The HafenCity core location has sustainable qualities - Essay Example

THE HAFEN CORE LOCATION HAS SUSTAINABLE QUALITIES of Q Keys Aspects toDeveloping a Sustainable Urban CentreSustainable development comprises of four main dimensions. These are such as culture, environment, economics and society. Thus, the expansion of the HafenCity Humbug should incorporate such aspects. It is of great significance to urban development sustainability prediction and planning for purposes of fortifying environmental, economic and social perspectives of development. It is only through this approach that interaction conformity can be provided between state, business and society.

This is in correspondence to urban sustainability principles determined by regulations and regulatory laws, agreements made international and general recommendations. These principles are essential in defining the continuity and integrity of urban designed systems. This eventually would result to the planners having a clue on how to plan and predict urban ecological and socio-economic developments perspectives. Furthermore, it will enhance the harmonization, integrity and mutual consistency with the prediction and urban development documents.

Therefore, urban developments that are sustainable should focus on objectives that are long-term. In addition to that, it should address the existing environmental and socio-economic problems existing in the cities and also focus on future preconditions (Vanags and Grizans, 2010, p.1100).Existing CriticismCities are considered to be territorial and socio-economic unit in which economic and business activities are carried out, job opportunities are created, emergence of new technologies occur.

Despite the advantages of Hafencity Humbug city expansion, it poses threats to the sustainability of the environment as it will lead to increased population and industrial expansion. In such cases, the demand for urban resources will drastically increase and consequently the amount of waste stream. The urban planners may attempt to provide improvements to the local environment while inadequately addressing issues such as the depletion of the ozone layer and global warming which are characterized by urban behaviour external impacts.

Thus, in such a context, urban sustainable development should be perceived as a wider goal of integral ingredient, working towards achieving a sustainable global development. These goals are veered towards the promotion of inter-generational equity, geographical equity, social justice and environmental stewardship (Haughton 1997, p.193). In addition to that, the documents used to formulate city strategies are wide and might ignore important information needed to monitor the projects. Significant difference with reference to HafencityHafenCity play a critical role in promoting sustainability.

Despite it having numerous industries and excellent infrastructures it still achieves ecological sustainability. For instance, companies have to adhere to the Ecolabel gold HafenCity stringent standards in order to carry their operations. In addition to that, new and constructed buildings have to meet the building standards of the German Council. Furthermore, the city is promoting greener technology. For example, a branch is being opened whose main purpose is to concentrate on the research and development.

The major focus will be based on the offshore wind sector of energy. Thus, the expansion of the city might not interfere with their green environment (“Hafencity Hamburg”). Q. 2 Urban Planning It is argued that, urban planning spearheaded by modernist often rejects the city. This is because, the planning itself rejects human beings residing in a community characterized by a seeming chaos and layered complexity. The modern planners always utilize deductive reasoning in their endevour to find principles of planning a city (Jacob 1993, p.151). As a result, Jacob (1993, P.151) advocated for the following four main generators of diversity.

These are such as mixed uses, street activation at distinct times of the day, use of short blocks for purposes of allowing pedestrian high permeability, building of various states and ages of repair and density. Hafen city perfectly fits Jacob’s description of an urban sustainable development as it has incorporated the above four concepts. For instance, the city reflects the concept of mix use, the degree of urbanity, has excellent and systematic connections of public transport system. In addition to that, the city is promoting sustainable construction which has helped in attracting businesses as well as multinational companies who exhibit innovative concepts.

Furthermore, it has diverse environment comprising of various activities ranging from commercial buildings to dwelling places thus catering for a high density of people.Inductive reasoning is that which moves from specific ideas to general ideas whilst deductive reasoning moves from ideas that are general to specific. In that case, as planners we need to use inductive reasoning for purposes of finding principles by which cities are planned. In that case, there is no need of separating urban uses in categories such as commercial, industrial and residential.

This is because, such policies are claimed to destroy innovative economies and communities through the creation of unnatural and isolated urban places.Q.3. How the Urban needs are incorporated into the future of Hafen CityIn the new millennium new years, human kind are facing various challenges as they move onto a path that is sustainable. Cities are becoming homes to almost half of the human population. As a result, they are expanding rapidly than ever recorded in human history. Even though cities are providing wide economic opportunities in the new world economy, they are highly contributing to environmental degradation both within and outside their boundaries.

In addition to that, most of them are suffering from social problems. In that case, cities have a significant role to play in their endeavours to achieve sustainability (Newman 2008) and Hafen City is not an exception. According to the CEO of Hafen City, they are on the forefront to ensure that Hafen City is well managed and has an effective urban development. In addition to that, he is looking forward to see that the city furnishes the needs of the innovative users who are of high quality via utilization of “leading-edge construction concepts.

” The city ensures that the buildings constructed comply with the stringent measures/ standard of the “Hafen City Ecolabel and Certificate of the German Sustainable Building Council” (DNGB). The needs of a city are such as the meeting of needs that are basic such as food, shelter, income, water and work for all individuals residing in the city, ability of individuals to access a wide dimension of resources and experiences. In addition to that, individuals should have a chance to access a wide variety of communication, interaction and contact.

The city should also avail to its people a diverse, innovative and vital city economy. Moreover, the city should enhance connectedness with the cultural, past and biological heritage of the dwellers in the city and also with other individuals and groups. Hafen City has been able to provide all these needs to its people. For instance, there is a high demand for property in the city which has helped in reflecting the mix use concept, its high degree of urbanity, its means of public transport that are highly excellent and has enabled a systematic construction that is highly sustainable.

In addition to that, the city has been ranked among the Top Ten because of its investments in strategic offices in Germany inner-city sub-markets.Q.4 Depth of personal reflection on issues of value, ethics, approaches and assumptions Hafen city needs to identify ideas that are radical for purposes of achieving sustainable development. The ideas reflect distinct set of judgement and values about urban and environmental development. However, both the two indicates similar policies in terms of advocating measures to reduce completely the harm done on the environment by people, cars and other human activities.

On the contrary, their approaches can differ significantly.Within the domain of environmental activists, the city model that is self-reliant has gained momentum since the beginning of 1980s (Morris 1990, p.21). The model assumes a wide range of alternative approaches. The self-reliance model being utilized by Hafen city emphasizes heavily on sorting out city’s issues from within. In essence, it has built local economies which are self-reliant in nature. In addition to that, the local economies are meeting the local demands through corporative and local businesses.

From the scenario, it is highlighted that, the role of Hafencity as a corporate location has continued to report positively. From the surveys conducted, it was proved that the city businesses had risen from 191-273 between 2008 and 2010(“Hafencity Hamburg”, p. 2). The self-reliance economy practiced by Hafencity requires the use of environmental resources that are local and also the diverting of attention to redirecting and minimising waste flows for purposes of being productively absorbed or limiting the disturbance caused to the ecosystem.

Self-reliant city model aims at changing moral values from the views of nature by human to a cooperative and decentralized means of human endeavours. From such a perspective, sustainable cities strategies are merely a radical project that achieves a weak definition of sustainable development. In that case, Hafen city needs to organize itself internally along ethical and sustainable lines where environmental conservation is mandatory. ConclusionEven if efforts are made by HafenCity to protect the environment, urban cities are always vulnerable to environmental damage as a result of business or residents congestion.

This is because information level is limited and the systems responsible for elimination or transferring environmental damage costs are still underdeveloped. Thus, citizens need to behave in manners that are ethical and follow environmental norms existing in the urban area. Decisions that are sensitive to the environment need to be made by both the citizens, business people and politicians. Before any project is implemented, there is need to do cost benefit analysis for purposes of rejecting or implementing a projectReferencesHafenCity Hamburg.

Viewed 20 March 2012 from http://www.hafencity.com/en/press-releases/core-location-with-sustainable-qualities-.htmlHaughton, G. (1997). Developing Sustainable Urban Development Models. Journal of Cities, vol.14, no.4, pp. 189-195. Jacobs, J. (1993). Death and Life of Great American Cities. Random House. New York.Morris, D.(1990). The ecological city as a self-reliant city. In Green Cities, pp 21-35. Newman, P and Jennings, I. (2008). Cities as sustainable ecosystems: principles and practices.

Washington, D.C., Island Press.Vanags, J., & Grizans, J. (2010). Sustainable Urban Development: Interaction between Business, Society and State. Journal of Economics and Management, p.1099-1105.