Liveable city

Without citizens, there is no city. At the same time, cities must prepare for the future and become more sustainable. But how can the city be made livable for everyone? The Danish Embassy's new traveling exhibition shows what this can look like using 28 examples from Denmark.

The Liveable City exhibition shows a number of successful examples of architecture and urban planning in Denmark and deliberately takes a look at projects outside the largest cities. The exhibition, produced with recycled materials, is supplemented by interviews and film impressions of the projects. As a kaleidoscope of very different projects, the exhibition also aims to stimulate discussion: What actually makes a city worth living in, who are we building for and who is allowed and able to take part? A supporting program with workshops, salons and debates is also offered.

A city is not just its houses, but is only a city when there is life between the houses. How do you plan and build for it? The era of modernist building sins in the 1960s - with plenty of space for car traffic - did not pass Denmark by unscathed. A lot has happened since then.

Today, urban planning has to deal with corrections where city centers are dying out and where ports are no longer used for industrial purposes. You can see how this is being achieved in Svendborg on Funen, where a lively port environment is being created. It is also about encounters and space for communities.

But urban planning must also be done with respect for sustainability and with an eye on climate change. Because there is a very real threat of flooding. The blue-green garden city of Kokkedal and the climate district of Skt. Kjelds in Copenhagen, for example, show how this can be combined.

Denmark undoubtedly boasts some fantastic architectural flagships, but Danish architects also ask themselves the question of whether new buildings always have to be built. Maltfabrikken in Ebeltoft, Polymeren on Funen or the Roskilde Festival Højskole show how empty older industrial buildings can be breathed new life into - often on the initiative of the citizens themselves.

Last but not least, the question arises as to whether construction and intervention always have to take place. Not everything can be planned and in some cases it is necessary to leave the city to the people and their appropriations. As in the case of Fjordbyen in Aalborg.