Thursday, June 4, 2009

West Harbour II


Yesterdays post was about Malmö's Vestra Hamnen (West Harbour) area. The tale continues here.



A hundred years ago there was nothing here. 40 years later this was an artificial island with one of Europe's biggest submarine shipyards with huge cranes and assembly halls and docks. This heavy industry is all gone now and has been replaced in the last 10 years by residences, office blocks and a university.



One of the clauses in the construction contracts states that for every sq. meter of office or residence a proportional area should be laid out as a green area. I confess that I'm a bit envious that the Swedes have managed to create such a lovely area, where we on the other side of Øresund just let the companies build whatever they like. I know that the construction companies in this area have had some heavy restrictions on their buildings, but isn't that exactly what the municipality should do to control the development of its areas? I think so.

In tomorrows post I'll hop back to Copenhagen and show you a coffin that has been debated for the last 13 years.

10 comments:

  1. I'm with you. City governments have the right and the responsibility to insure that development follows a plan that is advantageous to all its citizenry...Beautiful planned community here in Sweden! Thanks for sharing it through your fantastic photography! ~Janine

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  2. Very beautiful snaps.

    Once again thanks for the award.

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  3. City governments are usually a lot more incompetent (I speak for my country) than the developers, so the companies always find a way out restrictions.
    It's anyway hard to sell nice apartments without some well planned green around.

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  4. Wherever did we get the idea that developers should do whatever they wanted? Because they are profit-oriented, they will do what will make them the most money; rarely do they have any real concern for the community as a whole.

    Go Sweden! This is an absolutely gorgeous area...much better than the "heavy industry" you spoke of before...so long as there are jobs for people at the same time.

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  5. What an interesting area. And how it came about. Submarines???

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  6. Wellcome to my shores...

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  7. Learn from mistakes, so until some mistakes occur, it's the time to fix it. Indeed the area looks green, but where are the people. Seems very silence.

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  8. Another superb series of photos:)

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  9. We should restrict developers more often. This looks like a nice community.

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  10. It should always be a balance between regulation and freedom. Too much regulation will chase away the companies, because it gets too difficult to build, but too little regulation promotes anarchy. In this area I think they have achieved this balance.

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