The Copenhagen Way
INSIGHT & ACTION AT A CRITICAL MOMENT FOR EUROPEAN CITIES
Thirty years ago, Copenhagen was on the brink of collapse. Families were leaving the city, unemployment was high, and the municipal budget was close to bankruptcy.
Today, the city is ranked among the world’s most liveable and competitive. The journey from crisis to renewal was not accidental. It was the result of ambitious decisions, long-term planning, and a culture of co-responsibility that brought the public sector, private investors, and civic actors together to shape a shared future.
This transformation matters far beyond Denmark. Europe now faces its own crossroads. Economic stagnation, climate pressures, and social divides are testing the resilience of our cities and our continent. The lesson from Copenhagen is clear: when we act ambitiously together, change is possible.
That conviction is at the heart of The Copenhagen Way, the report we launched this week at Climate Week in New York with Rambøll and Urban Partners. It captures how Copenhagen’s transformation was achieved and, more importantly, how its methods can inspire the next chapter for Europe’s cities.
The report sets out a living model – not a fixed blueprint – for how housing, energy, mobility, and climate adaptation can be treated as shared infrastructure for resilience and competitiveness. It is a call to action for leaders, investors, and citizens to embrace collaboration as the foundation for Europe’s future.
And next week, during Denmark’s EU Presidency, this conversation moves to Copenhagen. Together with C40 Cities, Arup, Rambøll, and Urban Partners, we will host a breakfast dialogue with the Danish Minister of Housing, the mayors of Copenhagen and Stockholm, and other European leaders. The focus: how urban regeneration can deliver affordable homes, climate action, and competitiveness – not as competing priorities, but as parts of the same agenda. Join the event and conversation here
Copenhagen’s story shows that transformation within a generation is possible. The challenge before us now is to apply that lesson at a European scale, building the resilient and competitive cities our future depends on.
Read the full report here, or the executive summary inserted below.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
It is hard to imagine today, but in the early 1990s, Copenhagen was a city in decline. Its population was shrinking, unemployment was high, housing was outdated, and the municipal budget was on the verge of collapse. Three decades later, it ranks as the world’s most liveable city and one of Europe’s most competitive urban economies. This transformation shows that systemic change is possible within a generation when long-term vision, institutional innovation, and cross-sector alliances come together. This report, The Copenhagen Way, has been developed by BLOXHUB, Ramboll, and Urban Partners with contributions from a wide network of Danish and European stakeholders. It documents the city’s transformation, identifies the ways of working that enabled it, and sets out the pathways needed to sustain resilience and competitiveness in a rapidly changing Europe. Europe now stands at a crossroads. Its share of global GDP has fallen from 29 % in 1992 to 17 % in 2022. Growth is stalling, trust is eroding, and climate limits are pressing. These pressures converge in cities, yet cities are also Europe’s greatest asset. They generate most of their GDP, concentrate talent and innovation, and can deliver systemic change at scale. With Denmark holding the EU Presidency in late 2025, this report draws insights from Copenhagen as a living model and puts forth actions to strengthen Europe and its cities. THE COPENHAGEN WAY IN PRACTICE Copenhagen’s renewal did not come from one big plan or a single flagship project. It unfolded step by step, with each decision building on what came before. Renewal programmes first improved housing and later evolved into holistic regeneration of entire neighbourhoods, bringing residents directly into the process. Long-term municipal planning provided direction and continuity, sequencing growth and infrastructure in ways that kept the city coherent and enabled investments. Significant investments became turning points. The metro and harbour redevelopment, financed through land value capture and impressively delivered by By & Havn with pension funds, turned urban infrastructure into an engine of growth. The city’s year as European Capital of Culture in 1996 embedded culture as a driver of identity, innovation and competitiveness. The Øresund Bridge expanded the labour and housing market across borders, while initiatives like Medi-Con Valley and Science City created powerful knowledge and innovation ecosystems. Climate ambition was not treated as a cost but as a foundation for progress. The Eco-Metropolis plan, the 2025 Climate Plan, and the Cloudburst strategy integrated decarbonisation and adaptation into how the city was built and lived in. Together, these shifts reshaped everyday life: families moved back, people swam in the harbour, bikes became the norm, and public spaces became central to urban identity. What emerges is a clear lesson. Transformation was not about one-off projects but about consistent ways of connecting direction with delivery and aligning actors around common goals with a holistic investment toolkit. THE COPENHAGEN WAY FORWARD Copenhagen is not a blueprint but a proof of concept. Its transformation shows how cities can turn crises into catalysts for renewal. The task now is to evolve these lessons for a new era, where Europe’s strength lies in a network of resilient, competitive cities acting together. While the ways of working that rebuilt Copenhagen are more relevant than ever, the specific solutions cannot simply be repeated. Housing is becoming less affordable, spatial and carbon budgets are shrinking, and innovation remains fragmented. The report identifies six pathways that define the agenda ahead. • Firstly, Europe must connect its cities to achieve scale. • Housing must also be treated as infrastructure, aligning affordability with climate goals and attracting long-term capital. • Energy systems must be integrated across borders, extending Copenhagen’s sector-coupling experience to support a European Energy Union that is reliable, affordable, and low carbon. • Water and climate adaptation must be embedded as drivers of value and prosperity. • Mobility must be understood as the management of scarce space. • Underpinning all of these areas, planning must be redefined as more than regulation. It is the framework that connects long-term direction with delivery, aligning systems, actors, and capital across cycles. In this role, planning enables cities to stay liveable and affordable while building the resilience and competitiveness that Europe now requires. Taken together, these pathways show how Copenhagen and Europe can remain liveable, affordable, and competitive while navigating a more constrained and uncertain future. The Copenhagen Way is both a story and an invitation: to treat cities as critical infrastructure for Europe’s future.
