Exploring the New Canals in Copenhagen - with Mikael from The Life-Sized City

Mikael went exploring in his own city, sailing along the canals of the new-ish development of Sydhavn in his inflatable kayak. A neighbourhood he hasn't really visited before, but heard so much about. A quick urbanism review of the area, which is mostly positive - a great thing after so many failed urban developments in Copenhagen over the past few years.
The Life-Sized City: lifesizedcity.com
Mikael's website: colville-anders...
Outro music by Phil Creamer: hereonout.ca

[@TheJoergenDK]

I have lived in Copenhagen for over 40 years. I take a walk or bike ride at least once a day. And almost every time I see something new. I was just in Ishøj and back, and I found ten things I didn't know about: A path, a forest, a neighbourhood, a stream, another path, and a recycling center - to name a few. And even inside Cph. it happens every time. You'd think you couldn't find new roads 15,000 times in just one city. But that happened. ;)

[@kariostroot7427]

Sydhavn looks great from the water! It looks like you were out last week when it was 27/28c out, the harbors were packed. I really like the concept of integrating both blue and green space, but my one complaint with the area so far is that it lacks certain commercial amenities, for example not many supermarkets, shops, cafes, etc. But that will probably change with continued growth and the metro development. I was looking at the area when moving apartments last year but as a student it was out of my budget, so went a bit farther out to the developments around Ny Ellebjerg, which is still only 25 minutes into city by bike. Thanks for all the videos you have been putting out. It has been inspiring for an urban planning student attempting to write a thesis in lockdown (Which is on cycling and public space integration in CPH. I have been reading and referencing your book!)

[@LifeSizedCity]

Cool! Thanks! Supermarkets often follow density, so they wait a bit before moving in.

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

There is actually supermarkets and shops, and also some cafe's, I'd actually worked on a floating restaurant, but there might still be more to come.

[@marleneseed4423]

I have been living in the new Sydhavn since I moved in Denmark. 6 years ago. Pro: close to the water, a very good starting point to do some walks especially havneringen. Bike lanes takes you in less than 15 minutes in vesterbro. Buildings are new and very well equipped and with good insulation. Big windows, lots of light. We almost never use the heater even in the middle of winter. Lots of supermarket around. There are also quite a few places for doing sport, for exemple yoga, hiit, fitness centers, bouldering gyms and of course kayak klub. There are also schools and playgrounds for the kids. It is also very quiet. The cars are mostly on the O2 or on sydhavnsgade, the main roads that surrounds teglholmen and sluseholmen. That may change with the new metro though. CONS: it's expensive. Count 12500 minimum a month for one bedroom. Night life is inexistant, no bars, bodega, very few restaurants. Going out means taking the bike. There aren't any small shops, like clothes, decoration... Closest would be fisketorvet or in the old Sydhavn. Also my friends thinks that Sydhavn is "ud på landet" So it's a bit complicated to invite people, because we are sooooo far away from the center (15 minutes by bike... I know it is a lot) Globally it's a good place to live but I wouldn't recommand it if you like to go to the restaurant or in bars often. Also while it is nice, it's a very new district that is still lacking a soul. But that is something that takes time.

[@fridaber6069]

Interesting to read your perspectives! I'm also considering to move to Sydhavn soon but the only thing that concerns me is the lack of social locations, e.g. bars, cafés, etc. How do you see this living there for 6 years? Is there much of a community?

[@Ivanfpcs]

I would love to live alongside a river. Imagine going to your balcony, climbing down some stairs into your kayak or stand-up paddle

[@hugosa3562]

My first apartment in Copenhagen was in Teglholmen! Not waterfront, anything like that was way to expensive for me, but I did get to visit a few friends who lived in different blocks of the Sydhavn canals, some water level. I gotta say, generally these apartments are quite amazing, gorgeous really! Those apartments with water access all have double ceilings on the bottom floor-gorgeous stuff. If you're looking for a sort of quiet life, its a perfect area to live in. If you're into shopping or going out to the bar, not so much. There is almost zero retail and service stuff to do, though the offerings are growing. And you get the ferry stop, which is really nice to have if you manage to incorporate that into your commute. And having all that water so close by, its definitely an option to explore if you're looking to move.

[@hugosa3562]

ALSO! It DOES FEEL very far out from the city center and all the neilouhoods after that. It was kind of a pain commuting, if you've got no bike or can't/don't want to ride one, you're kind of left with really poor bus service, no metro, commuter train is kind of far to just walk there casually, and if you wanna take the ferry, you really gotta nail your timings. In the end that disconnection to the rest of the city were the reason I moved.

[@starminecraft1]

I have lived in Sydhavn for a year, and I cant say anything else, than its great! In the summer we went swimming every day, drank a beer on the waterfront, doing barbecue in the garden. And in the winter you still get big windows into the cold and harsh weather outside while you can make it cosy inside. The city center is 20 mins by bike away, and soon the metro will make it even more quick. The only thing against this development, is the Quality of the flats. The furniture/kitchen is just not very high standard. Doors that dont really close after only 3 years of use, windows that let a breeze through. Cabinets are all wanky and so forth. The high prices are just for the location, you are gonna need a lot more money for maintenance, compared to a flat in an old town house near the city center.

[@Skvat69]

yeah thee bad quality and for example flooded cellars is very often the case with the new buildings, areas like ørestad, sluseholmen sydhavn(the area in the video), nordhavn, amager strand. not to mention the big scandals on njalsgade islandsbrygge! the quality is very bad, the planning of the apartments too. made with cheap labour. Its often foreign investors who buy and make these buildings, not even danes. And then we can pay very high price to live there. Its like they just try to maximize their income. these places have almost become a symbol for corruption and rich vs poor, made for rich people but not even be properly functional.

[@ferryengr]

Life on the canals reminds me of the Seattle houseboat community I lived in back in the 1980's and 1990's.

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

There is also some houseboat communitys in the area.

[@williamhansen9456]

The area he was paddling through is only about 50 meters from a houseboat community. :D

[@TiananmenPrism]

I feel like in many years people will look down on most new developments as being completely out of place, while Sydhavn will age with grace being well integrated into the city despite being so different.

[@GFmanaic]

These harbour front condos must be nice to live in

[@steenjacobsen1474]

Expensive as..........:(

[@GFmanaic]

@@steenjacobsen1474 I imagine. Quiet neighbourhood with water access and community garden with easy access to the city ? Sounds like an upper middle class dream housingdenmark.com/en/premium/house/201702700/75-m2-apartment-kobenhavn-sv Ho wow, you were not kidding

[@Maxime_K-G]

I wish they did something like this when they redeveloped Oosteroever here in Ostend. Instead they went for tall housing blocks without stores and a lot of windy dead space in between. A missed opportunity.

[@n.ringheim7720]

This kind of video makes me love Copenhagen even more,. I need to try out this area on my paddle board

[@LifeSizedCity]

I'm not a fan of most new urban development, but that neighbourhood is cool

[@ColdieHU]

That is so cool. Great project.

[@meibing4912]

Live it. love it. 1k daily swim keeps a smile on my face! (I do use tri-swimsuit when the water gets cold). Yes, and lots of people just jump in for the morning bath before work etc.

[@mdhazeldine]

Interesting neighbourood. It's not often that you get a completely new area that seems to have character. It's a bit of a shame though that only the residents get to see the green space. Looking on Google maps, the area could do with a park next to the water or a bit more grass.

[@NikolajAstrupMadsen]

Hi there Mark. I live in that neighborhood, and one thing I REALLY love is that each yard is actually public. Each one has 4 entrances and everyone can go through them. So when you go to the bus or just for a walk, you actually walk through different yards. The cool thing about that is that fx people with kids frequent neighboring yards for the playgrounds, which create community across the whole neighborhood. This is different from traditional Copenhagen yards, where they are mostly one way in from the street and it's mostly locked.

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

Most of the streets, big trees have been planted even before the buildings is finish, there is also a green corridor, but it is to sparesome, narrow, hopefully there will soon be a bridge across the harbour, so, the one side can have easy acces to a large green area, and the other side short distance to the new Metro-line, but You got a point, and many CPH'ers agree with you.

[@karlisadminis4577]

Wow, the weather in this video is really unusual for Copenhagen! It's fascinating to see how this place can be a hotspot on hot summer days. However, I wonder how it holds up under more typical weather conditions. In such cases, I think we might hear less excitement and more constructive criticism. Let's strive for a balanced perspective!

[@Kaisersozze]

The echo in some of these developments is just awful. We talk about noise pollution yet here it seems it's been completely forgotten, your home, where it's actually most important.

[@lesternoel9328]

Will deffo watch these to get my CPH fix 🇩🇰❤️

[@markleon411]

It sounds funny to listen to someone talk about Denmark with such a very American way of speaking. It's like you're a tourist.

[@16nine]

Well.... www.thelocal.dk/20141112/danes-the-best-non-native-english-speakers-in-the-world

[@Smalltime]

I'd love to see a follow up in november :-/

[@RedShoesSmith]

Lovely new development.

[@daniel_kryz]

So many great ideas pop up in my head from this video. One thing they could've done better is with the building design which is kind of sterile. Same goes for the courtyards. That would be a nice cherry on top.

[@dantehilgenberg89]

Mikael, this might sound as an outlandish idea, but would it be a good idea to do a piece on Christiania? How it became to be from a military base to what it is now? How people changed the aspect of it fitting their needs? I get the idea of it, actually my dad(dutch) was at the founding of it, but it seems it's kinda lost it's way during the years it seems. Might be a good idea or totally not of interest to you. Let me know. Greetings from the other bicycle country in europe.

[@16nine]

Good idea. Although in the Copenhagen episode of my TV series, we do a great segment on Christiania

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

This year 2021 is the 50-year of Christiania, I was one of the very first settlers, day two, even that I never lived there, but my younger freind needed a new home, as he got 'unclear' with his father, and it was where the smiths have office now, where they make the so'called christiania load-bike. The large generations of young people made it possible. There was not so many 'alternative' places for the many young people, one of the first places was Huset i Magsstræde, but it was closed after confrontation with the police, then it moved to a abandoned cigar factory next to Christiania, all kinds of 'stuff' were dealed there, and then it moved in to the abandoned military compound. Only very few places where ready for living to move in, the rest was empty naked broken glass every where. But from day one, it was the new hash-marked, in a spirit of idealism, non-profit and so on. Gilbert made the first little shop in a bunker, Morgenstedet, the Morning Place was the first cafe like place, but in the opposite end, from where it is now, Electric Ladyland were the first music-play-place, the hash-center were soon named Pusher-street. The first many years I was asked to make a restaurant, but nothing was sure if it would survive or being closed, most of Chr.'s time they lived with this uncertainty. Well, for long time Christiania have been the most cycle-un-freindly part of Copenhagen, but only because of the corona pandemic and quarantine CPH got the chance to pave a short distance, which looked like a bomb-crater, by purpose, to avoid cyclists. Based on a paranoid mind-set. CPH want to make a new bridge for bicycles, so the old one can be for the pedestrians, but the 'Freetown' block the realisation. In stead they made a serial of chicanes on the new pavement. Freetown my bare.

[@tychobotter]

I heard Utrecht is now the cicling city capital of the world. Maybe make a video about that?

[@16nine]

You realise I'm in a different country, right? Maybe a Dutch person who is actually in that city could make one :-) Also: copenhagenizeindex.eu/

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

Copenhagen is the best Cycle-Capitol in the world, Holland is the most developed Cycle-Country in the world, and Utrecht might be the most developed Cycle-City in the world.

[@muhilan8540]

7:00 yes there isn't an apartment build in India without balconies

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

Where I live, there had come many balconies, but in our building, it is not so attractive because of shadow and sun-direction. Some streets are to trafficed and noisy, but then they might have in the backyard, so there could be different reasons, and also as more in a building who whish to have, it is cheaper for each of them because of the set-up costs, but in general, there is a balcony-boom these years. The city is getting greener, and traffic got calmed and so on.

[@ayarmarxio]

Very good content...it is time to upgrade your edition and your photography and you can make this content world wide... good vibes

[@johnfife3062]

Love Sydhavn and your introduction of it. Always a pleasure to watch your vids. In this video I also learned of the value of having a Danish wife who will paddle while one entertains the camera. ; ]

[@LifeSizedCity]

Thanks! Not my wife, though. But she's lovely.

[@svennielsen633]

Føj hvor er det rædselsfuldt at se på.

[@rvallenduuk]

What's the map on your shoulder?

[@Munchausenification]

pretty sure its a map of Paris

[@leonefoscolo]

@@Munchausenification it's a map of different cities. At the end of every life sized city episode he gets a tatoo about that city

[@Munchausenification]

@@leonefoscolo Nice to know. That is a very good idea

[@Alex_Plante]

You're not really using your balcony unless you have a barbecue on it...

[@garethsmith3036]

we need some of these in every American city

[@RoranRock]

What do you think about the green party winning many major cities at the French municipal election last sunday ? I'm hopefull that we'll see progress in the biking infrastructure around large french cities ! I live in Grenoble where the mayor is Green and the city has been voted best french bicycle mid size city 2 times in a row, and the infrastructure is still improving

[@16nine]

It was great news!

[@MRRookie232]

🙌🏿

[@Zakawaka45]

looks like a utopia

[@lexus1098r]

Do you ever leave Copenhagen? You're presenting the standard new city developments that are happening literally all over Europe as if they are a Danish invention. I mean Copenhagen is great and it's nice to have a lot of water in a city. But developing old docks is really not that unique. Neither are balconies. Also the Copenhagenize index has been wrong for years. Noone in their right mind will put Copenhagen above any dutch city when it comes to cycling.

[@Kvadraten376]

He literally explained in this video that the corona situation has forced him to stay home instead of the global reporting he usually does.

[@lexus1098r]

@@Kvadraten376 I know, yet he proceeds to talk as if he's never been there. But yes i know about his 'work'

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

Copenhagen is the best cycle-capitol. and Holland is the most developed cycle-country.

[@ElectricityTaster]

it's all fun and games until someone does a doo-doo in the river.

[@16nine]

It's a salt-water harbour and one doo-doo is hardly going to have an impact. Thousands of birds and fish do it all day long.

[@ElectricityTaster]

@@16nine Good point.

[@ElectricityTaster]

BTW, what do you think about running lanes? A few cities in Spain have put some in and a lot of proposals include running lanes.