EU Global Gateway

19 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, EU blog post series, European Union Reading Time:  7 minutes

© European Commission/cc-by-4.0

© European Commission/cc-by-4.0

The Global Gateway Initiative is a worldwide strategy by the European Union to invest in infrastructure projects and establish economic partnerships, based on certain principles. The project was initiated by the EU Commission, under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen. It is part of the current plans for European strategic autonomy, and establishing bigger, more democratic and more sustainable trade networks for Europe and its partners. The initiative is also seen as an alternative or rivalry to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, which EU leaders heavily criticised because of human rights abuse concerns and economic risks, disadvantages and a one-sided trade relation. The EU wants to encourage links, and not dependencies, according to Ursula von der Leyen. As of December 2022, Global Gateway has been criticized for failing to provide concrete details on projects and drawing heavily on already-existing programmes.   read more…

Theme Week Hamburg, the gate to the world – Elbe suburbs

5 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Bon voyage, Hamburg, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  10 minutes

Strandhotel © Staro1

Strandhotel © Staro1

The Elbvororte (Elbe suburbs) are located in the West of Hamburg with an increased density of wealthy inhabitants. The greatest and most of impressive collection of villa’s from 18th and 19th centuries are located here, as well as the headquarters of the oldest and most prestigious companies in the city. Like nowhere else in the city here you can experience and observe the typical Hamburg life philosophy. Besides the quarters described below there are Sülldorf, Klein Flottbek (home of the Derby Park hosting the Riders Tour and other international derby events), Groß Flottbek and Osdorf.   read more…

Milan, Italy’s moral capital and gateway to the world

30 April 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture Reading Time:  9 minutes

Milan Cathedral - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II - Royal Palace of Milan © Dodo

Milan Cathedral – Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – Royal Palace of Milan © Dodo

Milan is a city in Italy and the capital of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1,318,000, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza, is one of Europe’s largest with an estimated population of 4 million spread over 1,980 km2, with a consequent population density of more than 2,000 inhab./km2. The growth of many suburbs and satellite settlements around the city proper following the great economic boom of the 1950-60s and massive commuting flows suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded well beyond the boundaries of the city proper and its agglomeration, creating a metropolitan area of 7.4 million population expanded all over the central section of Lombardy region. It has been suggested that the Milan metropolitan area is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density.   read more…

Theme Week Hamburg – Inner city and Alster

3 February 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Hamburg Reading Time:  13 minutes

Alster Panorama © IqRS + DooFi

Alster Panorama © IqRS + DooFi

Innenstadt
Hamburg is the shopping metropolis of Northern Germany. The many shopping streets and shopping malls offer a large variety of goods. From chic boutiques and traditional Hamburg fashion shops around the Alster, to unusual and alternative stores found outside the city-centre area. The entire area between Gänsemarkt, Town Hall, Inner Alster Lake and Hamburg’s main train station is the “shopping heartland”. Of course, numerous alternative shopping districts can be found in all city districts, especially in Harvestehude, Pöseldorf, Eppendorf, Winterhude, Poppenbüttel, Sasel, Blankenese, Wandsbek and Altona, where one can find and explore small but excellent designers and backyard factories, but none of the districts invites in a more typical Hanseatic environment to merciless overdraft the personal credit facilities, as the inner city does with its almost majestic shopping malls and street courses. The attraction is the architecturally unique ambiance of the numerous building ensembles so that even men are able to develop restrained joy in shopping.   read more…

Theme Week Hamburg – St. Pauli, Reeperbahn, St. Pauli Landing Bridges and Fish Market

30 January 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Hamburg Reading Time:  15 minutes

St. Pauli Theater and police station Davidwache © Andreas Praefcke

St. Pauli Theater and police station Davidwache © Andreas Praefcke

St. Pauli
St. Pauli located in the Hamburg-Mitte borough is one of the 105 quarters of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the Landungsbrücken are a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pauli contains a world famous red light district around the street Reeperbahn. Around 28,000 inhabitans are living here. At the beginning of the 17th century it developed as a suburb called “Hamburger Berg” (Hamburg mountain) outside the gates of the nearby city of Hamburg and close to the city of Altona. The name comes from a hill in that area that was planed by Hamburg in 1620 for defence reasons (free field of fire for the artillery). Therefore, settlement was initially allowed there, but soon businesses, which were not desired inside Hamburg, e.g. for their smell or noise, were relegated to “Hamburger Berg”. Also the rope makers (or “Reeper” in Low German) went here because in the city it was hard to find enough space for their work. The name of St. Pauli’s most famous street Reeperbahn, or “Rope Walk”, harkens back to its rope making past. When people were officially allowed to live in St. Pauli at the end of the 17th century the city government moved workhouses and (pestilence) hospitals out of the city to “Hamburger Berg”, which later was named after its church, “St. Pauli” (Saint Paul).   read more…

Theme Week Hamburg – Rotherbaum

29 January 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Hamburg Reading Time:  8 minutes

Hamburg University - Main building © Merlin Senger/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hamburg University – Main building © Merlin Senger/cc-by-sa-3.0

Rotherbaum is a quarter of Eimsbüttel, a borough of Hamburg. In 2016 the population was 16,456. In German, “roter Baum” means red tree. The “th”, which in general was abolished in the spelling reform of 1900, was preserved in names. Depending on grammatical context, it might also be spelled with n as Rothenbaum. The campuses of the University of Hamburg and the University of Music and Drama of Hamburg are located in Rotherbaum. Directly at the artificial Außenalster lake is the Consulate General of the United States.   read more…

Theme Week Hamburg – Harvestehude

28 January 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Hamburg Reading Time:  8 minutes

Deutsche Presse-Agentur © AltSylt/cc-by-sa-4.0

Deutsche Presse-Agentur © AltSylt/cc-by-sa-4.0

Harvestehude is a quarter of Hamburg, in the borough of Eimsbüttel. It is located on the eastern boundaries of the borough near lake Außenalster. Located within Eimsbüttel borough is the former Jewish neighbourhood Grindel, the former center of Jewish life in Hamburg. Especially the quarter between Mittelweg and Harvestehuder Weg is a very affluent neighbourhood.   read more…

Theme Week Hamburg – HafenCity and Speicherstadt

27 January 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Hamburg Reading Time:  8 minutes

Speicherstadt © Heidas

Speicherstadt © Heidas

Speicherstadt
The Speicherstadt is the world-largest timber-pile founded warehouse district of the world. It is located in the port of Hamburg—within the HafenCity quarter—and was built from 1883 to 1927. The district was built as a free zone to transfer goods without paying customs. As of 2009 the district and the surrounding area is under redevelopment. The warehouses were built with different support structures, but Andreas Meyer created a Neo-Gothic red-brick outer layer with little towers, alcoves, and glazed terra cotta ornaments.   read more…

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