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The interactive exhibition “Visions for Future Cities” will present in an entertaining, informative way how future cities can be shaped to enhance quality of life and sustainability. Until 21 April, the “Train of Ideas”, the moving ambassador of Hamburg, can be visited at Hamburg-Altona train station. After that, the train will commence its journey through 17 European cities. Copenhagen will be the first stop; the train will remain there from 26 to 29 April.

Starting in Hamburg, then visiting Copenhagen, the train will further stop in the following cities: Malmö, Gothenburg, Oslo, Zurich, Munich, Warsaw, Riga, Tallinn, Vienna, Barcelona, Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and finally return to Hamburg.
More than 100 exponents form Hamburg and other European metropolitan regions will be displayed on this mobile exhibition. Stretching out over six connected containers, projects from the following topic domains will be displayed: “Urban Development and Living”, “Mobility”, “Energy and Climate Protection”, “Nature and Parks”, “Resource Protection and Business”, and “Consumption”. Hamburg is going to present its major city planning programmes and environmental protection schemes, among them Hamburg’s new quarter, HafenCity Hamburg, as well as the Energy Hill on the Wilhelmsburg river island. Malmö for instance will present its “Sege Park”, Scandinavia’s largest photovoltaic project. Nantes, selected as European Green Capital for 2013, presents a project that enables citizens to influence the climate strategy of the city.

The first container will take the visitor on a virtual bus tour through the city of Hamburg. The second container invites visitors to express their thoughts and develop their ideas on environmental and climate protection in their local city. Forward-looking utilisation concepts from Hamburg and other cities are covered in the third container, while the fourth provides an insight into nature as a treasury for urban living. Finally, the last two containers address the issue of decreasing global resources and the impact that climate change will have on cities and states.

The concept for the “Train of Ideas” exhibiton was one of the main reasons why the EU Commission decided to award the title of “European Green Capital 2011” to Hamburg. The cities competing for the title had to prove their ability to transport the idea of the Green Capital to an international audience and engage in dialogue with other European cities. What is more, Hamburg was also able to document the city’s high ecological standards and the fact that it has bold objectives for the future.

“I was very impressed with the way in which Hamburg tackles its challenges”, said EU Commisisoner Janez Potoènik, “You can take for example the municipal green electricity provider, or the city’s excellent public transport system that focusses on sustainability, or the waste disposal site that was turned into an Energy Hill.” According to Mr Potoènik, the EU Commission was also impressed with Hamburg’s climate protection scheme that aims at reducing CO emissions by 40 percent by 2020 compared with the year 1990, and a reduction of 80 percent by 2050. “These are ambitious objectives for a large city such as Hamburg – but it can be achieved”, said Mr Potoènik.