Evolution of the city of Copenhagen

The city’s evolution.

Coppenhagen has Evolved since the early middle Ages from a little trading post to metropolis. This evolution has taken place in several tempos and at different speeds. At the same time, surrounding land and water have changed and become urbanized into cultural cityscapes.

Topography.

Coppenhagen’s location on the sound (Øresund) and its terrain have determined the siting of monument building, road an other facilities. The original landscape in and around Copenhagen has changed in keeping the city’s evolution, especially in the low lying center of the old city.

One the most important factors in the process was extensive landfilling and diking in the straits between Mainland Zealand (Sjaelland) and Amager and a long the sound were also drained. By damming and draining streams, lakes, and marches, especially to provide the city’s water supply, outlying areas were also urbanized.

The city’s terrain is generally flat today, making its few large terrain formations more prominent in the urban structure. The Bellahoj, Bispbjerg, Bronshoj, and Valby Bakke hills clearly stand out from their surrounding, and all moreover are topped by distinctive building.

In the valleys between the ridges, with their marshes and (former) watercourses, lie the city’s large green areas in concentric arcs, the medieval city at the center. There are « the lakes » - a cultivated green area that was dicked as early Middle Ages and today form a « river » trough four central quarters- and the long, continuous arks belt in the outer districts a varied sequence from Ryvangen Naturpark, Lersoparken, Grodalsparken and Vigerslevparken to where the Damhusaen Stream flows into Kalveboderne. The Vestvolden ramparts form the outermost green arc, from the extensive nature area at Utterslev Mose to Kalveboderne, outside the city limits.

Other green features that important for the city’s structure are the inner park ring around the core of the Medieval city, laid out on the remnants of Copenhagen’s old fortifications, and the large city parks (Faelledparken, Sondermarken/ Frederisberg Have, Valbyparken) and cemetries ( Assistens Kirkegard, Vestre Kirkegard). All these help create their quarter’s identity.

The street network around the most of the city’s green areas is clearly reflected in the parks’ angular contours.

A trading post.

We do not exactly when Copenhagen was settled, but at the end of the 11th century there was presumably a Small seasonal trading and fishing village in the straits between mainland and Amager. The site was a good natural harbor ; a few large islets provided shelter and the water was deep enough for the day’s large ships to Anchor close to land.

The first settlement was built along the shore, sheltered by a flat hill island. It highest point, c. 8m above sea level, lay more or less where Norregade ends at Norre Voldgade today. We can still sense how the terrain slopes towards the shoe in the Streets that run perpendicular to the harbor, e.g. Kobmagergade and Norregade.

In the early Middle Ages, the city’s shoreline followed the sequence Farvergade-Kompagnistraede-Hodbro Plads-Vingardstraede. In Amager, a flat coastal meadow extended to the beginning of torvegade. The original terrain was obliterated later when areas were filled in for building and infrastructure.

Copenhagen in 1535. 

7-8 are recontructions. The city's street is essentially fixed but churches are surrounded by cimeteries and not squares, as shown here.

The Renaissance city.

Toward the 17th century, the city was surrounded on land by a ring wall with ramparts, a stronghold on present day Stolsholmen provided its coastal defense.

Large-scale urban growth began Under Christian IV. The city was expanded towards the northeast as far as the citadel (Kastellet). This expansion was called New Copenhagen and it nearly doubles the city’ area. Landfill gave Slotholmen more or less its present size, and Bremerholm was connected with the new quarter’s mainland.

The largest urban expansion project began in 1617 : CHristianshavn. In addition to providing more space settlement, it was intended to Ward off naval attacks and accommodate a large merchant marine and naval harbor. When the fortifications on the Sound had been completed y the end on the 17th century, New Copenhagen’s coast was secure.

Copenhagen 1650 

After Chritian Iv's additions. The ramparts have been modernized and expanded to protect New Copenhagen Chritianshavn has been built and bremerholm linked with the mainland. lotsholmen has almost reached its present size.

Outside the ramparts  lay an open and gently rolling landscape as a contrast to the compact city. A continuous valley originally extended from the fortification to the nearest ridge, 15-20 m High, more or less at the Jagtvej/ Tagensvej intersection. Damming and rerouting local lakes and watercourses in the Middle Ages transformed this valley into a long belt of lakes : Sankt -, Jorgens So, Peblinge So, and Soterdams So. These artifical lakes where to supply the city with potable water, power its mills, and fil lits moats. Father west lay the royal farm ( ladegardsjordene) and on the north were the commons : Norrefaelled, Bleddamsfaelled, and Osterfaelled. Fathest east was a marshy area with coastal meadow whose shoreline more or less followed present day Standboulvarden.

To ensure the city’s defense, no permanent building was allowed on a specific area outside the ramparts. This no-Building zone varied in size from the Lakes to Jagtvej in the period that the rules were in force.

Gardens and country houses, in contrast, sprang up outside the ramparts. Bleaching greens were moved from Inside the city to the north side of Sortedams So and in the course of 18th century, cemeteries were laid out beyond the old city, first Gab-nisons Kirkegard and then Assistens Kirkegard. The commons were used as a parade ground and for grazind the city’s livestock. A few industrial facilities, such as limekiln, were built east of standvejen/ Norre Allé, Sankt Hans Torv, and at the end of the century, double rows of trees were planted along  avenues in front of Vesterport and Osterport.

The city’s in the 18th century.

Inside the ramparts, the city was embellished with important building and complexes during the area of the absolute monarchs. Frederick V commissioned Nicoli Eigtved to design the frederiks staden quarter. The naval yard on Holmen were expanded at the same time in accordance with a unified plan by Frederik Danneskiold-Samsoe. In the course of the century, the oldest part of Christianshavn was fully built up and Frederiksholm, a new quarter south of Soltsholmen, was laid out of landfill. Most of the straits between the Mainland and Amager had been filled in, and only narrow, river-like fairway and the stadsgraven moat outside Christianshavn remained.

Two great fires in 1728 and 1795 ravaged the medieval city, and most of its original buildings went u in flames. The fires did not essentially after the urban structure, apart from some changes that were made to the street network, such as as laying out two new squares, kulttorv and Hojbro Plads and merging two old ones, Gammeltorv and Nytorv. Copenhagen again suffered in 1807 when the british bonbarded part of the Medieval city and destroyed «  medieval city » consequently refers only the city’s street structure and not to its buildings.

In this map we can see the evolution of the city around the historic district and the harbor sculpt by the handmade.

Dismantling the ramparts.

The military's claim to the no-building zone had checked the city’s expansion for the two centuries it was honored. But the land outside the lakes was relinquished in 1852 and the system was discontinued entirely in 1867 except in Amager, where i twas in force until 1909. The navy also handed over Gamelholm for civilian use at more or less the same time.

Now expansion could begin and legislation in 1857 transformed the responsibility for physical urban planning from the state to the city. The city gates was dismantled symbolically that same year. More importantly, the city built a hospital on the military glacis east of the lakes in 1863.

The city had bought military land from the state and adopted a unified plan in 1872 for the fortifications as a whole. The plan resemble Vienna’s much larger Ringstrasse project, which was implemented in the same period. The idea was to preserve the ramparts as a ribbon of parks around the old city center. First Tivoli, then Orstedsparken, the Botanical gardens (Botanica Have), and the Ostre Ariung were laid out on the former ramparts and in the ensuing decades, they were joined by housing, schools, and museums. Major public Works got Under way at the beginning of the 20th century. The free Port was built, the railroad were expanded and a new city hall was erected on the former western ramparts.

Expanding the urban suburbs. The urban suburbs-Norrebro, Vesterbro, Osterbro- Were also expand beginning in 1852. Building activity was hectic along the approach roads and the areas around them developed into the suburbs, following the pattern of large European cities.

Industrialism’s breakthrough increased the influx to the city, where housing was soon in short supply, something that in turn stimulated building. People of little means especially moved to Norrebro and Vesterbro, which are dominated by crowned five-story tenements that are slum-like even when they were new.

 Those who were better off settled in Osterbro, where the Rosenwaenget villa quarter was laid out between 1857 and 1872. Apartment-house construction did not really get Under way until the 1880s. Osterbro’s apartments were bigger and better appointed than those in the other urban suburb, and facades reflected the period's « Parisian style » Amager’s development was delayed somewhat since the no-building zone was in force until 1909.

Large-scale annexation.

The city of Copenhagen purchased and annexed tracts of land outlying areas.In 1898, the city bought up properties in Bronshoj, Uttersiev and Emdrup. Ten years later, the rest of Bronshoj, Parish, Dalhussoen, the villages of Valby, Vigerslev, and Kongens, Englhave as well as the Sundby Parishes in Amager were annexed by Copenhagen Under a royal resolution. The expansion tripled the city’s area to about 7,000 hectares.

Building along the waterfront ad Orestad.

After several decades of stagnation, building once again got Under way in Copenhagen at the threshold to the third millenium.

Because of restructuring, traditional harbor activities in the Inner Harbor (Inderhavnen) and south harbor (Sydhavnen) shut down in the course of the 1990s. This freed large, centrally located areas for future redevelopment. New housing, commercial properties and public institutions have already revitalized large segment of the waterfront.

Holmen’s status has also changed.The naval base’s military activities have moved elsewhere and the area is being transformed into a residential, educational, and commercial center.

The 1990s was the decade when a bridge was built across the Sound to Sweden, providing direct access to Orestad. This new district – covering 310 hectares and meeting the High standards expected of a modern expansion- is being build along the diked green wedge in West Amager (Vestamager), with Orestad City as its center. It will not be fully built up for 30-40 years but even now its traffic network has been completed and linked to the rest of the city with new roads, train and the metro.  

Source :

Cityscape Atlas Copenhagen, City of Copenhagen, Planning  Architecture, 2003.

Delphine. Work in progress.