Copenhagen
Pedestrianisation timeline
Copenhagen lends itself to pedestrianisation perhaps more easily than other cities. The central area is small, laid out in a narrow grid in the Medieval period. The working and living areas of the city have always been in close juxtaposition, and today the city centre has some 7,000 residents.
Pedestrianisation began in the middle of the central district, spreading north and later west, east and south. Some of the surrounding streets give priority to pedestrians and bicycles, and cars are allowed only at slow speeds. From 1962 to 1988, the number of parking places in the centre was reduced by 2-3% per year, providing some 100,000 sq m of car-free public space.
The city's first pedestrianised zone opened in November 1962, with the main thoroughfare Strøget (stripe) — actually a chain of five streets: Østergade, Amagertorv, Vimmelskaftet, Nygade and Fredriksberggade. Strøget links the city's two main squares, Kongens Nytorv (King's New Square) and Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square). Magasins Torv and part of Gammeltorv were also pedestrianised.
Pedestrianisation is not just good for the environment, it has proved to be good for the city's finances too because city-centre spending increases when pedestrian areas grow — people linger and are more likely to buy, it seems.
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1962
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17th November, Copenhagen's first pedestrianised zone opens — Strøget
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1968
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14th May, Fiolstræde opens as the second pedestrianised street — north of Strøget, in the university district
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7th June, Gråbrødretorv becomes the first city square to be a pedestrian zone
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1968-95
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The number of people spending time in the public spaces of the city centre increases by three and a half times
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1972
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Nikolaj Plads is pedestrianised
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1972-73
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The world oil crisis encourages the reduction of car use, and pedestrianisation continues
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1973
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16th April, Købmagergade is the third street to be pedestrianised, linking the main train station with the city centre
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Store Kannikestræde, Rosengaarden and Pilestræde are closed to car traffic by 1st July
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The squares at Kultorvet and parts of Nina Bangs Plads and Nytorv are pedestrianised
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1980
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29th July, the quay at Nyhavn becomes a pedestrian zone
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Toftegårds Plads in Valby is pedestrianised
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1986
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16th June, Højbro Plads is pedestrianised
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1986-96
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About 600 car parking spaces are removed
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1988
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22nd January, Axeltorv becomes first square to the west of the city centre to be pedestrianised
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1989
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1st September, Strædet, parallel to Strøget, is turned into a pedestrian priority street: buses are banned but cars may enter at low speeds
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1990
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Nina Bangs Plads is pedestrianised fully
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1991
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Gammel Strand beside the canal (May) and Vandkunsten square (August) are pedestrianised
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Axeltorv is refurbished
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1992
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Strædet becomes a fully pedestrian street (Sepetember), completing Copenhagen's pedestrian street network —later projects focus on pedestrianising public squares and other open areas
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The connecting squares Gammeltorv and Nytorv are re-paved and opened as a pedestrian-only spaces
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1993
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Amagertorv becomes a pedestrian square and is re-paved with patterned granite designed by sculptor Bjørn Nørgård
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Mozarts Plads in south west Copenhagen, Christianshavns Torv in east Copenhagen, Vesterbro Torv and Sankt Hans Torv are pedestrianised
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1994
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Melchiors Plads in east Copenhagen is pedestrianised
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1994-96
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Danish Academy of Arts study of the development of pedestrianisation in Copenhagen's streets and squares (see box at right)
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1995
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By now, 80% of traffic activity in the city centre is pedestrian
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11th August, Ved Stranden is pedestrianised, though buses are allowed through the square
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Enghave Plads in West Copenhagen in pedestrianised
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1996
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Copenhagen now has six times the area of car-free space than when the initiatives began in 1962
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1st January, Rådhuspladsen is changed from a congested traffic artery into a pedestrianised square
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The cobblestones at Nyhavn are renovated, as is Højbro Plads, now a market square
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2000
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By now, parking places have been removed from 18 of the city's squares and there are 1,500 benches and 5,000 café seats to tempt pedestrians
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2005
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Copenhagen has one of the lowest rates of car ownership in Europe at 208 per 1,000 of the population (Rome has the highest at 665 per 1,000 of the population)
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Pedestrianised areas
1962 ... Strøget ... first pedestrianised street
1968 ... Fiolstræde (street)
1968 ... Gråbrødretorv (square)
1972 ... Nikolaj Plads (square)
1973 ... Købmagergade (street)
1973 ... Store Kannikestræde (street)
1973 ... Rosengården (street)
1973 ... Pilestræde (street)
1973 ... Kultorvet (square)
1973 ... Frue Plads (square)
1980 ... Nyhavn (quay)
1986 ... Højbro Plads (market square)
1988 ... Axeltorv (square)
1989 ... Strædet (street, fully pedestrianised 1992))
1990 ... Nina Bangs Plads (square)
1991 ... Vandkunsten (square)
1991 ... Gammelstrand (square)
1992 ... Gammeltorv (square)
1992 ... Kongens Nytorv (square)
1993 ... Amagertorv (square)
1995 ... Ved Stranden (square)
1996 ... Rådhuspladsen (square)
The 1996 study
of Copenhagen's city centre
In 1996, Danish architects and planners
Jan Gehl and Lars Gemzøe published the results of a detailed study on how people used Copenhagen's city centre, as carried out by students from the Department of Urban Design in the School of Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
The idea was to explore how the city centre had developed over the preceeding 34 years, since the establishment of pedestrianisation in Støget. The study also examined changes in urban life and made comparisons with other cities.
You can read the results in ...
Public Spaces - Public Life,
Copenhagen 1996
by Jan Gehl and Lars Gemzøe
The Danish Architectural Press and
the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture, Copenhagen, 2004
ISBN 87 7404 305 2
The study was part of the School of Architecture's contribution to Copenhagen '96 - Cultural Capital of Europe.
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