Leega Tran and Flora Carn
On
our first official class in Copenhagen, Denmark, we had two guest lecturers.
Bianca Hermansen, from Behl Architects, had a different perspective on
sustainability and urban design compared to lectures we were used to. She
pointed out that Denmark’s biking culture has to do with behavioral changes.
She said, “People don’t change behavior when told to, people change when the
context compels them to.” To change Copenhagen’s mentality of bikes and
encourage bike ridership, the city invested in bike lanes through small changes
in the street infrastructure. Now, biking is the way to travel, as 61% of
Copenhagen bike for its convenience, regardless of social or economic class.
Bikers can also use cargo bikes to drive their kids or friends around! We
definitely noticed the investments in bike lanes when the class rented bikes.
During our bike ride to Stroget , wider street lanes, abundant bike lanes,
separate traffic lights for biking, asphalt ramps on curbs, and the priority
bikes seem to have over cars made biking easier.
Mikael
Koch, from the Green Building Council Denmark gave an informative lecture on
how architectural designs, such as the type of material, the orientation of the
building, the technology within the buildings, can simply green the building
and make it more energy efficient. We also learned that new buildings or
renovated buildings have to adhere to green building codes. This is very
different than the U.S. because U.S. cities generally safety codes and
sustainable buildings is becoming a trend, but not yet a basic necessity.
We
also stopped by a plaza for lunch and noticed it was very popular. Similar to
other successful streets and plaza we saw in Stockholm and Malmo, the street
got enough sunlight, buildings were around four to five stories tall – not
enough to block sunlight and many shops and restaurants with interesting
storefronts to attract people to the area.
We
then walked over a bridge to a highly populated swimming spot directly across
from our hostel. Even though the weather was overcast, there were hundreds of
people in their swimsuits with beer, wine, frisbees, and friends. The swimming area
consists of an area insulated from the actual harbour by wooden walls and a
short fence. There is a lifeguard tower, a high wooden dock consisting of steps
that had a never-ending line to jump off the top (15 feet high), and a
rectangular area where many people were swimming laps. There were families with
small children, couples in their 20s and 30s, and people of all other ages all
gathered to cool off in the harbour.
According
to denmark.dk, this canal water was so polluted by sewage, oil spills, and
industry only 15 years ago that swimming in it would have been impossible
due to the health risks. The Copenhagen municipality worked to improve the
water quality by designing waste treatment plants to remove salts and heavy
metals, and modernized the waste system. Another sustainable design that
improved the water quality were storm water management systems. The municipality
built reservoirs that can store the rainwater if there isn’t enough space in
the sewage system. Walking further along the waterfront we saw many more people
just lounging with food and drinks and enjoying the sun.
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