Case Studies   The Danish Neighbourhood Regeneration Programme. Kvarterløft in Copenhagen

The urban renewal act

As mentioned above the urban renewal act has a long history in Denmark and has been essential for the modernisation and renewal of the housing stock in most cities of Denmark. Every year the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs announce an investment frame for urban renewal. This frame is mostly directed to the renewal of buildings, but the frame has been cut down during the last 5 years from 2 billion DDK (~ 268 million EURO) to less than 1 billion DDK (~ 134 million EURO). It has as well been redirected from renewal of buildings to more integrated urban renewal. The main part of the frame is still used for renewal of buildings, and also in the Kvarterløft areas a very large part of the public funding is used for renewal of buildings. The amount and share depend on the age of the building stock in the Kvarterløft area.

The yearly national frame is divided between all the municipalities of Denmark depending on the need for building improvements, which is defined by the age of the buildings and the need for sanitary installations.

The amounts for the municipalities define the total scale or frame of possible public urban renewal. The total frame consists of the investments from the state, the municipality and the owner of the building. The actually share from each partner varies from building to building, depending on the state of the buildings etc.

Since 1982 there has been an obligation for involvement of tenants in the urban renewal process, and participation is an important element in all urban renewal decisions. The urban renewal process also has to be done in conformity with the planning act.

1.2.1 Housing tenure    1.2.3 The planning act