The Pop-Up Circular Hub is Hamburg’s temporary circular economy hub, launched in April 2024 and hosted for 12 months in the former Karstadt department store “Jupiter” in the city centre. On 750 m², it serves as a physical meeting place for circular initiatives - combining exhibitions, co-working, workshops, and exchange. Located directly next to Hamburg’S Central Station, the hub illustrates the MoLo Hubs approach of linking sustainable mobility and circular urban services, providing easy access by train, subway, bus, bike, or foot. Find out more >>
Key Challenge
Hamburg faces the challenge of integrating diverse circular activities dispersed across the city into a cohesive ecosystem. Another key challenge is the temporary nature of available urban spaces and the question of how to transition from short-term pilot projects to permanent infrastructures that support circular business models and collaboration.
Piloted Solutions
The Pop-Up Circular Hub tests how temporary, centrally located spaces can activate circular communities and make the circular economy visible to the public. Through events, exhibitions, and co-creation formats, it pilots new ways of collaboration between public authorities, businesses, and citizens. The hub also functions as a testbed for developing the long-term concept of a Circular Hub at the Elbtower, a potential landmark site for circular innovation in Hamburg, linking research, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement — and exploring how circular and mobility hubs can mutually reinforce each other within the MoLo Hubs network.
Latest News
Find out more about the pilot area in our latest Project News.
From April to December 2024, the Pop-Up Circular Hub (PUCH), located in the Jupiter, a former department store in the city center of Hamburg and just over the street to Hamburg’s central train and bus station, offers activities around the topic of circular economy with workshops, panel discussions, exhibitions, advice and a co-working space.
The project also received public attention through an article in the Hamburger Morgenpost (MOPO) highlighting how the initiative re-imagines urban spaces for a circular future.
© Hamburger Morgenpost
Project Partner
© Text & Pictures: HiiCCE