The neighboring districts are Oberneuland in the north, Osterholz in the east, Hemelingen in the southeast, the eastern suburb (Östliche Vorstadt) in the southwest, Schwachhausen in the west and Horn-Lehe in the northwest.

Because around 100,000 apartments were missing in Bremen after the Second World War, 1954 Bremen began to build the „garden city Vahr“ (Gartenstadt Vahr) with 2200 apartments in a few years.

The structurally condensed „Kurfürstenviertel“ was built till 1972 with the so-called „Großer Kurfürst“ building.

The „Berliner Freiheit“ with a big shopping center became the center of Vahr on with the dominant landmark, the 22-story Aalto-Hochhaus, which was completed in 1961 according to the plans of the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.

Vahr is the only district of Bremen without a center that has grown historically over centuries.