Mobility in Oberbillwerder

What would urban space look like if its design was aligned to satisfy human needs rather than how many parking spots fit on the available space? There is the unique opportunity of turning a future vision of mobility into reality in Oberbillwerder.

In the East of the Hanseatic city, the IBA is shaping the 105th district of Hamburg - Oberbillwerder - on 124 hectares. Approx. 7,000 apartments, 5,000 jobs and the corresponding educational and meeting facilities will arise there in future. The winning draft of the urban development competition was submitted by the architect's office ADEPT in cooperation with the landscape architecture office Karres en Brands. The Connected City comprises of five quarters, which all differ in quality and atmosphere. The holistic concept particularly defines mobility as an open space design element. The aim is to limit the share of motorised individual transport down to 20 percent of the overall traffic and reinforce both the public transport system as well as the bicycle and foot traffic.

The railway station Allermöhe already exists in the southern part of the area, which will in future ensure connections between Oberbillwerder and Hamburg Central Station every 15 minutes. Two already existing bus routes will be extended and will connect the new district to the surrounding areas.

The existing cycle route 9 runs parallel to the railway line from Bergedorf - the adjacent district to the east - to the city centre and integrates Oberbillwerder into Hamburg's network of fast cycling routes. The district Neuallermöhe that lies to the south of the railway embankment is to be connected to the new district via several crossing points. A crossing in the east will allow the connection of the cycling and foot traffic and will form one of the three connection points for road traffic. Crossing the tracks at the railway station is exclusively designated for public transport means and bicycle and foot traffic. Furthermore, a bicycle bridge over the middle part of the tracks is conceivable.

Importance has been placed on the precise design of the mobility particularly within the urban district. The superordinate idea of considering the open space as a component thats add quality of life to the overall concept thus shaped every mobility decision.

The result is an efficient approach to the traffic areas in the quarters and an intelligent multiple usage of the space. The urban development concept envisages a so-called mobility loop, which distributes the traffic as a superordinate route in Oberbillwerder. The network of roads and routes is divided up into staggered mobility, which only allows a slight increase in the frequentation in a very targeted manner.

Only a small proportion of the access routes is designed for vehicle usage. Most of the residential buildings will be accessible by footpaths that are purely designated for bicycle and foot traffic.

The Green Loop will run through the entire district offset to the Mobility Loop. It is not only a traffic area for bicycle and foot traffic, but will also offer high-quality free space. The space will be used for mobility purposes as well as for recreation, sport and leisure activities. Beyond this, manifold small paths and landscape routes will weave through the district, which will invite people to go for a stroll and explore.

The benchmark in terms of the number of cars in the district is 0.6 per residential unit. The resulting number of parking spots will in future be aligned to cover both the people who live and work there as well as visitors. Only the educational facilities and the swimming baths will offer further car parks on their own premises. Regular parking will exclusively be possible in the 11 mobility hubs, so that the majority of the district is free from stationary traffic. These will be positioned close to each other and thus guarantee equal and fair access to sustainable mobility. Positioned in central locations and at public institutions - especially along the Mobility Loop - they link up the bicycle and foot traffic with the public transport system and the motorised individual transport.

In order to integrate multi and intermodal mobility into the everyday routine, the mobility hubs serve as pioneers, the significance of which however goes far beyond the mere parking function on the upper levels. As well as classic parking spots, car sharing offers and charging stations for e-mobility will be found on the parking levels. The ground floor zones of the hubs are foreseen for public usage and will provide for instance space for mobility and service offers. Depending on the location, cultural or social centres, communal (winter) gardens or handicraft offers will be found here.

The idea is to not imagine the hubs as mobility nodes, but as firmly established social meeting points within the quarters. It is additionally planned to make sure the free space around the mobility hubs offers high ambient quality to ensure a seamless transition between the communal usage of the ground floors and the public space.

The roof surfaces will be used to produce energy and for water retention purposes and can optionally also offer space for sports facilities and communal gardens.