This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
The capital of Denmark is a beautiful and avant-garde city. For the last decades, its development has been oriented around cycling and ecology. It is thus well on the way to becoming the first carbon-neutral capital of the world, in 2025. Its urban planning has also been carefully thought out, and audacity, greatly encouraged in architecture. So much so that this Scandinavian municipality is today considered by the great urban planners as one of the most influential and inspiring cities on the planet.
Make way for urban cyclists
To understand the capital of Denmark, you have to do like the majority of its inhabitants: explore it by bike. We then realize how safe and well-designed cycling infrastructures are. Most of the city’s cycle paths are raised 10 to 15 cm above the roadway, huge multi-storey bicycle parking lots are installed in all its neighborhoods, and road signs are adapted to the many bicycles, which coexist perfectly with other vehicles on the road. Not surprisingly, in these ideal safe conditions, 62% of Copenhageners commute to school or work on two wheels.
So much so that this city has, in recent years, overtaken Amsterdam to become the new world capital of cycling. In the center of Copenhagen, there are more bicycles (675,000) than inhabitants (602,000). Something to inspire the other major cycling cities of the world, including Montreal, to do even more to encourage their citizens to adopt this means of transportation as much as possible. Because we observe that the development of cycling in the agglomeration has greatly reduced noise and air pollution, in addition to improving the health of residents.
Creativity everywhere
To understand how Copenhagen is a dynamic and creative city, you absolutely have to go for a ride in the neighborhoods of Christianshavn and Nordhavn. These unfold, along a few kilometres, on the shores of the city’s former industrial port, perfectly equipped for cycling. Huge transformation works, launched in 2009, will last until 2050, particularly in Nordhavn, where 40,000 housing units and as many workspaces must be created in the long term.
This ambitious development project is considered the largest of its kind in Europe and represents a true open-air laboratory in terms of urban planning, active transportation, sustainable development and ecological architecture. This former neglected port area is now home to magnificent urban amenities, renowned restaurants and the greatest cultural institutions of the city of the Little Mermaid.
Swimming on the menu
You could start your getaway by going for a swim in one of the five whitewater pools at the Islands Brygge Harbor Bath, which can accommodate over 600 people. These pools — and many others — are hugely popular with young and old bathers in Copenhagen, who take advantage of these facilities for fun and cooling off in the summer. Slides and elevated structures allow the more adventurous to jump into the water, while long floating wooden boardwalks offer the possibility of sunbathing.
Avant-garde style
Along the banks, you will not fail to admire the many buildings that have been built there in recent years, which demonstrate how urban planning and architectural competitions can transform a city quickly and dramatically. Thus, the greatest contemporary “starchitects” have jostled and are still jostling to erect works of art whose beauty and originality have created an emulation that above all benefits the residents of Copenhagen.
The marvels thus line up: the futuristic Copenhagen Opera; the elegant Skuespilhuset, the Danish Royal Theatre; the spectacular Royal Library of Denmark, the most imposing in Scandinavia, nicknamed the “Black Diamond”; as well as the Danish Architecture Center, made up of a multitude of glass squares. These institutions — and many others — will give you, in just an hour or two of your visit, a three-dimensional portrait of the best in world architecture. As if you were walking through an extraordinary open-air museum.
Ecological awareness
Beyond their great aesthetic qualities, the districts of Christianshavn and Nordhavn also stand out for the ecological dimension of their buildings. They use solar energy, recover rain or sea water for their air conditioning systems and are carbon neutral.
But one building in the area stands out in particular from the others, both for its original architecture and for its unique characteristics. Indeed, Amager Bakke (Amager Hill) is probably the most famous waste incinerator in the world. Built between 2013 and 2017, it is the perfect example of Danish creativity. The outer envelope of this building with a very prosaic function is an incredible outdoor centre. Indeed, the work in the shape of a small mountain hosts several ski slopes, in winter, as well as a small urban park including hiking trails and a climbing wall. In addition, to raise awareness of greenhouse gases, the plant ejects a huge steam ring into the air, about 21 meters in diameter, visible from almost anywhere in the city, each time a ton of carbon is issued.
You could finish your journey by crossing one of the many bridges in the area reserved for bicycles, including the spectacular Cycle Snake, inaugurated in 2014 and over 200 meters long. It weaves its way between ultra-modern buildings fresh out of the ground and will give you the impression of driving through a city of the future, where nature has its place thanks to human genius.