Proposal for a modernized Finger Plan by SLA Architects

Proposal for a modernized

Finger Plan

Proposal for a modernized Finger Plan Created by SLA 2019 SLA A/S Njalsgade 17B, 3. floor 2300 Copenhagen S Denmark + 45 3391 1316 info@sla.dk

Introduction The Finger Plan was created with the intent of connecting the capital’s many interests and purposes while providing the basis for reasonable development with regards to the individual needs of each citizen and those of society. The Finger Plan has received national and international praise for it’s simple yet efficient way of giving all inhabitants of the capital access to nature close-by, while living a short distance from train stations. At SLA we have followed - and taken part in - the debate about the Government’s suggestion for a revision of the Finger Plan. We agree that the plan needs modernization, as the times have changed since 1947. However, we do not agree in all the Government’s suggestions for a revision and find that a vision for the future is lacking. We believe that the criteria for quality should be a part of the planning law as well as being an explicit parameter for planning and propose in our own modernization of the Finger Plan. We haven’t solved all issues – we cannot do it alone. We believe our suggestions are part of the solution for a future capital, worthy for all - and possible for all – to live in. This goal has been achieved in Denmark earlier on, at a much larger scale. We hope that our proposition will inspire action, as it finds recognition in the hearts and minds of professionals, residents and politicians. Stig L. Andersson Design director and partner at SLA and professor at Copenhagen University

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

Content PROPOSAL ELABORATION Cooperation New nature and biodiversity in the green wedges Elaboration of the Finger Plan Attractive living environments Obligations of the construction REFERENCES

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SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

SLAs forslag til modernisering af Fingerplanen, marts 2019

Proposal We propose five initiatives be introduced into planning law: 1. Cooperation Commission a board of professionals who will set the direction for the development of the capital and coordinate a binding cooperation between the municipalities of the metropolitan area. 2. New nature in the green wedges Transform areas of industrialized agriculture in the green wedges into areas of new nature, climate adaptation, new forms of cultivation and corresponding recreative functions. 3. Develop the Finger Plan Place all new housing- and commercial buildings within the Finger Plan considering densification, conversion of existing buildings, and construction on areas already reserved for construction. 4. Attractive living environments Turn new or converted urban areas around the capital into attractive alternatives to living in the municipalities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. This can be obtained through new nature, new ways of building and living - and new financing models. 5. Commitment of developers Form a binding framework which ensures that construction contributes to a measurably higher quality of life in the metropolitan area.

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

Cooperation

Commission a board of professionals who will set the direction for the development of the capital and coordinate a binding cooperation between the municipalities of the metropolitan area.

Consideration for the whole should be the driver in the development of the metropolitan area. The capital is a complex organism, a synthesis of many different needs and concerns. Reconciling them all, demands knowledge, wisdom and flexibility. A passive directive for landscape, which is today the only formal framework for the planning of the metropolitan area, is far from adequate when it comes to creating a comprehensive and adaptable development. That is why an active council with professional insight, should be set up to steer the development. Through history, several boards and councils have been leading the planning of the metropolitan area. The latest of these, Hovedstadens Udviklingsråd (HUR), was decommissioned in 2007, as a part of the structural reform, which had the purpose of merging the municipalities into bigger unities, which among other things, would be better equipped to meet the challenges of planning regions and areas. In the capital region, however, this was not the case, and today its planning is carried out by 34 individual municipalities, each of them with their own interests and plans. This makes it very difficult to imagine a project like Vestskoven (The largest area of new forest in Denmark, initiated in 1967) be achieved, a project where the collaboration across several municipalities, was crucial to cre-

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

ate welfare for the population in the whole area. One of the biggest challenges of urban development today, is the need for more housing in the metropolitan area. Without an overall coordination and planning, the need for housing will be handled within the municipality borders and often in competition with the neighbouring municipalities. Alliances between municipalities will only occur, when the cooperating parties each have something to gain from the alliance – a general benefit for society, is not enough. The purpose of the Finger Plan was to avoid exactly this kind of development devoid of vision or direction. But it takes active governance, and immediate handling of problems as they occur. That is why, the present system is undermining the functionality of the Finger Plan. We suggest that it be implied in the planning law, that the planning of the metropolitan area will be taken care of by a council of professionals, who independently of local political interests can plan for a higher quality of life in the metropolitan area as a whole. The members of the council should be chosen by the 34 municipalities and the government, and must consist of persons with relevant professional profiles, organizations and experts - including planners, artists and biologists.

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

New nature in the green wedges

Transform areas of industrialized agriculture in the green wedges into areas of new nature, climate adaptation, new forms of cultivation and corresponding recreative functions.

The Finger Plan was layed out just after the Second World War. Security of food supply was a high priority, and therefore, besides areas for nature and recreative areas, more than enough space was reserved for agriculture and horticulture in the green wedges. The times are different today — we are more conscious of nature’s importance to our survival, health and well-being. We live with a changing climate and a degrading biodiversity. We live in urban environments, which cause stress and deprive us of contact with nature. The forests and nature cleanse the air and water, help to handle huge amounts of rainwater and create the most health-promoting surroundings – both for body and mind. Children growing up without being in contact with nature have a much higher risk of developing mental illnesses later in life. In an increasingly dense and polluted capital, surrounding areas of nature are not only nice to have but highly necessary. It is the responsibility of the planners to ensure that all inhabitants in the metropolitan area live close to nature, in good conditions for mental and physical health, and will be able to pass a rich nature and a livable environment on to the next generation.

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

Denmark has made a commitment to the EU and UN to ensure biodiversity. Furthermore, in 1989 it resolved that 25% of Denmark should be covered with forest by 2100 – in consideration of both groundwater and the survival of animal species and human beings. We have yet to decide where all this new forest should be, but what would be a better place for a forest, than where almost a third of the population lives and can benefit from it? We suggest that the planning law should include rules for establishing new nature in the green wedges. The provisions of the planning law must put up requirements for the quality of the new nature, as to make it biologically diverse and robust in order to meet the many needs in the capital. There must be new forms of agriculture and communities, room for play and sport and for our children to spend school time and leisure time in nature. Last but not least, the new nature in the green wedges must make the basis for us to create new attractive residential environments in the “fingers” and thus solve problems with the housing shortage - and segregation. Access to nature is a key factor of where people wish to settle down.

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

Develop the Finger Plan

Place all new housing and commercial buildings within the Finger Plan considering densification, conversion of existing buildings, and construction on areas already reserved for construction.

It can hardly come as a surprise that the density of population in the capital area is highest in the municipalities of Frederiksberg and Copenhagen, and that it falls proportionally with the increasing of the distance to the palm of the hand. It is nevertheless thought provoking that it is also in the palm, that the most intensive densification and urbanization is taking place in a seemingly unstoppable process. Soon there will no longer be enough room to build new agglomerations in the inner municipalities without taking a toll on the quality of life and on natural and cultural assets. We have reached the point of saturation. The ongoing judicial proceedings of suspension of the protection of the areas at Sydhavnen and Amager Fælled are obvious indicators of this. Meanwhile, the government and the municipality of Copenhagen wish to make room for even more housing projects by establishing an artificial island in the middle of Øresund.

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

We believe this is not necessary at all. Instead of continuing the intense urbanization in the palm of the hand we should look across the borders of Frederiksberg and Copenhagen. There is enough space for densification, conversion and construction. In fact there are areas assigned to construction which can ensure the urban development until 2086, given that we continue in the same pace as we have during recent years. 46 million unbuilt square meters have already been assigned to urban purposes – without counting the large potential for densification and conversion, already existing for instance along the new light rail system which is being constructed along Ring road 3 and the fingers. The intention of the original Finger Plan was to construct on the palm first – and then the fingers. The palm has reached the point of saturation, but there’s still room in the fingers. We must return to the intentions and use the planning tools we already possess. For implicitly, they also had a focus on quality of life.

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

Attractive living environments

Turn new or converted urban areas around the capital into attractive alternatives to living in the municipalities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. This can be obtained through new nature, new ways of building and living - and new financing models.

Present housing supply does not correspond to our needs as individuals, families, communities or societies. Most people wish to live close to nature, while at the same time having the conveniences of city life close by and being part of a community. However, it is too expensive for many to live in municipalities in the inner circle of the Finger Plan in the metropolitan area. By planting new, lush forests and establishing new nature in the wedges, we can create the kind of nature many people would like to live close to. This is how we can establish the basis for settlement which a hundred years ago made a wave of people move North of Copenhagen to the old forests there. However, this alone will not suffice. If we truly want to make an attractive alternative, we must build to live in new ways. While converting, densifying and building new, we shouldn’t only count square meters. We must build dwellings responding to the needs and dreams of city-dwellers of today. At the same time, we must build and live in a more intelligent way. To ease the pressure of the

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

inner municipalities, we have to live a little more densely in the suburban municipalities and in greater Copenhagen. We must get better at sharing what we want more of, in order to have enough of it for everyone. We suggest, that the planning law be changed, to support that the smaller players and communities obtain a foothold, while at the same time setting up qualitative requirements on how attractive and sustainable living environments are established in the metropolitan area. Housing construction as of today is to a high degree driven by private developers. By making room for the creating force of the civil society, we can give initiative freer rein. We can nourish other ways of living, a new form of freedom, that will give the dream of the typical Danish single-family home a proper alternative. This also demands new models of financing, underpinning the foothold of the small players and communities to let them build, live and use in new ways – or old ways, which we have forgotten – ways that can show the way for urbanization and construction of the future.

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

Commitment of developers

Form a binding framework which ensures that construction contributes to a measurably higher quality of life in the metropolitan area.

Building in the metropolitan area, is never building in a vacuum, nor is it only for the people who own, live in or use the building. It means building for the whole city. It means participating in forming the common, public life in the metropolitan area. At the same time, being a private developer, is making money on the construction. The very largest profit is made, when building on an attractive spot in the metropolitan area. The attractive surroundings are rarely something which the contracting authority is creating – most of the time, they are already there. That is why it is only fair that the new buildings contribute to creating the attractive environments, that made it profitable in the first place, and that it actively contributes to heighten the quality of life in the metropolitan area. This will be of benefit for the contracting authorities, the inhabitants and the capital. We suggest an addition to the planning law with new requirements for construction. We are convinced that contracting authorities will see the point in contributing to the quality of life in the capital region, as long as the requirements are transparent, consistent and reliable.

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

We suggest that the construction among others can help finance the establishing of new nature in the wedges. For each built square meter, one tree will be planted in the wedges. If the construction continues at the same pace as it has now, an area like Vestskoven can be afforested in a little over 4 years. That, we find, is sustainable. It doesn’t make sense, that private contracting authorities should earn money on values created by the community, without contributing to these values’ future existence.

One square meter

Fifty square meters

One tree

Fifty trees

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019

References Den Grønne Metropol - Natur- og rekreative områder i hovedstadsmetropolen efter 1900 (2016). Edited by Caspar Christiansen et. al. Published by HOKA & Frydenlund Academic. Det Store Svigt - Beretningen om hundrede års naturfredning i Danmark (2017) by Kjeld Hansen. Published by Gads Forlag A/S. Skitseforslag til Egnsplan for Storkøbenhavn (1993[1947]). Established by Egnsplankontoret and republished by Danish Town Planning Institute. Hovedstaden 2030 - Fremtidens udfordringer for planlægning i hovedstadsområdet (2017). Edited by Gertrud Jørgensen et.al. Published by: Department of GEosciences and Natural Resource Management, UCPH. Afrapportering fra Udvalget om en Hovedstadsstrategi (2015). Established by the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs and the Interior. Fælles Vidensgrundlag for Byomdannelse i Ringbyen - Baggrundsrapport (2014). Compiled by COWI. Vestskoven fylder 50 år (2017). The website of The Danish society for Nature Conservation: https://www.dn.dk/nyheder/vestskoven-fylder-50ar/

SLA’s proposal for a modernized Finger Plan, March 2019