Nordhavnen City Regenerative

Copenhagen, Denmark
WAN Award 2009 Urban Design Sector joint Winner


Green harbour
New waterfront regeneration plan for Danish port

The competition brief called for urban planning and innovative architectural strategies to create a dynamic, unique, and sustainable city district poised for growth over the next 50 years. This 200 hectare waterfront site is currently a container port and cruise ship terminal. The new district is expected to house 40,000 residents, create 40,000 jobs, and provide access for 40,000 bicycles.

The project vision, entitled City Regenerative, connects urban infrastructure, extends existing waterway, and weaves open space through a series of neighborhoods and commercial nodes. The project sets a new standard for low-carbon consumption by satisfying all of its energy needs; optimising water resources and recovery whilst minimising and naturally filtering waste, aswell as recycling materials and buildings.

The plan uses on-site manufactured housing that will be a generator of local employment, reduce construction and pollution costs, and boost economic diversity. Development is phased and concentrated in a series of long self-sustaining neighborhoods, freeing a vast open space along the sea for habitat creation. Spaces for individual gardens are integrated within neighborhoods, as well as in ‘green towers’ that are stacked with greenhouses for community farming.

Capitalising on Nordhavnen’s harbour setting, the proposed design expands the city’s canal system. It connects a central canal to the Copenhagen Havn and weaves a secondary network of waterways through compact mixed-use neighbourhoods. This urban quilt of greenways intermixed with transit and waterways enables residents, workers and visitors to have convenient access to multiple modes of transportation, open space, parks, natural areas, neighborhood services, and the harbor.

The other WAN Award 2009 Urban Design Sector joint winner Beijing International Airport by Foster & Partners