With this post I conclude my investigation with a look at cultural considerations governing the American and Danish understandings and relationship to landscape and land reclamation.
Stating that all reclamation projects get a green light in Copenhagen and a red light in the U.S. oversimplifies it. The Nordhavnen competition brief noted that infill and reshaping the shoreline would create potential sand migration and erosion problems. Yet, entrants were reassured that they need not concern themselves with these potential effects for the competition, noting: "The extent and layout of reclaimed areas...will subsequently be scrutinized by means of detailed analyses of coastal morphology and environmental impact assessments, following which various adjustments may be required." It remains to be seen if this project will proceed with as much creative license relative to environmental oversight.
A park created from reclaimed land in FXFOWLE's 'City Regenerative' competition entry
Finally, Americans often regard their cities as constructed out of a wilderness on "virgin" soil from an often mysterious and unknown natural world. This has led our development to assume either a frontiersman-like "battle against nature" or its inverse corollary, deference to sacred land to be preserved as pure and untouched. Copenhagen's population is very conscious of its role in constructing the landscape. A much longer shared civic history dates as far back as the Vikings and Romans. Copenhagen has built up its harbor over time, from the construction of the Citadel at the city's heart and the fortification of Slotsholmen to the creation and expansion of the Nordhavnen Peninsula itself. With such a long history of continuously settling the land, it is nearly impossible to conceive of "pure" land in Denmark or consider the forces of development as threatening.
Historical growth of the Nordhavnen peninsula over the last 400 years, along with FXFOWLE's proposal for the next 45 years
Perhaps the U.S., with its sprawling metropolitan regions, labyrinthine property laws, infrastructural fragmentation, and jurisdictional redundancy, can shift its policies to a simpler, yet more nuanced, understanding of how best to fit into the American landscape. Not that we should simply adopt Danish practices, but we should take a more holistic approach towards deciding where to develop land and where to preserve it. The value of Twain's quote may yet prove to be prescient advice, not as a rapacious investment strategy, but as a reminder of the scarce and precious resource we should not squander or exhaust.
Stating that all reclamation projects get a green light in Copenhagen and a red light in the U.S. oversimplifies it. The Nordhavnen competition brief noted that infill and reshaping the shoreline would create potential sand migration and erosion problems. Yet, entrants were reassured that they need not concern themselves with these potential effects for the competition, noting: "The extent and layout of reclaimed areas...will subsequently be scrutinized by means of detailed analyses of coastal morphology and environmental impact assessments, following which various adjustments may be required." It remains to be seen if this project will proceed with as much creative license relative to environmental oversight.
A park created from reclaimed land in FXFOWLE's 'City Regenerative' competition entryFinally, Americans often regard their cities as constructed out of a wilderness on "virgin" soil from an often mysterious and unknown natural world. This has led our development to assume either a frontiersman-like "battle against nature" or its inverse corollary, deference to sacred land to be preserved as pure and untouched. Copenhagen's population is very conscious of its role in constructing the landscape. A much longer shared civic history dates as far back as the Vikings and Romans. Copenhagen has built up its harbor over time, from the construction of the Citadel at the city's heart and the fortification of Slotsholmen to the creation and expansion of the Nordhavnen Peninsula itself. With such a long history of continuously settling the land, it is nearly impossible to conceive of "pure" land in Denmark or consider the forces of development as threatening.
Historical growth of the Nordhavnen peninsula over the last 400 years, along with FXFOWLE's proposal for the next 45 yearsPerhaps the U.S., with its sprawling metropolitan regions, labyrinthine property laws, infrastructural fragmentation, and jurisdictional redundancy, can shift its policies to a simpler, yet more nuanced, understanding of how best to fit into the American landscape. Not that we should simply adopt Danish practices, but we should take a more holistic approach towards deciding where to develop land and where to preserve it. The value of Twain's quote may yet prove to be prescient advice, not as a rapacious investment strategy, but as a reminder of the scarce and precious resource we should not squander or exhaust.