Copenhagen, a European showcase for sustainable public spaces
For two decades, Copenhagen has established itself as one of the most forward-thinking capitals in the field of sustainable urban planning. By placing people, nature, and resilience at the heart of its transformation, the Danish city has risen to become a European model for the post-carbon city. This ambition is being put into practice through a sustained policy of redeveloping open-air public spaces, turning the capital into a real-world laboratory for urban innovation.
The city has thus expanded its initiatives to create pedestrian zones, remove impervious surfaces, introduce greenery, and reclaim spaces for community use, while incorporating the imperatives of social inclusion and resilience in the face of climate change. Every square meter of urban space is conceived not merely as a place of passage or a functional space, but as a living space in its own right: welcoming, accessible, multifunctional, and aesthetically pleasing.
In this context, urban design in Copenhagen is rooted in acontextual approachto urban planning, often based on the smart redevelopment of brownfields, rooftops, or obsolete infrastructure. The projects undertaken incorporate not only quality of use,inclusivity, and biodiversity, but also a strong cultural dimension, reflecting a Danish urban landscape that adapts to the daily lives of its citizens.
This article offers an overview of eight iconic public space projects designed with this approach in mind: neighborhood parks, multifunctional plazas, waterfront promenades, playgrounds, shared rooftops, and more… These are all open, accessible, and exemplary spaces that you can explore firsthand during our study tours on sustainable architecture and urban planning in Copenhagen.
Each of these projects exemplifies the ability of Danish urban planning to conceive of public space as a vehicle for well-being, social connection, and ecological transition. This approach is driven by both institutions and Danish architectural firms, which are often at the forefront of reimagining the collective use of the city.
Superkilen: Diversity, Culture, and Participatory Design in Nørrebro
Photos: Bjarke Ingels Group – 🔗 View the project on the architect’s website
Located in the heart of the multicultural Nørrebro neighborhood, Superkilen is a prime example of inclusive urban design and successful community participation. This unique linear park, designed by BIG Architects, Superflex, and Topotek1, stretches nearly 750 meters and is divided into three distinct areas: Red Square, Black Market, and Green Park.
Each of these areas has its own distinct identity and offers different uses: from sports to relaxation, including markets, outdoor dining, and festive gatherings. All of the street furniture—benches, streetlights, playground equipment, and sculptures—comes from more than 60 different cultures, selected in collaboration with neighborhood residents. A Moroccan fountain stands alongside a Chinese ping-pong table and Brazilian benches.
Superkilen perfectly embodies the most innovative aspects ofDanish sustainable urban planning: a public space in Copenhagen that is functional, colorful, culturally rich, and designed to foster a sense of belonging.
This project is a striking example of urban redevelopment in Copenhagen, where a former road corridor has been transformed into a hub of social life. It also illustrates the pivotal role that Danish architecture firms play in the revitalization of public spaces.
Israels Plads: A Multifunctional Space Between the Market and the City
Photos: COBE Architects – 🔗 View the project page on the architect’s website
Located just a stone’s throw from the botanical garden and in the heart of downtown Copenhagen, Israels Plads is a large public square that has been redesigned to restore urban life to its rightful place. This project, designed by COBE Architects, has transformed a former parking lot into a versatile public space that welcomes strollers, students, and visitors to the famous Torvehallerne indoor market alike.
The undulating surface of the square, lined with simple street furniture, benches, and playground equipment, encourages a variety of uses: a schoolyard during the day, skateboarding and recreation after school, and markets or public events on weekends. The patterned concrete pavement, interspersed with strips of greenery and trees, creates a link between historical heritage and contemporary functionality.
Israels Plads perfectly illustrates how urban planning in Copenhagen can harmoniously integrate pedestrian traffic, a welcoming atmosphere, and heritage, while meeting very practical everyday needs. The square is also a powerful example ofa Scandinavian public space designed for inclusion, bringing together people of different generations, social backgrounds, and lifestyles.
Through its smart integration into the urban fabric and the diversity of its uses, Israels Plads is fully aligned withDenmark’s sustainable urban planning initiatives. This type of project aligns with the city’s broader goals of achieving carbon neutrality by 2025, as illustrated by the findings of the 2025 Climate Plan.
Opera Park: Nature in the City on the Waterfront
Photos: COBE Architects – 🔗 View the project details on the architect’s website
Opened in 2023, Opera Park is one of Copenhagen’s newest gems of urban design. Located just a short walk from the National Opera House, along the waterfront, this public park offers a unique experience where nature, culture, and urban life intertwine in a landscape designed for relaxation, biodiversity, and contemplation.
The park is organized around six themed gardens: each evokes a different plant world—Mediterranean, Nordic, and tropical—and features resting areas, gentle walking paths, ponds, and shaded clearings. Thanks to this diversity, Opera Park has become a true urban oasis, appealing to both local residents and tourists seeking tranquility.
Beyond its refined aesthetics, this project embodies a resolutely eco-friendly vision of public space: smart water management, the selection of native plants, and the creation of habitats for insects and birds. It is a clear example of Danish urban landscaping designed to address the challenges of climate change while enhancing the appeal of the city center.
Opera Park is thus part of the city’s overall strategy to become carbon neutral, as outlined in the 2025 Climate Plan, and serves as a key link to Copenhagen’s water management projects, thanks to its integrated stormwater retention system.
Grønningen-Bispeparken: A Resilient and Multifunctional Urban Park
Photos: SLA – 🔗 View the project page on the architect’s website
In the densely populated residential neighborhood of Bispebjerg, northwest of Copenhagen, the Grønningen-Bispeparken project perfectly illustrates the growing importance ofgreen infrastructure as a tool for urban adaptation. Designed by the firm SLA, this multifunctional park combines ecological design, social uses, and climate risk management.
Conceived as a living landscape, the project transforms a previously underutilized space into a fully-fledged neighborhood park: play areas, picnic clearings, gentle walking paths, retention basins for heavy rains, and a variety of plantings with high ecological value. These features make Grønningen a place designed for both neighborhood residents and nature.
This project is directly aligned with Copenhagen’s climate resilience policy, which places stormwater management at the heart of its urban strategy. As such, it is related to the other pioneering initiatives documented in our article on stormwater retention projects in Copenhagen.
Grønningen-Bispeparken also embodies a social vision of public space, where design fosters connections across generations, backgrounds, and lifestyles. It is an inspiring example of sustainable Danish urban planning that enhances the quality of life in working-class neighborhoods.
Park’n’Play: A Vertical, Playful Public Space
Photos: JAJA Architects – 🔗 View the project page on the architect’s website
In the rapidly changing Nordhavn neighborhood, Park’n’Play is reinventing the use of urban rooftops by transforming the top of a parking garage into a vibrant public space. Designed by JAJA Architects, this project embodies the hidden potential of transportation infrastructure, repurposed to benefit the community.
The building’s rooftop features a colorful playground, sports facilities, rest areas, and a bright red spiral staircase that catches the eye from the street. This iconic staircase serves as an invitation to climb, explore, and see the city from a new perspective. Once at the top, the panoramic view of Copenhagen’s waterfront offers a reward well worth the climb.
Park’n’Play is an excellent example of urban redevelopment in Copenhagen: here, the densely populated city finds new spaces above ground level to provide places for socializing, sports, and contemplation. This project is fully in line withDenmark’s approachto sustainable urban planning, combining smart design, accessibility, and urban well-being.
It also illustrates the ability of Scandinavian public space projects to make use of all available areas to enrich the urban experience—even those once thought to be reserved for infrastructure or traffic.
Sønder Boulevard: Landscaping of a Transit Corridor
Photos: Public Space – 🔗 View the project page on the architect’s website
Sønder Boulevard is a prime example of how Copenhagen is transforming its outdated infrastructure into green, shared living spaces. This wide thoroughfare, located in the Vesterbro neighborhood, follows the route of the old railroad line between Copenhagen and Roskilde, which opened in 1847. Abandoned in the late 19th century, the tracks gave way to a boulevard long dominated by cars… until its radical transformation in the early 2000s.
Between 2005 and 2007, the city completely redeveloped Sønder Boulevard, transforming it into a vibrant, landscaped promenade: lawns, trees, playgrounds, benches, sports facilities, and pedestrian and bike paths coexist in a calm, green setting. The entire project features a minimalist urban design, developed in collaboration with the neighboring homeowners, who were able to help design the improvements in front of their homes.
This project reflects a strong commitment to reducing the role of cars in favor of community, relaxation, and sustainable mobility. It perfectly illustrates howurban planning in Copenhagen can harmonize historical heritage, contemporary uses, and quality of life.
Through this type of transformation, Copenhagen demonstrates that it is possible to revitalize the city by drawing on its history and placing residents at the heart of the process. This approach reflects the founding principles ofDanish sustainable urban planning and is part of a coherent redevelopment strategy, such as that championed by Danish architectural firms.
Kalvebod Bølge: a winding promenade along the harbor
Photos: JDS Architects – 🔗 View the project page
With Kalvebod Bølge (or Kalvebod Waves), Copenhagen is transforming an underutilized area of its waterfront into a vibrant waterfront promenade, designed by JDS Architects. This landmark project reconnects the city to its historic waterfront, which had long been inaccessible to residents.
The design, consisting of floating docks, undulating platforms, wooden bleachers, and direct access to the water, invites visitors to relax, exercise, contemplate, and even swim. Together, these elements form a fluid architectural wave, seamlessly integrated into the landscape of Copenhagen’s harbor, set against the backdrop of the bustling city.
Kalvebod Bølge offers an exemplary solution to the lack of public waterfront spaces by revitalizing a site previously dominated by offices and infrastructure. It is an innovative Scandinavian public space that intelligently makes use of transitional areas to offer city dwellers new ways to engage directly with nature.
This project is part of other port regeneration initiatives that align with the city’s environmental strategy. It fully supports the goal set forth in the 2025 Climate Plan to strengthen the role of public spaces in achieving carbon neutrality, while also enhancing the city’s appeal and improving the quality of life for its residents.
Guldbergs Plads: A neighborhood square designed for children
Photos: 11 landskab – 🔗 View the architect’s project page
In the densely populated neighborhood of Nørrebro, Guldbergs Plads is a little gemof community-oriented urban design. This public square, designed on a human scale by the firm 11 landskab, was conceived from the outset to meet the everyday needs of children, families, and residents.
The project incorporates a wide variety of uses within a limited area: natural wood playgrounds, inviting outdoor furniture, shaded areas, appropriate landscaping, and an open space at the heart of the residential buildings. Everything is designed to encourage free play, spontaneous encounters, and social diversity in a serene and welcoming atmosphere.
Guldbergs Plads demonstrates that it is possible to create a high-quality public space even within the densest urban environments. It is a successful example of a Scandinavian micro-public space, where attention to detail—including materials, shade, and safety—makes all the difference.
This type of project is part of Copenhagen’s urban renewal efforts, where every interstitial space is reimagined to improve daily life. It also reflects the Danish approach to contextual, inclusive, and understated urban planning, which promotes territorial equity.
What These Projects Reveal About the Danish Concept of Public Space
Through these eight projects, Copenhagen presents a coherent, ambitious, and deeply human vision of public space. Each development reflects a particular focus on actual use, local roots, and the ability of these spaces to address major contemporary challenges.
A design focused on usability, flexibility, and inclusivity
What all these projects have in common is that they prioritize users above all else. Whether it’s for the children at Guldbergs Plads, the multicultural residents at Superkilen, or the weekend athletes on the rooftops of Park’n’Play, the designs are based on a careful observation of everyday needs. Flexibility in use (rest, play, sports, socializing, contemplation) is a constant feature, as is the commitment to including all generations and social groups.
High-quality landscaping that is understated and poetic
The Danish urban landscape does not focus on the spectacular, but on the essentials: sustainable materials, a diverse range of vegetation, and a functional aesthetic. The result is often poetic, never overly designed. These aesthetic choices help create serene atmospheres where well-being is at the heart of the experience.
Integrated and Transparent Environmental Management
Many of these projects actively contribute to Copenhagen’s ecological transition: retention basins in Grønningen, natural shade in Guldbergs Plads, and soil restoration on Sønder Boulevard… Here,urban ecology is integrated into the very design of these spaces, making it both visible and educational. This approach is consistent with the objectives of the 2025 Climate Plan, which aims for carbon neutrality through, among other things, the quality of public spaces.
Urban planning for redevelopment, rooted in its context
Finally, these projects demonstrate how Danish urban planning is based on reuse and transformation rather than a clean slate. Whether it’s a former parking lot (Park’n’Play), a disused railroad track (Sønder Boulevard), or a forgotten waterfront (Kalvebod Bølge), each space is thoughtfully revitalized, respecting its history and surroundings. This approach relies in particular on the expertise of Danish architectural firms, which play a central role in reinventing the urban fabric.
Explore these places with NORDIC INSITE
The eight projects presented in this article are not merely examplesof public spaces in Copenhagen: they offer a comprehensive overview of the Danish urban model, in whichsustainable urban planning,inclusivity, landscape design, and climate resilience are elegantly intertwined.
Whether vast or modest, playful or contemplative, these places embody a Scandinavian philosophy of public space: generous, accessible to all, deeply rooted in everyday life, and resolutely forward-looking. They also bear witness to a coherent urban vision, in which local governments, residents, and local architectural firms work hand in hand to harmonize the living environment, nature, and the ecological transition.
At NORDIC INSITE, we invite you to look beyond the images and explore these places firsthand, interacting with the people who designed them and the residents who live there. We design customized study tours for local governments, urban planning agencies, institutions, and architecture schools.
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