New Urbanity in Mega-Urban Projects: The Comparison of Amsterdam and Copenhagen

New Urbanity in Mega-Urban Projects: the comparison of
Zuidas, Amsterdam and Ørestad, Copenhagen

Kari Burton
BENVGEPC
IREP
Word Count: 2,487

Kari Burton BENVGEPC

1|P a g e

1.0 Context of Mega-Urban Projects and New Urbanity
‘By 2050, 75% of the world’s population will live in cities’ (Graham, 2010,p.155). One way in which Governments, urban planners and private property developers are addressing this problem is through the development of mega-urban projects. Fainstein (2008,p.768) attempts to define this concept; ‘a development requiring new construction and/or substantial rehabilitation. The implementation may take a number of years and the main aim is to transform the land.’
Mega-urban projects have been largely influenced by the process of economic and cultural globalisation (Jessop, 2010). Governments are embracing new spatial strategies and urban policies to improve their international competitiveness in the increasing globalised world
(Held in Steger, 2003).
This essay focuses on two European mega-urban projects Zuidas, Amsterdam and Ørestad,
Copenhagen. New urbanity is an ambition for both projects, which is defined as ‘a planning concept that radically introduces aspects of urbanity, such as buildings in higher densities and mixed spatial uses’ (Majoor, 2008a,p.34). However, this can often be too ambiguous as purely economic spatial functions dominate (Jessop, 2010). Therefore, demands for international capital are satisfied, but little contribution is made to societal factors
(Swyngedouw et al.2002).
The essay will start with individual studies of Zuidas and Ørestad, looking at their driving forces, institutional arrangements, outcomes and impacts. The projects will then be analytically compared, placing emphasis on whether new urbanity has been successfully achieved. From the cases of Zuidas and Ørestad, the essay will finally assess the general processes and trends of mega-urban projects.

Kari Burton BENVGEPC

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