Starting this year, the European Commission will award the title of "European Green Capital". The title honors cities with excellent performance in environmental protection and climate change mitigation. The EU Commission believes that the title will foster competition between cities as well as lead to exchange of best practices exchange. After Stockholm in 2010, the second titleholder is Hamburg, the important harbour city in Northern Germany.

"As a major industrial center and the third largest harbour in Europe Hamburg is facing particular challenges in environmental protection. We have the opportunity and the duty to consistently interlock ecology and economy with one another," says Hamburg's Senator of the Environment, Anja Hajduk. The Hanseatic city plans to use its title to showcase projects within six distinct thematic areas, all related to what the city of the future will look like.

With mobility, for example, further expansion of public transport is planned. Among other things, the construction of a new light rail system is being planned, the first section scheduled to open in 2014. Furthermore, the city is focusing on environmentally friendly bicycle traffic. The cycling network will be extended and more city bike stations will be established. The city bike rental system was launched last year. It currently has 72,000 registered users and about 1,000 bicycles at 71 hire stations. Every day between 2,000 and 4,000 trips are made with the little red bikes. In 2011 the number of bikes will rise to 1,500 at approximately 120 hire stations.

In the field of climate and energy, the Hamburg Senate has big plans: The city's CO₂ emissions will be reduced by 40% by the year 2020 and by 80% by 2050 – both in comparison to the year 1990. As a first step in achieving this objective, the Senate has launched a package of measures. For example:

• The urban housing will gradually concentrate on passive houses, which do not use conventional heating.
• The environmental protection standards in public buildings will be raised so that they are based on the passive house standard.
• The performance of wind turbines in Hamburg shall rise from currently 45 MW to 100 MW in the medium term. Furthermore, the introduction of a programme for geothermal energy is being examined.
• The municipal energy supply company Hamburg Energie will install at least ten additional megawatts of solar power on the roofs of Hamburg by the end of 2011. The first renewable energy plant of Hamburg Energie, launched in 2003, was a photovoltaic system built on a former landfill.

City government has continued to play a consistent role in the protection and expansion of green areas. Among other things, at the International Garden Show 2013 a 100-acre park will be created. Parks, playgrounds, sports fields, allotments, and cemeteries will be linked to a green network that makes it possible to move between the city and countryside on separated walking and bicycle paths, undisturbed by traffic.

In urban development Hamburg is growing at its core. The city is utilising former harbour and industrial areas within its boundaries to transform them into new districts for living and working. The best example is the HafenCity, the largest urban redevelopment project in Europe, a huge area that will eventually be home to over 10,000 people and over 40,000 jobs.

In noise prevention, Hamburg is planning to cover a huge section of an important highway. The four kilometer long cover will carry green areas with parks, small gardens and paths, connecting neighbourhoods now separated by the highway.

Environmental protection and economic success must be consistent, only then is the future viability of cities protected in the long run. Hamburg is a pioneer in the promotion of sustainable, resource-efficient business practices. The city is engaged in the Hamburg Environmental Partnership, an alliance between the Senate and Hamburg's economy. Thanks to the partnership, over 1,500 companies have agreed to voluntary environmental efforts, including 600 environmental partners, and that number is expected to grow. As environmental partners, the companies invest in clean technology, introduce environmental management systems, optimize operations based on energetic criteria, or plan other voluntary environmental protection measures. Many of these measures are funded by the city. The investments do pay off in the long run, because they often lower the operating costs considerably.

The conservation and sustainable use of resources such as water, soil, and air, the avoidance of waste and increasing recycling play an important role in environmental protection in Hamburg. The city will take the initiative to increase the amounts of collected waste paper and organic waste significantly. They are retrofitting existing recycling bins that currently only store packaging material to collect other plastics and metals. Moreover glass collection and production of biogas from organic waste are to be optimized and expanded.

The impact of our consumerism on the environment is often underestimated. An important task of the city of the future is highlight the close link between environmental protection and consumer awareness. In Hamburg, the first major exhibition for sustainable consumption in Germany will take place from May, 27 to May, 29 2011. The aim of the fair "goodgoods" is to combine ecology and responsibility with quality, functionality, and design.

Hamburg will disseminate the best of its environmental projects in the form of an interactive exhibition throughout Europe. The "train of ideas" starts in Hamburg in April 2011 and will visit 17 European cities, including Zurich, Vienna, Copenhagen, Paris, Brussels and Barcelona. The exhibition will feature the most successful best practice projects from the metropolitan region. Additionally, numerous other cities will be invited to present their innovative environmental projects.

In Hamburg itself discourse is encouraged, in order to develop good practices and concepts for the future of European cities. A series of high-profile events are planned, such as the first International Environmental Law Day, which should work out a framework of legal guidelines in maritime environmental protection. The Greenport Congress will bring together international harbor and environment experts to speed up sustainable development in the port industry

The next Green Capitals are already determined: Hamburg's direct successor is Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) and Nantes (France) in 2013.

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