Düsseldorf. Metropolis on the Rhine

STRATEGIES, PROGRAMS, AND PROJECTS
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Tip of the harbor with Hyatt Hotel
CONTINUITY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY
Two projects in the 1980s/90s decisively shaped the city development of <strong>Düsseldorf</strong>: the Rhine
embankment tunnel and the Rhine embankment promenade celebrated their twenty-fifth
anniversary in the summer of 2019. The incorporation of the Rhine into the city was no doubt
the biggest urban development leap in the more recent history of the city. In the context of the
“Blaugrüner Ring” (Blue-green Ring) project, there are currently discussions about an extension
of the promenade towards the north.
The development of the Media Harbor, on the other hand, is a continuous process that
started at the beginning of the 1980s and has been regaining significant momentum in recent
years. It started with the construction of the Rhine Tower (1982), the new building of the Landtag
of North Rhine-Westphalia (1988), the building of the WDR studio <strong>Düsseldorf</strong>, and the Rhine
Park Bilk, the latter in the neighboring district of Unterbilk. From 1989, the second phase was
realized. The goal was a modern office and service quarter that incorporated existing buildings
worth preserving. The creative mix of old buildings and modern architecture was to provide
space for the settlement of companies, especially from the media sector.
With the construction of the “Dancing Houses,” the Gehry buildings at Neuer Zollhof,
the Media Harbor was endowed with its own architectural landmark in 1999. International star
architecture now characterizes the cityscape at the waterfront.
City planning and urban development in the twenty-first century should now place a
greater focus on public space and the mix of uses, in other words on the vitality of the urban
quarter.
EXTENSION OF THE RHINE EMBANKMENT PROMENADE TO THE SOUTH
Despite the short distance between Burgplatz and the Media Harbor, there is a break to the
southwest of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, a missing link between the Rhine
embankment promenade and the harbor. Closing this and at the same time adding a further
building block to the parliament and government quarter is the aim of the Landtag extension
on an area currently used as a car park right by the Rhine Tower.