Case Studies   The Danish Neighbourhood Regeneration Programme. Kvarterløft in Copenhagen

The planning act

Spatial planning establishes a framework for land use and the construction of buildings, roads and other infrastructure, including the way in which existing urban areas and landscapes can best be protected. Planning is carried out at four levels: national, regional, municipal and local. The planning system is based on "framework management", which says that one plan at a lower level must not contradict planning decisions made at a higher level. This sounds strict and inflexible, but in the Denmark variety it means the vast majority of planning decisions are decentralised to municipal level.

Since 1978 the planning act has included a broad public participation, which has also inspired the participation in the urban renewal act. The Kvarterløft initiative, based on public participation and partnerships, is a further development of these ideas and has in turn given back inspiration to the planning practise.

The municipal general plan expresses the municipal ideas and visions for the future, and at the same time provides a binding framework for local planning. A local plan is necessary when new constructions will change the existing environment substantially. This may be new residential buildings, office constructions or a road by-pass in an urban zone. This causes a legally binding local plan to be made, and an 8-week period of public hearing to be held, before adoption or abolishment by the municipal government.

According to the planning act, every local government must within the first two years of its election period (i.e. every four years) pass a strategy for the spatial development of the municipality. This means that the city council must take a holistic view on the development of the city, which may include redevelopment and efforts within urban regeneration, such as Kvarterløft. This strategy is also launched for an 8-week public debate. It is a new demand on the city councils, and the effect on municipal strategies is still to be seen. But it provides a new instrument for viewing regeneration strategies such as Kvarterløft in the perspective of a general strategy for the city.

1.2.2 The urban renewal act    2. Kvarterløft in Copenhagen