Transit Oriented Development: Case of Copenhagen
The Copenhagen plan is an example of a corridor plan, which distributes the development of uses along movement and Infrastructure corridors. This plan was first promoted in 1947 and is still organising the development of Copenhagen.
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is a city of around 1.7 million inhabitants, situated on the coast in the north east of the island of Zealand. In 1947, the first regional plan for the Copenhagen area was made in order to combat the uncontrolled urban growth arising from industrialisation. This so-called "Finger plan" described an urban structure shaped like a hand with five fingers, based on railway patterns. New urban settlement was to be restricted along the existing railway lines. Further master plans were subsequently designed with a view to protecting the centre of Copenhagen from activities that generated more traffic and nuisance. In the early 1990s, the reform on planning authority distribution and a law on a permanent link between Denmark and Sweden over the Oresund led Copenhagen to design a new plan - the Municipal Plan of the City of Copenhagen (1993).
The Municipal Plan of the City of Copenhagen 1993 aims at:
- Designing a compact urban structure based on public transport. This entails a long term restructuring of working places according to public transport stations.
- Enhancing and transforming the growth of the city in the harbour area.
- Strengthening the "green" aspects of the city.
- Restoring and maintaining the historical quality of specific city districts and their diversity.
- Though planning ideals have of course been changing throughout the period, regional planning in Copenhagen has been reasonably successful in:
- Trying to co-ordinate land-use.
- improving integrated planning between the different administrative levels
- promoting public transport and reducing travel time, and in decentralising public and service activities in favour of secondary centres
Above is a table providing literature review key notes on the concept of Transit Oriented Development, extracted from My PhD, Chapter 2.
Project Manager | Urban Planner
10 年Thanks Rafik. Interesting summary and well worth highlighting the positive outcomes. I agree with Mattias, there are distinct locations that are low density with little alternative land uses.
Professor - Business Strategy at ICFAI Business School
10 年The Idea of expansion of the Capital in 'radial transportation corridor, is really a brilliant design for future scalability to de-congest the historic city in future of motor vehicles. Rafik, this must be a model for all global Port cities. Thank you for sharing.The TIVOLI park is saved forever.
Spatial Development Strategist | Urban Planner and Designer | Sustainability Innovator | Government Advisor | Consultancy Expert | Academic Educator
10 年It will be really interesting to read some uptodate reviews, as well as your own one, based on the latest planning theories and practice... Tough request :-)
Urban Design, Planning & TOD Expert; LEED AP ND, ISOCARP
10 年Yes, with their finger plan they were indeed decades ahead of most other cities. I had, however, a closer look at the actual stations and their surrounding areas (remotely via Google Earth) and had the impression that they are mostly low-density and not necessarily very pedestrian-friendly or mixed-use. Quite a few seemed to be based on modernist design principles (not in a good way), and some were not even located in the centre of the communities they were serving. What's your impression, Rafik?
Design Manager (Landscape + Infrastructure)
10 年This is a great read Rafik, thank you. Some cities, (& regions) are worthy of a urban planning review/critique, the Copenhagen / European example is one of them.