Scandinavia Demonstrates Seamless Mix of Past and Future

barry says

I recently made my first visits to Sweden and Denmark, being delighted to accept an invitation to attend the centuries old University of Lund in southern Sweden as a guest critic to the School of Architecture. Whilst I would undoubtedly have preferred to have been able to make the trip in summer; it was certainly cold, it was still a wonderful chance to see at first hand the coastal cities of Copenhagen and Malmo and to wander the streets of the historic university town of Lund.

The most striking feature of the region is the 8km Oresund Bridge, opened in July 2000 and linking Copenhagen to Malmo in southern Sweden. The bridge joins to a 4km underwater tunnel and together makes the longest rail / road crossing in Europe connecting the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe. A data cable also uses the bridge to carry all Internet data transmission for Finland. 

Oresund Bridge compares to Hong Kong Link

Historic Lund; integrating sustainable design and transport initiatives

Photograph-Wikipedia

Graphic by Alfred Elicierto

It's fascinating to compare this infrastructure connection with that of the Hong Kong –Zhuhai - Macau Bridge (HKZM). The financing has come from a joint Danish / Swedish state owned company, with loans guaranteed by the government. Taxpayers have not funded the bridge other than the end connections and payback is anticipated at 30 years from toll fees received. The cost for the Oresund Connection, including motorway and railway connections on land, was US$5.7bn[1]. It is estimated that the bridge has already made national economic gains of US$11bn on both sides of the strait by increased commuting and lower commuting expense, whilst this increases by roughly US$1bn each year.[2]

The great similarity with the HKZM Bridge is the fact that an International Airport lies at one end of the Bridge. Kastrup station acts to serve air travelers for both Denmark and Sweden and the regular trains were packed with both air travelers as well as work commuters between the cities on all of my journeys. Additionally about 17,000 road vehicles use the bridge daily. 

Photograph-Joakim-Lloyd-Raboff

There are two big differences however with the HKZM Bridge. Firstly, it is not going to be a rail bridge, with the inherent convenience rail provides in linking people to downtown centres being lost. The focus is to be primarily on the movement of goods traffic by road, surely incredibly short sighted in the 21st Century.

Secondly, traveling between Sweden and Denmark requires no border control, meaning movements are swift and flexible. Lengthy customs and Immigration blockages will exist in both Hong Kong and Zhuhai/Macau.

Photograph- Joe Ruhinski

Its no wonder that the tax payers of Hong Kong have had to foot the bill for HKZM Bridge as it is hard to imagine that passenger volumes will ever be sufficient to pay back the costs within a reasonable term. I remain convinced that not providing a road / rail link  similar to Oresund will prove a huge mistake.

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Copenhagen – City of Past and Future

There are no end of plaudits for the city of Copenhagen:- Annually rated top of international surveys for quality of life; a stable economy;  outstanding education services; state of the art healthcare; safe, lively streets; plentiful green spaces and sparkling, clean air. It is recognized as one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world, aiming to be carbon-neutral by 2025. 

Commercial and residential buildings are required to reduce electricity consumption and renewable energy features such as solar panels are becoming increasingly common in the newest buildings in Copenhagen which must now be constructed according to Low Energy Class ratings and in 2020 near net-zero energy buildings.

Christianshavn is now a fashionable, diverse and lively part of the city with its own distinctive personality. Christianshavn

Striking modern development at Oresund goes hand in hand with natural drainage systems and non-formalised childrens’ play areas.

The suburb of Oresund is connected to the city via mass transit. Experimental housing such as “Mountain Dwellings” provides a striking backdrop.

By 2025, 75% of trips should be made on foot, by bike, or by using public transit. The city plans that 20-30% of cars will run on electricity or biofuel by this time.

Even in mid winter the streets are dominated by cyclists and nothing was more noticeable than that the city streets were empty of private vehicles and perfect for walking around and discovering special places.

This really is what the streets of future cities should be like.

Nyhavn – Centre of Copenhagen

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 Malmo Renaissance

With the death of shipbuilding as a major face of the economy, the city is now starting to reinvent itself and can realize the benefits from construction of the Oresund Bridge. The Western Harbour district, so long derelict, held the European Housing Expo in 2001 and is notable for its sustainable character.

Malmo City waterfront of the Ribersborg. The open air bath has year round sauna and naked bathing.

Malmo western harbour is undergoing a development renaissance.

The “Turning Torso” by Santiago Calatrava (2005). A new iconic symbol for the skyline of Malmo.

Whilst the “turning torso” is the iconic building of the area it is the surrounding housing scheme of Bo01 "City of Tomorrow," developed for the expo that is truly outstanding. Oresund Bridge is in the background. Photograph-Joakim-Lloyd-Raboff

Solar cells and solar thermal collectors are present on many of the buildings, other renewable electricity is provided by the districts own wind turbine “Boel” situated in Norra Hamnen. The original plan envisioned a system of '100 per cent renewable energy', however energy consumption proved to be higher than estimated.

Heating and cooling is provided through district heating and waste is disposed of in a number of ways – some houses with food waste grinders in sinks, others are supplied with fitted paper bags which are dispensed into a vacuum waste disposal unit.

The high wall of sea front apartments shelter the lower housing units behind from the Baltic winds, creating comfortable streets and avoiding wind and rain lashed corridors.

Modern yet traditional. Architect Klas Tham envisioned a network of street with a broken-up character, much like that of the inner-city of medieval towns.

For me, it is the quality of the urban spaces that endures; tight alleyways open onto enclosed courtyards whilst, colours, forms and building materials constantly change.