Amager Øst ( English: Amager East) is one of the 10 official

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Copenhagen Municipality Copenhagen Municipality (), also known in English language, English as the Municipality of Copenhagen, located in the Capital Region of Denmark, is the largest of the four municipalities that constitute the City of Copenhagen (), the other three ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It encompasses the part of Copenhagen located on the island of

Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...

, east of the major shopping street Amagerbrogade.Prior to an administrative reform in 2006–08, the district was known as Sundbyøster. Amager Øst holds within its limits a heterogeneous mixture of areas, to the north Amagerbro, straddling the border with

Amager Vest Amager Vest (English:West Amager) is one of the ten administrative districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It located on in the north-western part of the island of Amager, the largest island in the Øresund. The district is bordered b ...

, is a dense "-bro district"-style residential neighbourhoods while other areas are dominated by allotments, Single-family houses or, sometimes abandoned, industrial sites. Amagerbro used to be a run-down

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

neighbourhood but has undergone considerable

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

. Also the areas along the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...

coast has undergone considerable redevelopment, most notably with the establishment of Amager Strandpark in 2005 with a 2 km long artificial island and a total of 4.6 km of beaches.

Geography

Amager Øst has an area of 8.60 km² and a population of 49,705. The district is bordered by Amager Vest to the west along Amagerbrogade,

Tårnby Municipality Tårnby Municipality (, ) is a '' kommune'' bordering Copenhagen Municipality on the island of Amager just east of Zealand in eastern Denmark. The municipality includes the islands of Saltholm (16 km2;2 inhabitants 1 January 2020) and Peb ...

to the south and Øresund to the east. To the northwest Amager Øst is bordered by Christianshavn, located on the other side of the broad, former

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

og Slotsgraven, and to the north by Holmen which is also located on the other side of the water.

History

Sundbyøster takes its name from a village in the area founded in the 11th century. By Royal order, Dutch crafts- and boatsmen were granted permission to settle in the area. This started an

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

of the area, particularly around 1870. In 1902 the northern part of Amager was incorporated into Copenhagen Municipality and a dense working-class neighbourhood developed in the area around Holmbladsgade. By 1980 most industrial activities had been discontinued and the area became dominated by trade and service-oriented businesses. In 1997 a programme for urban refurbishment (Danish: Byfornyelse) of the area was commenced. The M2 line of the Copenhagen Metro opened to Lergravsparken on October 18, 2002, and the extension to

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (, ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as well as the wider Øresund Region, including Zealand and the southern Sweden, Swedish province of Scania. In 2023 it was the largest ai ...

was inaugurated in September 2007. Another important event in the district's modern history was the opening of Amager Strandpark in 2005. At the administrative reform in 2006–08, the district's name was changed from Sundbyøster to Amager Øst.

Amager Øst today

After urban renewal, particularly the area around Holmbladsgade is today recognized as an attractive and lively residential neighbourhood. An important step in the refurbishment of the area was the construction of the Holmbladsgade Sports and Culture Centre, designed by Dorthe Mandrup. Amager Strandpark has, since its inauguration in 2005, become the primary beach destination for Copenhageners and a venue for a variety of sports and cultural activities. Another significant greenspace in the district is Kløvermarken.

Attractions

* Amager Strandpark * Holmbladsgade Sports and Culture Centre * Amager Bio, music venue

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amager Ost Copenhagen city districts Amager