The urban climate proof district. The case of Hamburg / Il distretto urbano climate proof.Il caso di Amburgo

Coping against the recent scenarios of global and climate change, new issues are emerging that require the search for a dynamic balance between growth and climate adaptation needs of urban contexts at risk. Many European cities are developing strategies to adapt to change while at the same time ensuring margins for urban development within reasonable environmental limits. The case of Hamburg is emblematic of a city committed to pursuing at the same time urban growth goals with those of climate protection and therefore bringing new design approaches, with a double adaptive and regenerative character. A holistic and experimental approach is applied to the transformation of marginal parts of the city by put together new needs for urban growth and environmental topics of climate proof design. Since 1997 Hamburg has run some policies that can be interpreted as a transition of the city from sustainability to resilience. Under the pressure of recent population growth and diversification, the city finds in the district the physical and conceptual dimension within which to respond to its development needs through densification and regeneration operations, pursuing climate mitigation and flood risk adaptation goals.