg City Park is also home to numerous sculptures, a planetarium and an outdoor theatre. The unique spatial design makes Hamburg City Park a gem of people’s parks in Germany and around the world. The lecture will address whether the irregular or architectural structures are suited to meet the new use requirements of the modern city park associated with the public park movement. Both the historical discussions about its design and and their impressing result justify the assessment of Hamburg City Park as a cultural monument of national, historical, urban and artistic significance. The lecture will deliver insight into the genesis, alteration and preservation maintenance of Hamburg City Park.
Heino Grunert from the City Development & the Environment department from the City of Hamburg will focus on ‘100 years Green Legacy: Hamburg City park and the development of the green network’. Since 1993 he has worked at the State Ministry of Urban Development and Environment, Historic Gardens and Parks of Hamburg. At the beginning of the 20th century, Hamburg grew rapidly like many other industrial cities in Europe. However, there were many problems with hygiene and health in certain parts of the city. During this period Hamburg only had a few public gardens which, although aesthetically beautiful, served no real purpose as a recreational space as sport and play were banned in these areas. At this time, Hamburg intensively discussed a new public park for everybody. Hamburg City Park opened in 1914 with the neighbouring town of Altona (which today is a part of Hamburg) also building another large city park. Both parks were completed at the end of the 20th century with both towns obtaining autonomous green administration in 1913/1914.