The Innenhafen (Inner Harbour) in Duisburg, Germany, is connected to the Rhine River, encompasses an area of 89 hectares (220 acres).

This former industrial area has been fundamentally transformed, a process which started as a part of the International Building Exhibition Emscher Park (IBA) which ran from 1989 until 1999.

During the Middle Ages a Frankish regal court was built on the banks of the Rhine, today that place is occupied by the Rathaus.

The first steps in giving the inner harbour a new face were taken at the end of the 1980s with the opening up of city walls and the construction of a new living quarter on Corputiusplatz.

Within the framework of the IBA Emscher Park, which renovated the industrial areas of the Ruhr in an exemplary fashion, a transformation design for the entire Inner Harbour was launched.

The water was to be reincorporated into the city, it was to be made freely accessible and produce an enhanced quality of living – and attract investors.

Foster has – under contract from the City Council – come up with a new master plan, for the western part of the Inner Harbour, bordering directly onto the Altstadt.

This master plan foresees a transformation similar to that which has been carried out in the eastern section – which is itself still ongoing: A further area for a new building lies at the further end, near to the Küppersmühle.