How Copenhagen’s upcoming tourist hotspot Nordhavn is setting the standard for sustainability and is a blueprint for future developments
- The former shipyard in the Danish capital is undergoing a 40-year conversion into a green city housing 40,000 inhabitants
- With repurposed buildings, upcycled materials, solar power and energy-efficient utilities, everything is geared towards sustainability
It’s a sunny Wednesday afternoon in Nordhavn – on the outskirts of the Danish capital, Copenhagen – and the former shipyard bubbles with life.
Along the waterfront, Gen Zs clad in swimsuits and frayed denim shorts dive into the water and lounge on the wooden decks. Cafes buzz with patrons, drinking coffee leisurely and sinking their teeth into slices of rye bread and fresh pastries.
The transformation of this former industrial area – about three kilometres from end to end and set across a series of piers and connected islets on the city’s northern shore – has been under way for more than 10 years, and when complete in 2050 it will provide housing for 40,000 inhabitants and workspace for another 40,000.
In the past 18 months, it has begun humming with action, with enough completed buildings to house almost 5,000 residents and office workers. This is thanks in part to the area’s design as a “five-minute city”, a term that means it’s possible to reach shops, institutions, workplaces, cultural facilities, and public transport within five minutes’ walk from any point in the 3.6 million square metre (890-acre) district.
Easing access is a new metro line, which opened in March 2020 and connects Nordhavn to Copenhagen’s city centre in 20 minutes.
The area has welcomed outposts of much-loved local brands such as the Andersen & Maillard bakery and Sanchez, a Mexican cantina from Rosio Sanchez, who previously worked at Noma restaurant – creating the beginnings of a new tourism hotspot.
