Hamburg’s early starting point for a higher education of the built environment professionals was the initiation of a building and engineering drawing class (Bauzeichenklasse). Brought to life back in May 1767, for the following 250 years the organization and academic professionalization of the built environment education in Hamburg has undertaken a long and sometimes winding road through several organizations, times, policies. This book is drawing a bow from this first initiative to today’s HafenCity University Hamburg with its pronounced interdisciplinary strategic profile, combining all built environment related disciplines together with a socio-cultural reflection on cities and urban society under one roof.

Science and the City links three perspectives: It shows Hamburg’s organization of the built environment education from a retrospective, provides insights into institutionalized interdisciplinarity at various institutions and underlines the interdisciplinary approach at the HafenCity University Hamburg in particular.