While I’ve never actually been to Copenhagen, I feel like I have, as a result of watching numerous documentaries about the city over the past few months - most recently Waterfront Cities. For many urbanists, Copenhagen is the mecca of modern urban living due to its walkability, dominance of the bicycle over the car, social housing and its integration of historic and modern architecture. It is often portrayed as the world’s happiest city.

Copenhagen is often referenced by Calgary urbanists, when trying to sell their vision of what Calgary “could be or should be” in the future. I expect it is the same in other Canadian cities – Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg Hamilton, Victoria, London, Saskatoon or Kitchener/Waterloo.

I thought it would be fun to do a comparison of Copenhagen and Calgary.

Jan Gehl Copenhagen’s Urban Guru

Jan Gehl, one of the world’s current urban planning gurus, lives in Copenhagen and advocates cities must be designed for people not cars. He articulated in the Waterfront Cities documentary how Copenhagen’s success is a result of being a decentralized city (not everything is downtown) and that there are only a few high-rise buildings, which means the streets are pedestrian-friendly as you aren’t dwarf by the buildings. He made a point of stating Copenhagen is not a very dense city by European standards.

He also talked about the integration of not only the bike lanes, but also public transit and roads as part of the city’s 70-year-old Finger Plan which organized growth and prioritized transit along five axis radiating from the waterfront, which allowed for parks, green space and even agriculture between the fingers.

If Gehl is right that people friendly cities are decentralized, with a City Centre that is mostly low-rise buildings, Calgary is doomed.

Our city is the polar opposite of Copenhagen. It is very downtown centric, with a city centre dominated by high-rise office, hotel and residential towers and all its major cultural institutions are downtown. Consequently, most of the city’s transit routes pass through downtown. Only recently has the city started to look at cross town routes via Bus Rapid Transit.

FYI: Gehl’s urban design studio in New York City is working on a plan for the revitalization of Calgary’s Stephen Avenue Walk.

Bikes vs Cars vs Transit

Gehl is also a big fan of bikes over cars. Copenhagen’s claim to fame is that it is the #1 city in the world for cycling. Car ownership in Copenhagen is only 29%, and 80% of the citizens cycle year-round utilizing the 350 km of curbed bike lanes and 650 km of bike paths.

Copenhagen’s geography and climate help make it a bike friendly city as one commentator said, “it is flat as a pancake.” Also, while some consider Copenhagen a winter city, its climate is more like Vancouver’s, than Calgary’s. Yes, I know you can cycle in Calgary in the winter, but as one cycling friend recently said to me “everyone I know who cycles in the winter has broken something.”

Denmark’s high cost of car registration, insurance and car ownership taxes, can add up to 180% to the price of a car, in combination with good transit and cycling infrastructure the need forcar is reduced.

Again, Calgary is the opposite. In fact, some might say Calgary is the #1 city in the world for driving. In 2019 Driving Cities Index, evaluated 15 infrastructure, safety and cost factors relating to driving friendliness in 100 cities around the world and Calgary came out #1. When Car2go was operating, Calgary had the highest per capital membership rate in North America.

Calgary’s growth has mostly been post 1950s, which means the majority of the city has been developed as car centric suburbs. While most urbanists distain the suburbs, Calgarians love their big homes, with attached front garages and backyards.

Map of Calgary’s 145-km urban pathway system that circles the city.

And while Calgary is often chastised by urbanists for its urban sprawl, it is one of the most compact cities in North America with continuous growth from its city centre, rather than being fragmented into 20+ different cities and towns.

Despite the city’s large footprint, the average commute time is 27 minutes, which is on par or better than most North America cities and significantly less than Copenhagen’s 38 minutes.

And Calgary is also a great bicycle city with 1,000+ km of multi-purpose pathways that are used mostly for recreational purposes than day-to-day transportation.

However, they do make for a lovely commute through parks and along rivers for many Calgarians cycling to work.

While Calgary is a car city, it should be noted it was an early adopter of LRT in North America and pre-COVID had one of the highest LRT ridership’s in North America.

FYI: Several people have shared with me that they preferred cycling in Calgary than in cities with busy cycling street, where you are almost always in a cycling traffic jam. And, in Calgary drivers will stop to let cyclists cross the street, especially for young families on bikes.

Green Cities

Copenhagen is working towards becoming a carbon-neutral city by 2025. One of its biggest innovations is the CopenHill project, which turns waste into energy for 10,000 homes and/or businesses. On its roof is a year-round artificial ski and snow board slope. In addition, 20% of the city is made up of green spaces, with many of its new buildings boasting green roofs.

Copenhagen’s CopenHill is the cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in the world. It also functions as a public space with a ski hill, trails and world’s tallest climbing wall.

While Calgary isn’t on anyone’s list as being one of the “greenest” cities in the world, it is often ranked as one of the “cleanest.” It boasts some of the most advanced water treatment facilities in the world. It also has one of North America’s most advanced composting facilities, with plans to expand the facility to meet its citizen’s growing commitment to recycling.

In 2001, Calgary began purchasing wind power to operate its LRT trains before it was trendy. In 2012, the city began purchasing enough renewable power for all its operations.

There is also a Free Fare Zone for LRT in the downtown, allowing workers, residents and visitors to hop-on and off for short trips, rather than taking a taxi or driving.

Calgary is home to 7,000+ parks and green spaces, which means 91% of Calgarians can walk to a green space in five minutes. There are 157 off-leash dog parks in Calgary, making it one of the most “dog friendly” cities in the world.

This Google Earth image illustrates how Calgary’s growth has been contiguous, with its downtown in the centre. FYI the word “Calgary” overlaps with downtown.

Calgary is compose of 200+ communities ranging in size from 1,000 to 25,000 people. Each has its own name, community centre, parks, playgrounds and other amenities. Calgary is very community oriented.

Design Cities

Copenhagen is highly respected for its preservation of its historic buildings, as well as for bold contemporary architecture. The city is home to twice the number of architects per capital of any European City.

Copenhagen was founded in 1160, so it has 10 centuries of history to build upon, compared to Calgary’s one. So, Calgary would be hard pressed to match Copenhagen’s historical architecture, however, when it comes to contemporary architecture Calgary, like Copenhagen has some impressive buildings, structures and public spaces.

“Visit Copenhagen” lists 20 architectural masterpieces as “must-sees,” including the Maritime Museum of Denmark, Royal Danish Library (The Black Diamond), The Silo, The Royal Danish Playhouse, Superkilen Park, The Royal Danish Opera House, and Circle Bridge. Copenhagen benefits from being the capital of the country, note the number of “must-see” buildings with “Royal” as part of their name.

https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/activities/20-architectural-masterpieces-copenhagen

When it comes to contemporary architecture and urban design Calgary has significantly upped its game in the 21st century. Here is a quick comparison of some of Copenhagen’s “must-see” architecture vs Calgary’s.

Copenhagen’s Circular Bridge is part of the city’s amazing waterfront public spaces.

Calgary’s George King pedestrian bridge over the Bow River all know as the “Skipping Bridge” with viewing platform. It is part of Calgary’s 12-km long SoBow Trail.

St. Patrick’s Island is a family oasis in the middle of Calgary’s City Centre.

The Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary was designed in consultation with children, hence the lego-like facade.

Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge is just one of 10+ major indoor recreation centres strategically located around the city. They are the gathering place for people of all ages and backgrounds in the surrounding communities.

Copehagen’s The Silo a former grain elevator has been repurposed as 17-storey apartment building. .

Calgary’s West Village Towers project will eventually have three 40+ floor towers, with a retail podium at street level. The glass rooftop feature is amenity space for all residents.

Urban Living

Perhaps the fundamental difference between the two cities is their urban living philosophies.

Copenhagen and Denmark are known for their “hygge” culture, a Danish term defined as “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” It is a liberal culture that embraces government managed services.

Calgary has a more pioneer pragmatic approach to life. Its citizens are generally more work focused - work hard/get ahead, build a better life and buy a big house are the common mantras. It is a conservative culture that is less interested in government services. However, we do have a token Hugge Hut, in East Village.

Consequently, it is not surprising, Copenhagen has the highest taxes in Europe, while Calgarian enjoy has one of the lowest tax regimes in Canada. At the same time Copenhagen citizens enjoy many benefits, like free quality health care and university education and generous vacation, sick and childcare benefits, as well as a comprehensive road, transit, bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

In Copenhagen 51% of the citizens own their home, compared to Calgary’s which hoovers around 70%. In Calgary (a most North American cities) our home is our castle, we love the privacy of a single-family home, with our own backyard and room to park our private vehicles in our own garage. It is a very different urban sensibility that many urbanists have a hard time appreciating. Calgary is a private city, while most urbanists love public cities i.e., places where citizens live in the streets, parks, plazas and use public transit as the main mode of transportation.

Calgarians love their big homes. The average home in Calgary is 2,345 sq ft, with an occupancy of 2.6 people which is 885 sq ft per person. The average home in Demark is 1,475 sq ft. with an occupancy of 2.1 people or 702 sq. ft.

Rents in the two cities are comparable. However, when it comes to rental housing, 43% of all rental housing in Copenhagen belongs to what they call social housing associations (not necessarily low income, but not-for-profits). In Calgary, 97% of the rental properties are owned by private companies.

It should be noted there is an estimated 5,000+ homeless in Copenhagen, compared to Calgary’s 3,500 even though both cities have a similar populations. Calgary has not only one of the largest homeless shelters in North America, but perhaps the most outstanding designs.

Calgary’s urban sense of place is dominated by downtown office towers, which visually convey it is primarily a place to work, rather than to live or play.

Copenhagen’s urban sense of place is more street and public space focused, which conveys a visual message it is a place to live and play, rather than work. Tivoli Park is a year round urban playground, while Calgary’s Stampede Park is an urban playground for only 10 days.

Happiness

While ranking cities is not an exact science it is an interesting exercise to see how your city compares to others. While Copenhagen likes to brand itself as the happiest city in the world, recent global ranking of City Happiness gave that honour to Chicago and Helsinki. Still, it would seem Copenhagens are generally happy with their city.

While Calgary was not included in the world Happiness rankings (probably because three larger Canadian cities were thought to be sufficient to represent Canada), city officials often boast that it has been ranked many times the most liveable city in North America and one of the top ten the world in various rankings - often ahead of Copenhagen.

Calgarians are happy for the most part. The City of Calgary’s 2021 satisfaction survey found 80% of Calgarians rated their quality of life as good. Calgary Foundation’s 2021 Vital Signs found 88% of Calgarians feel it is a good place for families to live, 83% felt the same way for young people and 70% for seniors. As a senior, I can safely say “it is hard to make a senior happy!”

Obviously, what makes citizens happy is different for different people.

Calgarians of all ages and backgrounds love their 1,000+ km of multi-purpose pathways.

Last Word

So, what does this all mean? To me it means Copenhagen and Calgary have very different cultures, geographies, climates, urban infrastructures and economies. Great cities don’t try to be like other cities, they capitalize on their assets to create a unique sense of place and quality of life for its citizens.

Calgary should not try to be like Copenhagen or any other city for that matter. I would encourage Calgary planners and politicians to look inward, not outward, to determine how best to allow our city to evolve and continue to be a good place to work, live and play.

If you like this blog you might like these links:

Mexico City vs Calgary: Public City vs Private City

Montreal vs Calgary: Underground City vs Above Ground City!

Winter Olympic Cities: Caglary vs Salt Lake City!

Copenhagen vs Calgary: Polar Opposite Cities?