abyrvalg
THE NEW YORK TIMES APPLAUDS COPENHAGEN’S URBAN DEVELOPMENT
7. marts 2012
Copenhagen’s new city sections – Ørestad and Nordhavnen – are benchmark examples of how the big cities of the world may expand in responsible ways. That is the message of a substantial article in the New York Times – so the paper once again spotlights the urban development in Copenhagen.
In a series of articles on ‘Smart Cities’, the NY Times has looked at the ways in which cities like Tokyo, Seoul, Hamburg and Rio de Janeiro cope with the problems ensuing when the megacities of the world expand. Now the prominent newspaper has let its roaming eye rest- affectionately - on the urban development in Copenhagen, and explains, with Ørestad and Nordhavnen as its points of departure, how other cities might take Copenhagen for their imitation model in their urban development. The NY Times looks into the reasons why, at a time characterized by instability in the financial markets, construction work is still going ahead in Ørestad and the start-up is still in full swing at Nordhavnen.
The newspaper describes the thoughts which, in the early 1990s, triggered the development of Ørestad and the rest of the Øresund Region, where the urban development was employed as a means to growth. The NY Times also reports on the infrastructure of Ørestad, including the fully automated metro that takes you to the city centre in ten minutes, and on its ideal location midway between the City and Copenhagen Airport. Finally, space permitted the mentioning of a number of architectural landmarks in Ørestad – Tietgenkollegiet (student residence), Koncerthuset, and Hotel Cabin Metro, inter alia.
This is far from being the first time Ørestad has been praised in the New York Times. 18 months ago the newspaper carried an article about tourism in Copenhgen in which it stated that: “No neighborhood shows off Copenhagen’s new sheen and ambition more impressively than Orestad”.
Nordhavnen is also mentioned in the article. Emphasis is on the easy access to the sea for all inhabitants-to-be of the city section, on the pocket parks, and on the low, compact structure of a city section with the right mixture of housing, retail and industry.