Case Studies   The Danish Neighbourhood Regeneration Programme. Kvarterløft in Copenhagen

The city is complex and diverse

The city is complex and diverse, and the problems are composite. The solutions must therefore be multi-layered, and they must be tailored to the requirements of the individual neighbourhoods. The problems differ from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, but the common feature is that those who use the neighbourhood know where the shoe pinches, and they often have the best ideas for what can be done to solve the problems. However, it is also important to adopt holistic approaches because the problems are often interconnected, and, in a big city like Copenhagen, they are also part of more general issues. Co-ordination is necessary; the problems cannot merely be looked at from a local point of view. The Kvarterløft is a good approach to how holistic initiatives and activities can be implemented democratically in old urban neighbourhoods without losing sight of the overall picture.

As we have mentioned before there are five different Kvarterløft projects in Copenhagen. Each of these five projects has its own distinct identity. The identity of the project is formed by a number of factors:

• the neighbourhood and its physical and social structure

• the history of the neighbourhood

• the people living in the neighbourhood

• the people working for the Kvarterløft project

Each project develops along different lines. There are however similarities – and below we shall try to present the case of Kongens Enghave. We concentrate on the process rather than on the smaller activities. Thereby we will represent a picture of Kvarterløft in Copenhagen on the basis of one example –more in-depth than we could have done, if we had presented all 3 participating neighbourhoods.

2.1 Experiences and perspectives    3. The story of Kongens Enghave