The redevelopment of the Copenhagen harbourfront and recent planning strategies: towards a sustainable development?

The goal of this paper is to investigate to which extent waterfront redevelopment in Copenhagen has stimulated a sustainable development in the sense of sustainability highlighted in the environmental programs of the European Community. In Copenhagen, no clear statement on enforcing sustainable development principles has been attached to the planning of the redevelopment of the harborfront areas. Nevertheless, this paper shortly presents an evaluation of the urban conversion of the Copenhagen harborfront sites and of their redevelopment strategies with regards to their contribution to sustainable urban development. The results presented here are part of my more comprehensive body of research concerning waterfront redevelopment in Copenhagen. Emphasis in this paper is placed on the necessity of promoting a qualitative urban conversion that cannot be solely fulfilled through a mixed land-use planning policy or a compact city strategy. Promoting a coherent strategy that allocates a greater importance to the urban and regional contexts, to the democracy of the process and to the urban-architectural dimension is a main determinant of the outcome. This paper highlights the recent planning strategies of the late 1990s and highlights their potentials for drawing up new paths towards sustainability. The aspects of the recent strategies demonstrate that a better reconciliation of the conflicting interests between the actors involved (the State, the Municipality and the Port Authority) is more capable of drawing up solutions that will benefit all parties, as well as city inhabitants. This paper starts with a brief introduction to the sense in which sustainable development principles have - on a European level - been introduced into physical planning and the manner in which this could be reflected on waterfront redevelopment and its evaluation. It throws light on the redevelopment of the Copenhagen Harborfront and its planning policy and places an emphasis on the city's recent planning strategies. Furthermore, this paper presents an essay on the evaluation of waterfront development and strategies with regards to sustainable development. This briefly considers mixed-use development, compactness, environmental control, integration of the new developing areas in their neighborhoods and social and economic goals. The discourse also strives to highlight some of the obstacles that have faced the implementation of a coordinated redevelopment strategy. Finally, this paper culminates by extracting some conclusions that should be taken into account when making both planning and political choices.