​

Some of What We Will Learn About in Denmark and Sweden

Creating Mobility Options

Providing people with the options to safely walk, bike or use public transportation is paramount for creating a city that is not only green and sustainable, but is also livable and people-friendly. With its vast network of bike lines and even bike-superhighways, and a robust public commitment to making cycling a viable transportation alternative, the Danish capital is a model of how to free a city from domination by cars. Long a leader in this endeavor, Copenhagen continues to build on its success: fully 62 percent of commutes are by bike, up from 36 percent just seven years ago. We will learn about:

• Creating Bicycle Accounts as tools for cycle promotion

• Cycle networks – Cycle Superhighways and Green Cycle Routes

• Cycle infrastructure design

• Traffic safety for cyclists, accidents, and systematic accident reduction

• From pop-up cycle infrastructure to permanent solutions

• Connecting cycling and public transport

• Campaigns and cycle education for children

​

Climate Resilient Neighborhood Development

The aim of a Climate Resilient Neighborhood is to improve the quality of urban life in the city and neighborhood, by creating solutions which adapt to climate change, create greener spaces and are environmentally sustainable. Copenhagen and other cities in the region have instituted a series of climate adaptation projects covering entire districts in these cities, demonstrating innovative energy and rainwater management concepts that utilize both public and private spaces.

• Taasinge Square:  Originally a paved area, Taasinge Square has been re-imagined as a wildlife oasis and children’s play area that manages large amounts of rainwater from streets and rooftops.

• Roskilde:  A stormwater holding and drainage system that is also a skateboard park.

• EnergyLab Nordhavn:  This consortium develops and demonstrates future energy solutions by using the emerging district of Nordhavn as a full-scale smart city energy lab.  Although its initial timeframe was 2015-2019, many of the work is continuing. The purpose is to demonstrate how electricity and heating, energy-efficient buildings and electric transport can be integrated into an intelligent, flexible and optimized energy system.

• Climate-friendly redevelopment in Malmo:  Malmö has regenerated its urban area by converting disused sites such as former shipyards and other heavy industry zones into sustainable, low-carbon districts.  The city uses several policy instruments to meet the city’s climate and sustainability goals including the “Developer Dialogue,” which involves different stakeholders in the planning process. 

• Vastra Hamnen (Western Harbor):  The first part of the transformation of the Western Harbour was the Bo01 architectural competition area, which created the first carbon neutral residential area in the world. The first phase of this neighborhood was finished in 2001 with the last projects to be completed in around 2035.

• Rosengård:  Following the development of Western Harbor, the Eco-District and Developer Dialog concepts were utilized in redeveloping a lower income neighborhood, Rosengård, a social housing area with a history of significant social conflict. A very important part of the process was an intense dialogue with and participation from inhabitants, organizations and businesses interested in developing Rosengård in an ecological, social and economically sustainable way.

​

Urban Waste Management, the key to a Circular Future

By putting in place an integrated program over many years, Copenhagen now sends less than 2% of its waste to landfill. Approximately 45% of the waste is recycled and maximum use is made of the residual waste to generate heat for the city’s district heating network. The City of Copenhagen’s most recent resource and waste plan, “Circular Copenhagen 2019-2024,″ aims to recycle 70% of the city’s waste.  We will learn about how Copenhagen and other Danish cities are moving from 45% recycled waste to 70% recycled waste in such a short time. We will have site meetings and visits regarding the following:

• Better communication re recycling

• From plastic waste to resource through pyrolosis. (Makeen Energy)

• Evolving from urban wastewater treatment to biorefineries (the goal is to extract as many valuable products as possible while processing wastewater).

• Recycling technical products to return materials to the industrial cycle.

• Recycling tires into valuable secondary raw material which is being used as a substitute for virgin raw materials, reducing impacts from rainforest rubber plantations and iron ore mining.

• Returning more biological waste into the organic cycle through biowaste plants located close to urban centers.

 

Achieving Multiple Benefits from Public Projects

Danish planners and policy makers are sophisticated at working across departments and across sectors to extend the use of public funds to provide more public benefits.  The lesson for Bellevue is not how to build a power plant that can also be a ski hill, it’s to inspire people to work toward collaborations that lead to amazing outcomes. These projects are possible because different public departments come together to create multi-functional projects with greater funding in a win-win for the city and its citizens.

• Copenhill:  A waste to energy plant and, potentially, a carbon capture facility, located in the city itself, that is also a “ski” hill. Several partners contributed to realizing the project in Copenhagen, which will become one of the first carbon capture facilities installed in a waste-to-energy plant.

• Roskilde:  A stormwater holding and drainage system that is also a skateboard park.