Field notes: Copenhagen’s Superkilen – a great urban park

Superkilen: Urban Park in Copenhagen.

The following article was filed by VPSN member Alex Butler.

When I first moved to Copenhagen in August, I went to a street food market at the harbour to have dinner with some friends. I immediately got a great first impression of my new city. There were hundreds of people sitting by the canals eating dinner and drinking beer, enjoying the nice weather. However, quality public spaces like these are not only limited to the touristy central areas of Copenhagen. Green spaces, as well as concrete plazas are scattered all throughout the city. In fact, it is municipal policy in Copenhagen that 90% of citizens be within a fifteen minute walk of a park,beach, or harbour bath. (Harbour baths are just like they sound – aquatic facilities located along the city’s main harbour area).

My favourite place in Copenhagen is right across the street from my place in the Nørrebro district, northwest from the city centre. It is an urban park called Superkilen, designed by the Danish artists’ group Superflex and opened in 2012. In one stretch of about 750 meters there is a red square, a black area, and a green park with a bike path running through its entirety. I bicycle through this area everyday to get to school and despite the sometimes cold and rainy weather, there are consistently people of all ages gathered there enjoying the space.

The great thing about it is that space was not created just for the sake of having a public space; it is lively with unique objects from around the world scattered around it including swings from Iraq, a boxing ring from Thailand, and a fountain from Morroco. The different objects in the park are meant to reflect the diversity of the 50+ nationalities living in Nørrebro.

Copenhagen is often seen as a model city in urban planning and from my short time here I understand why. Superkilen is just one example of the many fantastic public spaces in the city. Perhaps decision makers in cities around the world, including Vancouver could learn something from Copenhagen.

To learn more about Superkilen, you can check out Superflex’s page with more information and photographs.

Got a favourite public space that you’d like to see profiled? Or perhaps a few ‘field notes’ and photos from your travels? Send them to info [at] vancouverpublicspace [dot] ca.