Showcase Copenhagen district filled with empty apartments could become sink estate warn urban planning experts

The Ørestad region of Copenhagen, home to cutting edge modern architecture and Scandinavia’s largest shopping mall, could become a soulless urban desert unless more people move there, warn experts.

Since the new district was constructed there has been a high turnover of residents, and many of the model apartments, such as the renowned Mountain Dwelling complex, remain unoccupied.

According to union newsletter A4, there are currently around 5,000 people living in the district which has a capacity for 20,000 if full.

Hans Skifter Andersen, a senior researcher at the Danish Building Research Institute, told A4 that poor urban planning would be to blame if the district continued to degenerate.  Andersen said that ‘drastic’ action needed to be taken to turn the situation around.

‘People can’t afford these expensive apartments. Some choose to take them for a period while they wait for the real estate market to drop again. Ørestad segments people who will quickly move out again,’ he said.

And the lack of new arrivals, in addition to residents wanting to leave the area, is due to a combination of a number of factors say experts.

Economist Søren Olesen has previously worked with residential organization AKB and as a consultant in efforts to prevent ghettos springing up. According to him, the apartments sitting idle are a deterrent to potential newcomers moving to the neighbourhood.

‘We know that it is very uncomfortable living in a residential complex where half the apartments lie empty and these apartments are susceptible to break-ins and vandalism,’ Olesen said.

Bu it’s not the reasonable cost of  10,000 kroner a month that is keeping people away from the area, but rather the designer architecture is leading to social problems.

According to city planning advisor Niels Bjørn, there are three main problems with the design and layout of Ørestad, which was until recently a green-fields area outside the city.

Bjørn said the design of the area was too separate. Transportation isn’t integrated very effectively. Likewise for the shops, housing and amenities.

Despite the wide range of choice provided by the Field’s shopping mall, which is slap-bang in the middle of the housing complex, Bjørn said the design was like ‘a large box that’s completely closed off so that business activities don’t spill out and bring life to the neighbourhood’.

He also highlighted the scale of the buildings as being too big, and, while it’s a cheap way to construct residential complexes, it doesn’t lend itself to fostering a sense of community.

There is also a lack of semi-private spaces such as closed off courtyard areas which allow neighbours to meet each other in outdoor spaces and foster social connections.

‘In closed courtyards you can send the children out to play, hang washing up and sit on a bench and have a coffee with a neighbour or a barbeque with some friends. It feels like a shielded space, where you’re safe and can get to know your neighbours,’ Bjørn said.