Transformations and City Extensions: Some Observations of Copenhagen's City Form at a Time of Global Change

Abstract

European cities are transforming to conform to the pressures of the changing global economy. New employment centres emerge in formerly underused areas that have become available as a result of industrial and military closures. The scale of these transformations is especially striking in the medium-size capital cities of the smaller European nations. Here new, large-scale, campus-style office developments have emerged in marked contrast to the relatively small and finely grained fabric of the historic city centre. Through direct observation as a pedestrian the author traces the current transformations of Copenhagen's inner city and compares them to the city's major historic expansions of the 17th and 18th centuries. Aided by archival research he discovers patterns in the urban morphology that have been relevant to transformations and city extensions of the past and have been used over time to improve the connections between new and old. The discovery of urban design principles that lead to better integration can help define the city anew in an age of global change.