The Finger Plan ( da, Fingerplanen) is an

urban plan Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

from 1947 which provides a strategy for the development of the Copenhagen metropolitan area, Denmark. According to the plan, Copenhagen is to develop along five 'fingers', centred on S-train commuter rail lines, which extend from the 'palm', that is the dense urban fabric of central Copenhagen. In between the fingers, green "wedges" are intended to provide land for agriculture and recreational purposes. By the definition in the Finger Plan the metropolitan area has a population of 2,036,717 () and an area of over 34

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Implementation

The little finger

The northern suburbs form the little finger of the plan and are traditionally the wealthiest. In popular language, the area is known as "The Whiskey Belt", although the area is mixed between mansions, larger houses, garden cities and mid-size houses. The area has a population of around 270,000 inhabitants. *

Gentofte Municipality Gentofte Kommune is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in the Capital Region of Denmark (''Region Hovedstaden'') on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covers an area of , and has a total population of ...

Klampenborg Klampenborg is a northern suburb to Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Gentofte Municipality, directly on Øresund, between Taarbæk and Skovshoved. Like other neighbourhoods along the Øresund coast, Klampenborg is an affluent area with many ...

, Skovshoved, Charlottenlund,

Hellerup Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The most urban part of the district is centred on Strandvejen and is bordered by Østerbro to the south and the Øresund to the east. It compri ...

, Gentofte,

Ordrup Ordrup is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located circa north of the city centre. History Ordrup was originally a small village which only consisted of eight farms and a forge. The area ...

Jægersborg Jægersborg is a suburban neighbourhood in Gentofte Municipality, some 12 km north of central Copenhagen, Denmark. History The whole area was from at least 1401 a royal estate known as Ibstrup (the earliest sources refer to it as Jepstor ...

, Dyssegård,

Vangede Vangede is a suburb 8 km north of central Copenhagen, Denmark. This area is primarily made up of one and two family houses and two and three story apartment buildings. History The first known references to the village is from 1346 when it i ...

* Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality:

Kongens Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

Ulrikkenborg Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

, Brede, Virum, Sorgenfri,

Lundtofte Lundtofte is a neighbourhood in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, located north of Kongens Lyngby. The town is bordered by Nærumbanen, the Mølleåen river, the Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark ( da, Danmarks T ...

Hjortekær Hjortekær is a neighbourhood in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. It is located north of Fortunen, east of Lundtofte and west of Jægersborg Dyrehave. The Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Den ...

* Rudersdal Municipality: Søllerød, Holte,

Øverød Øverød is a suburban neighborhood situated on the north side of Søllerød Lake in Holte, Rudersdal Municipality, in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. The original village is now agglomerated with the modern district of Holte and the ...

, Gl. Holte,

Trørød Trørød is a suburban district in Rudersdal Municipality, located approximately 20 kilometres north of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The original village has merged with the neighbouring communities of Vedbæk and Gammel Holte and now form the s ...

, Nærum,

Vedbæk Vedbæk is a wealthy suburban neighbourhood on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It belongs to Rudersdal Municipality and has merged with the town of Hørsholm to the north. The area has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years, as evidenced ...

Skodsborg Skodsborg is a small town/suburb approx. 20 km. north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The town has a population of 1,269 (1 January 2022)

Birkerød Birkerød () is a town in Rudersdal Municipality in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is surrounded by several lakes and small woodlands. Birkerød station is located on the Hillerød radial of the S-train suburban network. Hist ...

, Kajerød, Bistrup * Hørsholm Municipality: Hørsholm, Usserød, Rungsted, Vallerød, Smidstrup * Allerød Municipality: Allerød,

Lillerød Lillerød (sometimes named ''Allerød'') is a Danish town, seat of the Allerød Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. Its population 1 January 2022 was of 16,741.Blovstrød Blovstrød is a small town and parish in Allerød Municipality, North Zealand, located some 30 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The town is situated on the east side of Lyngby Kongevej, approximately one kilometre east of Lillerød and Aller� ...

Fredensborg Municipality Fredensborg Kommune is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden (Capital Region). The municipality covers an area of 112.13 km2 and has a total population of 39,551 (as of 1 April 2014). Its mayor, since 2010, is Thomas L ...

Fredensborg Fredensborg () is a railway town located in Fredensborg Municipality, North Zealand, some 30 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is most known for Fredensborg Palace, one of the official residences of the Danish Royal Family. As of 1 Janua ...

, Asminderød,

Humlebæk Humlebæk is a town within the municipality of Fredensborg in North Zealand in Denmark, approximately 35 km north of Copenhagen. Humlebæk is located at the shore to Øresund and has a population of 9,758 (2022).

Kokkedal Kokkedal () is the municipal seat of Fredensborg Municipality and a northern settlement in the urban area of Hørsholm, located on the coastline of northern Zealand, Denmark, between the two towns, Nivå and Hørsholm, 30 km north of Copenhage ...

, Niverød,

Nivå Nivå is a town with a population of 7,997 (1 January 2022)Gladsaxe Municipality: Gladsaxe, Bagsværd,

Buddinge Buddinge is a suburb 10 km northwest of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The suburb used to be a small village, but by the 1960s merged with nearby suburban areas, subsequently becoming a suburb. The suburb is part of Gladsaxe municipal and is co ...

, Høje-Gladsaxe, Mørkhøj, Søborg * Furesø Municipality:

Værløse Værløse () is a town in Furesø Municipality in the northwestern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. As of 1 January 2022, it has a population of 13,069. Situated on the west side of the Hillerød Motorway, between Farum Lake to the north and Søn ...

Farum Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,312 (1 January 2022).

, Hareskovby

The middle finger

The northwestern suburbs form the middle finger. It consists of a mixed area of both detached middle-class dwellings, widespread garden cities and large, low-rise public housing projects. The area has a considerable part of the industrial areas of metropolitan Copenhagen, mostly in the traditional sectors of manufacturing. The area has a population of around 110,000 inhabitants. * Herlev Municipality: Herlev, Hjortespring * Ballerup Municipality:

Skovlunde From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search Skovlunde is a small Danish town in Ballerup Municipality and is a suburb of Copenhagen (12 km west of downtown Copenhagen). Skovlunde has approximately 12.000 inhab ...

Ballerup Ballerup is a Danish town, seat of the Ballerup Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. There are approximately 25 schools in Ballerup Municipality. Ballerup has its own educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of ...

Måløv Måløv is a suburb within Ballerup Municipality, closely attached to Smørumnedre approx. 20 km. west of Copenhagen, in the Capital region, with a population of 8,787 (2022). The suburb is made up by single-family houses and a housing projec ...

, Ågerup, Jonstrup, Egebjerg *

Egedal Municipality Egedal Kommune is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden in Denmark. It covers an area of with a total population of 42,297 (1 April 2014). Its mayor is Karsten Søndergaard, a member of the Liberal Party (''Venstre'') politic ...

: Smørumnedre, Stenløse, Ølstykke

The index finger

The index finger forms the western suburbs, which are those with the lowest income per capita and the highest crime rate. The suburbs vary from the petit bourgeois area of Glostrup to the widespread low housing projects of Albertslund and Taastrup. Of the total of 145,000 inhabitants, some 20% are immigrants of first or second generation. * Rødovre Municipality: Rødovre,

Islev Islev is a suburb, located approximately 10 km west of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The suburb consists of single-family detached home, single-family detached houses and a commercial area. The suburb is connected to Copenhagen by the S-train. ...

* Glostrup Municipality:

Glostrup Glostrup is a Danish town in Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated population of 22,357 . During the 20th century Glostrup developed from ...

Hvissinge Hvissinge (or Hvessinge on some maps, though not in local signage) is a suburb approximately 13 km west of central Copenhagen. Originally a small village, but in the 1970s the town grew quickly along with Glostrup. It is part of Glostrup Munici ...

, Ejby *

Brøndby Municipality Brøndby Kommune (), a municipality ( da, kommune) in the former Copenhagen County (now Region Hovedstaden), is on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total p ...

Brøndbyøster Brøndbyøster () is a Danish town in the Brøndby Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. Notable people * Alex Ambrose (born 1978 in Brøndbyøster) stage name Alex, is a Danish singer, songwriter and actor Brøndbyvester Brøndbyvester () is a Danish town, seat and main settlement of the Brøndby Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. It is known for housing the stadium of football team Brøndby IF. History The town is the original core of Brøndby and somet ...

, Brøndby Nord * Albertslund Municipality * Høje-Taastrup Municipality: Taastrup, Høje-Taastrup, Tåstrupgård,

Hedehusene Hedehusene is a suburban town located on the rail line between Copenhagen and Roskilde in the Capital Region of Denmark. It has absorbed the villages of ''Baldersbrønde'' and Fløng and almost merged with Roskilde's eastern Trekroner neighbourhoo ...

The thumb

The southwest suburbs, also called

Vestegnen Vestegnen is a term for a part of the former Copenhagen County, located west of Copenhagen. The area is defined as consisting of the municipalities of Rødovre, Hvidovre, Glostrup, Brøndby, Albertslund, Vallensbæk, Herlev, Ishøj and Høje-T ...

, along the coast form the thumb of the plan. While the central parts of these suburbs are dominated by high-rise housing projects and low-income inhabitants, the distant part is dominated by detached middle-class houses. These suburbs have a population of some 215,000 inhabitants, with a sizeable number of immigrants. * Hvidovre Municipality:

Avedøre Avedøre is a south-western suburb of Copenhagen located in Hvidovre Municipality. Description The city is mostly made up of concrete blocks and row-housing, but some people residing in Avedøre live in detached single-family houses with gardens. ...

Friheden Friheden (meaning ''The Freedom'' in English) is a suburb in Hvidovre municipality, located 8 km south-east from central Copenhagen. The area is a working-class suburb and most activity takes place around the Friheden S-Train The S-Bahn is ...

, Hvidovre *

: Brøndby Strand *

Vallensbæk Municipality Vallensbæk Municipality is a municipality (Danish language, Danish: ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'') in the Capital Region of Denmark on Zealand. It is part of the Urban area of Copenhagen, Greater Copenhagen area and consist primarily of t ...

* Ishøj Municipality * Greve Municipality:

Hundige Hundige is a suburb southwest of Copenhagen. The town has a relatively high rate of crime, most of which are committed in the large housing project called Askerød in the northern part of the subur The housing project called Gersagerparken has al ...

, Karlslunde, Greve * Solrød Municipality: Solrød,

Jersie Jersie or Jersie Strand is a town south-west of central Copenhagen and form the southern part of the Solrød Strand urban area. The suburb is connected with the radial line Køgebugtbanen, a part of the S-train network, at the Jersie station. ...

* Køge municipality:

Køge Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a seaport on the coast of Køge Bugt (''Bay of Køge'') 39 km southwest of Copenhagen. It is the principal town and seat of Køge Municipality, Region Sjælland, Denmark. In 2022, the urban area had a p ...

, Ølby

The extra finger – contemporary planning in Copenhagen

When the finger plan was initially introduced, the island of

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

was not included as the infrastructure was inadequate for modern suburban life. It has since been improved and the suburbs on the island hold some 53,000 inhabitants. Amager is now one of the most modern suburbs of Copenhagen with increasing wealth. With the opening of the bridge to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

this finger has been extended all the way to

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

. * Tårnby Municipality: Tårnby,

Kastrup Kastrup () is a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark, on the east coast of Amager in Tårnby Municipality. It is the site of Copenhagen Airport. In Danish, the airport is often called ''Kastrup Lufthavn'' (Kastrup Airport) or ''Københavns Lufthavn, Kast ...

* Dragør Municipality

The sixth finger – background

The development of the

Ørestad Ørestad () is a developing city area in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the island of Amager. The area was developed using the new town concept, closely linked with the M1 line of the Copenhagen Metro. Economically, income for the plan would be generate ...

area (the sixth finger) was made by following, in some extent, the concepts of the original finger plan which had as its structure the regional rail system. This model is possible to be linked with the concept of transport oriented development (TOD), in which urban growth areas were developed along five radial corridors that connect

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

inner city with new sub-urban settlements. These new urbanization rapidly attracted residents who came from Copenhagen city looking for more affordable housing options. As a consequence of this displacement of residents out of the city, the Municipality tax base was near to collapse and its economic situation worsened over the time. The two projects in Ørestad were linked in order to achieve the strategic vision of becoming a major economic pole in the Scandinavia region. At the same time it would accommodate urban growth in this area along the new metro rail in a strategic position. Its location is probably the most important characteristic and strength of this project because of its proximity to Copenhagen historic city centre and airport. It is also located in the midpoint area between the Øresund Link which connects Malmö and Copenhagen, this condition allows that the project could receive commuter flows from both cities, generating therefore a double-city link that reinforces regional competitiveness.

The Ørestad model

The idea of this model was established when the Ørestad development corporation (ODC) was created under the Ørestad Act in 1992. The ODC was conceived as a partnership formed by the municipality and the government which owned the land in 55% and 45% respectively by that time. This hybrid corporation (public- public state) had as mission to develop the master plan for

as well as the construction of the

Copenhagen Metro The Copenhagen Metro ( da, Københavns Metro, ) is a 24/7 rapid transit system in Copenhagen, Denmark, serving the municipalities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby. The original system opened in October 2002, serving nine stations on t ...

and the land sale, this with the purpose of attracting local and international investors with a new and modern image. The financial model was based on the idea that the sale of plots in this area together with future revenues from ticket sales would finance the Metro construction, therefore the initial government investment will be recovered within 30 years. Along with the idea that connectivity improvement will increase the land value, was also necessary to design an attractive master plan which defines the uses and activities in the area in order to grant the special characteristics to strengthen the project in relation to its local competitors such as the Port of Copenhagen.

The master plan

The master plan for Ørestad was defined in 1995 through an international competition. As well as the Finger Plan (1947), it has a TOD project as its backbone—the Metro line—which acts as corridor of development through all the area. It also considers a concentration of high density buildings around six train stations, in special offices and services. However the area was designed with a mix of different land uses and activities in order to make it more attractive (60% of offices, 20% of housing and 20% of facilities). The master plan organizes development along the north-south axis of the island of Amager inscribed in a rectangular area divided in four districts, which are still under construction. During the first stage of the project it was difficult to attract investments. This situation along with the non-expected high cost of the

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

construction created a sense of financial crisis. As a response of this situation the government interfered by relocating important public building into the area such as the Copenhagen concert hall and the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. Even though the government has interfered in order to enhance the attractiveness of the area some external factors have prevented the expected outcomes of the project because of its strong dependence on market fluctuations. Some of these factors are the international financial crisis and the strong local real estate competition. In spite of this, the project is expected to be finished in 2025 according to the original vision and will accommodate 20,000 inhabitants and about 80,000 workers in the area.

References

{{Suburbs of Copenhagen Geography of Copenhagen Danish Culture Canon Urban planning in Denmark Greenways