Land Use Scenarios for Greater Copenhagen: Modelling the Impact of the Fingerplan

Urban planning and development in Denmark can be characterised by a relatively strong planning framework. Land use scenarios based on empirically derived dynamics of urban growth are practically never applied. However, modelling approaches do offer a methodology to explore the pressures in an urban region, as well as an approach to understand urban development patterns outside the ‘spatial masterplan’. In this context we will present the results of a modelling exercise addressing future land use change in the metropolitan area of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the impact of the current regional planning framework, the “Fingerplan 2007”. We test three policy scenarios and analyse different effects on urban growth by using the Metronamica model from the Dutch-based Research Institute for Knowledge Systems (RIKS). We analyse the possibilities to elaborate a practical and useful outcome within a relatively short period of time. The set-up and the results were discussed with a few experts from the Danish Ministry of the Environment and its value as discussion input recognized. The approach offers a lot of possibilities to discuss urban growth and spatial planning policies, even in a country with a strong planning framework as in Denmark.