A 6 year urban regeneration plan in GL.VALBY area in the southwest of Copenhagen that goes beyond well-designed buildings and well-planned spaces.

Together with improvements in the area’s housing stock, roads and other infrastructural issues, the plan offers a social and cultural initiatives that cultivate a sense of place, teaching residents and visitors about the richness of the district by posting placards with information about the history of particular streets or buildings. So too will city planners encourage the integration of Valby’s diverse residents by promoting recreation in public spaces, parks or the green cycle lane. With each of these initiatives, planners hope to move beyond economic and technical considerations, addressing social and cultural issues as well says Sarah Armitage.

A driving force of this approach is how tackle the neighborhood’s problems:

“Instead of focusing on neighborhood shortcomings and problems renewal of deprived neighborhoods should be guided by endless possibilities. The projects many actors should locate and activate the neighborhood resources. These can be the guys in the corner, who are are good at playing football and are willing to teach soccer to younger children. It can be the housewives, who want to make cooking school. Such possibilities are only detected if we talk to each other and get to know what dreams we have for our neighborhood.” extract from the GL. Valby master plan

find more about the project’s approach here