HafenCity in the context of "Free economic zone"

The Speicherstadt (German pronunciation: [ˈʃpaɪ̯çɐˌʃtat], literally: 'City of Warehouses', meaning warehouse district) in Hamburg, Germany, is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on timber-pile foundations—oak logs, in this particular case. It is located in the port of Hamburg, in the HafenCity quarter, and was built from 1883 to 1927.

The district was built as a free zone to transfer goods without paying customs. The district and the surrounding area have been under redevelopment for many years as the port industry has evolved. As an exceptional example of Neo-Gothic and modernist architecture, and for its testimony to the development of international maritime trade, the Speicherstadt was awarded the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site on 5 July 2015, along with the Kontorhaus District.

Scholz & Friends is one of Europe's largest advertising agencies. The company was founded in Hamburg by Jürgen Scholz, Uwe Lang and Michael Menzel in 1981. Today, the company has dual headquarters in Hamburg-HafenCity and Berlin-Mitte. Scholz & Friends started a joint venture with Commarco which was acquired by the WPP Group in 2011.

The Elbphilharmonie (German pronunciation: [ˈɛlpfɪlhaʁmoˌniː] ; "Elbe Philharmonic Hall"), popularly nicknamed Elphi, is a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River.

The new construction resembles a hoisted sail, water wave, iceberg or quartz crystal resting on top of an old brick warehouse (Kaispeicher A (de), built in 1963) near the historical Speicherstadt. The project is the result of a private initiative by the architect and real estate developer Alexander Gérard and his wife Jana Marko, an art historian, who commissioned the original design by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, who developed and promoted the project (since 2003 in cooperation with the Hamburg-based real estate developer and investor Dieter Becken) for 3.5 years until the City of Hamburg decided to develop the project by itself. It is the key project of the new Hafencity development and the tallest inhabited building in Hamburg, with a final height of 108 metres (354 ft).