Chapter 2. A Brief Post-War History of Copenhagen’s Urban Plan

2.1TheFiveFingerPlan

The Copenhagen Regional Plan was developed by the Danish Town Planning Institute in 1947.

6 Commonly referred to as the Five Finger Plan, due to its resemblance to a hand (see figure 2), this strategic plan formed the basis for the urban planning and economic development of Copenhagen following WWII. Delivery of the Five Finger Plan was originally driven by the Welfare State in response to laws including child labour, pensions, and healthcare. The driving principles for implementation were focused on creating equal health and wellbeing opportunities, including access to green space, and so helping the public to make positive lifestyle choices regardless of other economic constraints. The goal of the plan was to ensure controlled urban growth of Copenhagen whilst at the same time creating space for leisure.

The Five Finger Plan evolved further during the 1960’s and 70’s, at a time when the modernist

7 movement was shaping the vision of cities of the future. Traditional European cities featured residential blocks and narrow streets which were considered unhealthy, whereas the American modernist vision was focused on large boulevards to accommodate the car. As cities across Europe developed their infrastructure in favour of the car, following suit, Copenhagen planned to remove the Vesterbro neighbourhood (at the time deemed to be a ‘ghetto’), to make room for a network of motorways and high rise developments. These proposals were drawn up as part of the long-term vision for the Greater Copenhagen area and as part of the Five Finger Plan. However, fortunately for Copenhagen as it turns out, due to a lack of funds in the aftermath of WWII, these plans were never realised - circumstance forced the city to abandon the modernist planning. This turn of events laid the foundation for Copenhagen’s current urban plan and subsequently its reputation as one of the worlds most “livable” cities - an urban model so renowned that copying it even has its own verb “to Copenhagenize”.

6“We were lucky that Copenhagen was poor after the second world war, we thought we were unlucky and very poor. We were actually lucky, but still very poor.”

Søren Elle, City Planner, 2016

In brief, the ‘palm’ of the ‘hand’ contains the city centre; while the ‘five fingers’ are formed from the roads and train lines. The ‘fingers’ are separated by wedges of green space and residential areas. The Five Finger Plan has contributed to the improved health of the population by preventing rapid urban growth resulting in a congested cityscape. The plan also helps meet the daily needs of the Copenhageners by providing its neighbourhoods with easy access to fast and reliable transport to the city centre, and provision of green public spaces located next to residential areas. The transformation has had a positive impact on both the surrounding environment and residents living there - in 2014, for example, it was demonstrated that 96% of citizens could walk to a park or a beach in 15 minutes as a result of the plan, which includes wide bicycle lanes throughout the city. Additionally, soon following implementation of the plan, a 9% decrease in transport-related carbon emission over a 20 year period was recorded.