Old City, New Challenges

As cities come and go, social life, the spaces and forms of the place change dramatically through time. Copenhagen has a long and extensive layering of livelihoods that shape and form a interesting mix of Scandinavian culture with the razor-finish of the modernist movements in art and design into every corner of the city. Copenhagen is certainly a future of the city with a strong emphasis in public life, but it has a long past the limits its ability to integrate cutting edge solutions for green infrastructure, ecological services, and new technologies that will surely develop and may require a certain amount of space unavailable in the dense fabric of the European model. 

Europe has a deep history of different levels of the public realm, and life in the city. The continent has many examples of some of the finest public spaces in the world where many people gather, enjoy one another's company and move on. These areas are finely finished, well crafted and made with utmost care. The question may remain in a visitors mind-where do all the people go to get respite from the incessant drone of the city? Where does the world apply a model like Denmark's, when the gritty, unequal sides of cultures around the world still remain in poverty, disrepair, or are just a symbol of a hard or quirky lifestyle. The perfection of European cities is beautiful, but after returning to Seattle, I missed those imperfections as it adds another layer of complexity to work in, solve and move this country forward. In turn, the US still seems to have an interesting, funky, somewhat gritty feel that can also bring interesting and dynamic elements to city life.

The United States as a long history of relying on natural resources for our regional economies and extensive history of connections to the environment, be it National Parks, or the grand street trees that line many boulevards around the nation. This long connection to natural forms gives our country a unique and unmatched qualities that Denmark will be unable to match in terms of richness, ecological value and connection to wild landscapes. This past history with the natural world gives the US a great opportunity to integrate green infrastructure that can not only help minimize damage to our extensive wilderness systems in this country but can actually add to the biological richness and help blend the urban fabric into the surrounding landscape that we rely on for our national heritage.  

Copenhagen has a new challenges to integrate greater amounts of ecological services into many of the interstitial areas of the city instead of relying on the large-scale fixes of civic infrastructure to treat all stormwater or not have valuable plants helping reduce much of the storm water demand that cities take care of every storm. The US, though it will unlikely adapt any ecological services with any better or faster system, has a better opportunity to do it and possibly a greater need to protect the heritage that made our country what is now-wild, natural and undeveloped areas. Copenhagen has undergone extensive manipulation for over 1000 years and most likely lacks any intact environmental system that provides any great ecological function that it once did but it can promote a new urban ecology that will form into a new system of old, new and the modern concepts of the sustainable future.

I was surprised to find that the city is as efficient as Copenhagen is in energy production, heating and water cleaning. It does provide a spectacular model for other Western cities to strive for doing similar projects but we must not forget that we have a wonderful opportunity to use natural system in our cities, while developing greater alternative energy infrastructure, storm water cleaning systems and food systems. 

Cheers, 

Aaron