Hamburg and Marseille’s Green and Blue Spaces: Urban planning in service of a Post-World War II Identity Narration (1945-1973)

Public urban green spaces are a key element of the “livable” city. They serve as social and recreational spaces, are free of charge, and generally met with positive sentiments. Yet, public urban green spaces are far from banal or neutral. They are products of policies and societal ideals that reach back to the post-World War II era.

In her talk, Eliane Schmid will focus on the topic of public urban green space creation as a tool for identity narration in the port cities of Hamburg and Marseille. Joined by a city partnership, or Jumelage, from 1958 onwards, Hamburg and Marseille’s municipal governments stood in close collaboration concerning urban development projects, including park construction. Carefully planned green spaces were developed to serve as an antidote to the negative port city stereotypes of being polluted and dangerous. As their respective countries’ second cities and largest ports, the municipal governments of Hamburg and Marseille supported one another in trying to prove that port cities were valuable beyond their importance for the national economy. What this looked like exactly, who was involved and who was left out, will be discussed in this presentation.