The largest urban inner-city urban renewal project in Europe is dazzling even before it’s completed. More than 400 acres of former docklands along the River Elbe will eventually increase the size of the inner city by almost half and double the amount of housing in Hamburg. While it’s estimated that it will be 2020 before finishing touches are put on the streets, plazas, and riverside promenades, some stunning glass towers are already transforming the skyline. Check out the shiplike Unilever building at Strandkai 1, and the Elbphilharmonie, the new philharmonic hall slated to debut, after many delays, in 2015—even unfinished it’s a stunning addition to the cityscape, an undulating wedge of frosted glass that seems to rise from the water like the prow of a ghost ship. You can find out more at the HafenCity InfoCenter, Sandtorkai 30, open Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 6pm (May–Sept until 8pm).