Germany’s Ruhr region’s green transformation ready for International Garden Exhibition 2027

At ITB Berlin 2026, Germany‘s Ruhr region highlights one of Europe’s most exciting gardens and parks event to come next year : the International Garden Exhibition 2027 which will cover five different cities and transform the image of former industrial powerhouses.  

The project has entered a decisive phase. Throughout 2025, major planning, preparation, construction, and planting activities took place across the five central “Gardens of the Future” in Dortmund, Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen, Emscherland, and Lünen.

The year 2026 will deliver further milestones. Throughout 2026, new paths, bridges, gardens, and exhibition areas will progressively open or take shape, allowing the public to witness the Ruhr’s ongoing transformation. The aim is to create spaces that become a permanent feature of the region’s identity. While creating tourism circuits and new tourism thematics for tour operators and individual travelers.

“The Future Gardens will demonstrate what transformation in the Ruhr region looks like in concrete terms – not as an abstract concept, but as a visible and usable reality. We are developing places that will last far beyond the exhibition year and sustainably shape the region’s self-image,” tells IGA 2027 Managing Director Hanspeter Faas.

Ticket sales launch in April 2026

A major symbolic milestone will take place on April 23, 2026, when advance ticket sales officially begin with a large construction-site festival in the Duisburg Future Garden. The event will mark exactly one year before the exhibition’s opening in 2027.

In the meantime, progress on the Future Gardens are already visible.

At the Future Garden in Dortmund, construction around the former coking plant park and the Deusenberg hill has already transformed parts of the former industrial landscape. Earthworks are progressing well, the Haldensprung bridge has been installed, and the first flowerbeds are in place.

This year, central pathways, the final bridge connection between the park and the slag heap, and the installation of a striking cloud-like sculpture will begin in late summer.

Duisburg is preparing one of the exhibition’s flagship locations along the Rhine. Plans for the redesigned RheinPark, new entrance areas, and the cultural harbor were finalized in 2025. The illuminated skywalk has already been completed, and the first rose beds have been planted. During 2026, large-scale landscaping will begin, including seasonal flower beds, perennial gardens, and expanded riverside paths.

In Gelsenkirchen, the transformation centers on water and climate adaptation. Extensive earthworks last year reshaped the former canal turning basin, while the historic coal bunker has been renovated. This year will see the installation of planting islands in the basin and the unveiling of themed gardens. A circular “Industry Pavilion,” will also become a striking architectural highlight.

The Future Garden in Lünen focuses on landscape connections and recreation. The installation of a new bridge over the Lippe River in 2025 marked a spectacular engineering moment. During 2026, new recreational zones will take shape, along with the “Valley Loop” landmark and improved links to regional cycling routes.

Meanwhile, the Emscherland Future Garden in the Recklinghausen district is already largely complete. Work focuses mainly on integrating the site into the wider IGA cycling network and finalizing programming elements.

Beyond the main exhibition sites, IGA 2027 also includes community initiatives designed to involve residents across the Ruhr area.With other urban destinations such as Essen, Hagen or Oberhausen promoting their green spaces with events.

ITB Berlin, Hub27-202

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