Västra Hamnen, the Western Harbour in Malmö

Västra Hamnen in Malmö is a new, ultramodern district, formerly used as a port and industrial area. The area is comparable to the London Docklands or similar districts in Helsingborg, Gothenburg (Eriksberg) and Stockholm (Hammarby sjöstad).

Västra Hamnen is growing

Västra Hamnen is expanding rapidly. You can tell by the numerous building cranes. At present, there are around 3,000 apartments and 8,000 jobs. The goal is to create 10,000 apartments and 17,000 jobs.

Kockums

For over one hundred years, Kockums was a large shipyard. However, with the European shipyard crisis, it had to close down in the 1970s. Subsequently, the site was used by SAAB and by the Malmö Trade Fair.

Bo01

Eventually, the housing exhibition Bo01 (“bo” means “to reside” and “01” refers to the year 2001), which attracted worldwide attention, took place here in 2001. The centre of a new district was born. The styles, colours and materials of the buildings constructed for the expo were very varied. Today, the developments of the district still adhere to this concept: Architecturally, Västra Hamnen is diversified and multi-variant.

Beaches, esplanades and parks

Information brochures about Malmö often advertise Västra Hamnen. Although the area is an office and residential district, it also has an eight-kilometre-long shoreline with bathing spots, green spaces and seafront esplanades. Moreover, there are several beautiful parks in Västra Hamnen that offer playing (Varvsparken), skating (Stapelbäddsparken) and climbing (Boulderparken) opportunities.

On sunny and warm summer evenings, the west side of Västra Hamnen (Daniaparken as well as Scaniaparken and Scaniabadet respectively) attracts the people of Malmö who go swimming and have picnics here. One can find cafés and restaurants along the seafront, too. The area is also popular with many locals who come here for their Sunday strolls.