The Climate Neighborhood – Livability, Urban Nature and Climate Adaptation

Towards the middle of the 2010s, the northern Copenhagen neighborhood “Sankt Kjelds Quarter” was in deer need of a face- lift. The public spaces were mostly grey, sealed and provided little to no opportunities for social activities and recreation. On top of that, the sealed surface impaired the areas ability to harvest rainwater locally and provided almost no retention space for heavier rainfalls. The catastrophic cloudburst of 2 July 2011 lead to flooding, which brought damage to basements, public infrastructure and local businesses.

An Integrated Neighborhood Renewal

This was the starting point for the large-scale neighborhood renewal program, which transformed the neighborhood in the subsequent years – and still does. Copenhagen’s technical administration, architecture firm Third Nature and HOFOR – Greater Copenhagen Utility, stand for the joint project, which began in 2013.

Innovative Urban Design

The project brought a number of interventions to public squares, streets and backyards, with the prominent and internationally known Tåsinge Square as its outstanding flagship project. Especially noteworthy is the approach used in master planning, which sought to rethink the city as a natural water cycle and devoted designated space in the urban landscape for water handling.

An Urban Living Lab

Often referred to as the “Climate Quarter”, Skt. Kjelds Quarter today is an open-air urban living lab for a variety of technologies and approaches for climate adaptation. A long stretch of planting beds along Tåsinge Street (Danish: Tåsinge Gade), a lush forest-inspired square with a large rainwater basin at Tåsinge Square (Danish: Tåsinge Plads) and a large water-absorbing landscape at Skt. Kjelds Square (Danish: Skt. Kjelds Plads) are the new sights of the neighborhood.

Let the neighborhood inspire you

Today, the area provides an ideal learning ground for climate adaptation in theory and practice. Please find more information about the Neighborhood on this dedicated website. Call Copenhagen will assist you in planning your technical visit to the Skt. Kjelds Quarter and maybe further climate adaptation projects in Greater Copenhagen.

Please contact our international showcasing officer Alexander Hauer, if you intend to visit.

Photos: HOFOR A/S, Københavns Kommune, TREDJE NATUR (visualisations)