The Highway Projects That Almost Destroyed Copenhagen (and a reminder that megaprojects can die)

Urban design expert Mikael Colville-Andersen walks you through a series of planned highway megaprojects slated for Copenhagen in the car-centric planning era of the 1950s-1970s. Massive highways that would have razed entire neighbourhoods to the ground. Like in other cities with similar plans - Oslo, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Vancouver - we’re thrilled today that they never happened. Unless you’re Stockholm, where they were actually built and the city battles with that legacy today. Still, remnants of these megaproject plans are still present in the city today.

Projects called Søringen (The Lake Ring), City Plan Vest, Forumlinien (The Forum Line) and even a 1910 proposal to drain the iconic Nyhavn canal in the city. Madness.

But this is a cautionary tale because due to the massive prosperity in Denmark, a new age of megaprojects is underway. Ridiculous projects like Lynetteholm - run by the Chinese-styled company By og Havn, Avedøre Home, Kattegatforbindelsen - all are flashbacks to the 1950s planning mentality and they all threaten the environment, sustainability and the way of life for Danes.

But remember… megaprojects can die. Keep up the fight.

Here is an article version of this video:   / the-highway-projects-that-almost-destroyed...  

In Copenhagen or Denmark? Join the battle:

Stop Lynetteholm Facebook group:   / 2462380824029884  
Kattegatforbindelse - nej tak Facebook group:   / 395568857688411  

Follow Mikael on:
Insta:   / colvilleandersen  
Twitter:   / colvilleandersn  

Follow Life-Sized City - the global documentary series about urbanism:
Insta:   / lifesizedcity  
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Thanks to Ellis Film and Ulrik E.E. Gutt-Nielsen for helping out with this video: http://ellisfilm.dk

0:00 Megaprojects
1:40 Nyhavn Tunnel 1910
2:50 The Big H
3:50 Søringen Lake Ring
5:27 Urban Hansen
7:11 Søringen Lake Ring
8:50 Other Cities
9:18 City Plan Vest
11:38 Forumlininen
15:30 Protests
17:17 Bispeengbuen
18:32 Deja vu - Keep up the fight