Ørestad
Ørestad | |
---|---|
Country | Denmark |
Region | Capital Region |
Municipality | Copenhagen |
District | Amager Vest |
Area | |
• Total | 3.1 km2 (1.2 sq mi) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 21,400[1] |
• Density | 5,000/km2 (10,000/sq mi) |
Website | Ørestad |
Ørestad (Danish pronunciation: [ˈøːɐˌstæð]) is a developing city area in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the island of Amager.
The area was developed using the
While the metro is the primary public transport access, the area is also served by the Øresund Line between Copenhagen and Malmö, the motorway E20 and close to Copenhagen Airport.
Ørestad was originally planned to consist of four districts, however only three are developed: Ørestad Nord, the unbuilt Amager Fælled area (which will remain a nature reserve), Ørestad City and Ørestad Syd. Therefore, Ørestad in reality consists of two areas detached from each other. The northernmost Ørestad Nord area is coherent with inner Copenhagen. Many Copenhageners will often only regard the outlying area, the two southern districts around Ørestad Station and Field's shopping centre, as Ørestad proper.
Ørestad is neighbouring the nature areas of Amager Common and Vestamager which consist mainly of land reclaimed in the first half of the 20th century, with wetlands, bushes and self-grown small woods. These recreational areas, as well as Ørestad itself and the surrounding island, are almost entirely flat.
Some notable institutions in Ørestad are the
Planning aims and problems
Ørestad has a thoroughly planned infrastructure, which apart from the metro includes the
However, Ørestad has also been criticized heavily for its modernist planning approach, focusing exclusively on real estate development and infrastructure connections. This has resulted in a square-grid street layout with wide, open spaces that are void of life and pedestrians. The plans for the area have been remade several times to account for such mistakes, but so far without much success.[3]
When the area was planned it was expected that 20,000 people would live in Ørestad, 20,000 would study, and 80,000 people would be employed in the area. However, so far the area has attracted barely half of those numbers.[3]
Geography
The area of Ørestad is 3.1 square kilometres (1.2 square miles), being about 600 metres (2,000 feet) wide and 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) long. The central part of Ørestad, Ørestad City, is located 4.5 km (2.8 mi) west of Copenhagen Airport Kastrup and 5 km (3 mi) south of Copenhagen city centre.
Ørestad borders Islands Brygge to the north, Sundbyvester and Tårnby to the east, and the extensive Kalvebod Commons to the west.
History
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
2004 | 100 | — |
2005 | 375 | +275.0% |
2006 | 1,739 | +363.7% |
2007 | 3,377 | +94.2% |
2008 | 5,410 | +60.2% |
2009 | 5,610 | +3.7% |
2010 | 6,142 | +9.5% |
2011 | 6,839 | +11.3% |
2012 | 7,445 | +8.9% |
2019 | 15,500 | +108.2% |
2020 | 21,400 | +38.1% |
The legislation for Ørestad was enacted in 1992 as a plan for developing unused areas paired with the construction of a metro system. These areas close to the centre of Copenhagen and the airport were publicly owned, and their sale would finance the long-wanted metro project, while the metro was likewise essential for offering an infrastructure in the area.
A metro had previously been contemplated through the densely populated, central axis of Amager, but the new plan would instead build two lines, aimed at developing the western (Ørestad) and eastern (Øresund coast) peripheries of Amager.
At the beginning of 2008, 53% of the area had been sold.
The winning project of an international architectural competition held in 1994 revealed an overall masterplan for Ørestad, dividing the area into four districts. The Finnish design office APRT and Danish KHR Arkitekter established a joint-venture and presented a final plan in 1997.
The first office building was completed in 2001. The first residential buildings were completed three years later. Currently, there are more than 3000 flats as well as 192,100 m2 (2,067,747 sq ft) of office space in Ørestad. In addition, a total of 13 buildings are under construction.
On 3 July 2022, three people were killed in a shooting at Field's mall in the area. Police chief inspector Søren Thomassen announced the arrest of a 22-year-old man and said that the police cannot rule out an act of terrorism. A concert with British singer Harry Styles was due to take place at Royal Arena less than a kilometer away, and it is going ahead as planned after a dialogue with the police.[4][5]
Areas in Ørestad
Since the turn of the millennium, a total of 65 buildings have been built, including more than 3000 flats, 71,400 m2 (768,543 sq ft) for educational use and 65,000 m2 (699,654 sq ft) of retail stores in the whole of Ørestad.
Ørestad North
Ørestad North is the most developed of the four areas of Ørestad, also being closest to central Copenhagen and blending into older urban areas. It is developed according to a masterplan by KHR Arkitekter from 1997 around a central "village green", the Landscape Canal and the north-south-oriented University Canal.
Major institutions in the area include the DR Byen, which includes the Copenhagen Concert Hall, and several educational facilities such as the IT University of Copenhagen. The Humanist Faculty of the University of Copenhagen existed in this area since the 1970s, but was rebuilt and expanded as the South Campus, now forming the extreme northern end of Ørestad. There are around 1,000 residential units in Ørestad North, half which are student housing in Tietgenkollegiet and Bikuben Kollegium.
Amager Fælled
Plans for development of the protected
Thus, Ørestad consists of a northern and southern part, only bound together by Ørestad Boulevard and the metro line along the untouched Amager Fælled area.
A new plan of February 2021 stipulates a housing development project further west, around the current Danhostel Copenhagen Amager, north of Vejlands Allé. A prospective name for this area is Vejlands Kvarter. Environmental activists who oppose the project use the name Lærkesletten, "the Larch Plain".
Ørestad City
Ørestad City is the area in Ørestad which has seen the most new construction since 2001 when the Ferring Tower was completed as the first building. The dominating features in the area include the new Field's shopping mall and the pre-existing Bella Center convention and exhibition center. In 2006, Daniel Libeskind created a master plan for the remaining area of Ørestad City, referred to as Ørestad Down Town, located between Field's and Center Boulevard. In 2009, the 709-room Cab Inn Metro Hotel was completed to the design of Libeskind as the first building in this project.
Ørestad City has seen considerable construction of residential buildings since 2003, most of which are centered around
Ørestad South
Ørestad South is dominated by large-scale commercial buildings in the northern part and upscale residential developments in the southern part. A new headquarters for international consulting firm
Future development
Eight building sites remain to be built in Ørestad City apart from the so-called Libeskind site situated west and south of Field's. The masterplan for this 187,000 m2 (2,012,851 sq ft) area was revealed in 2006 and suggests an all-curved complex consisting of some 11 office buildings including a 704-room Cab Inn Metro hotel and two 20-storey office/hotel buildings. There will be a central square and a partly glass-roofed arcade. Construction began late 2007 and will go on for 5–10 years.
The district plan for Ørestad South was approved in 2005. The overall master plan follows the initial design as seen in the winning proposal of 1997. Apart from the
Royal Arena, a multi-use indoor arena, opened in 2016 and is located in Ørestad Syd.[6] A new school is planned to open in 2015 as the Ørestad school reaches projected capacity.[needs update] Other institutions are Ørestad Gymnasium and a branch of the Copenhagen municipal library.
Transport
The intended main arteries from north to south through the four areas are the
The thoroughfare Vejlands Allé, the
The metro has six stops in Ørestad, although some of these mainly serve adjacent areas:
In addition, bus lines serve the
References
- ^ Copenhagen growing BY&HAVN Retrieved 2012-05-27
- ^ "Første spadestik til milliardbyggeri i Ørestad Syd". Building Supply. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ .
- ^ "Several killed in Copenhagen shopping mall shooting". BBC News. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
- ^ "Several killed in shooting at Copenhagen shopping centre". The Guardian. 2022-07-03. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
- ^ "Project Plan". Copenhagen Arena official website. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
External links
- Official website (in Danish)