Inclusive community-building that brings prevention into our neighbourhoods, making the healthy choice the easy choice and promotes physical, social and mental health is crucial to enable healthier populations. Cities Changing Diabetes is pleased to be a founding partner of an ambitious, inclusive, sustainable urban regeneration project in Copenhagen: Spor10 at Jernbanebyen.
In the south of Copenhagen, an urban redevelopment project is taking shape. Jernbanebyen is a master development that aims to raise the bar in sustainability and health in urban development, to be one of the world's healthiest and most sustainable neighbourhoods.
Right at the heart of the regeneration project is Spor10. Previously a railway maintenance facility, Spor10 offers an incredible 6,500m2 of mixed-use indoor space that will become a magnet for city residents seeking cultural, creative and physical activities.
The facility offers vast, supervised, safe spaces, and is being co-created with community input through a dedicated community manager. Spor10 is already enabling physical activity for Copenhagen residents of all ages, with outdoor fitness equipment, a skate park, an area for creativity and play for children and even a sauna facility.
New tenants and community partners are installing facilities that will enable people to participate in year-round sports and creative projects and access meeting spaces as study hubs – all the ingredients for a thriving, vibrant district and community.
Equity and inclusivity is central to the vision for Spor10. Every
aspect of the tenants, partners and facilities being designed into
Spor10 is done through the lens of equal access to services,
amenities, and communal space. This means designing approaches to
actively reduce social divides and inequalities and not risk
compounding.
Cities should be designed or redesigned so that within the distance of a 15-minute walk or bike ride, people can access work, housing, food, health, education, culture and leisure. Compact and resource-efficient cities, with co-location of residences and jobs, mixed land use and good access to public transportation, can help cut urban emissions by around 25%, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Spor10 underpins much of this ambition for the greater Jernbanebyen development and the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Neighbourhoods offer the ideal scale to integrate various city components, set ambitious goals, concentrate investments, test new policies and engage with local communities to co-design solutions tailored to their lived experience in the city.
Community stakeholders have been vital collaborators in spearheading the pilot projects and sharing their insights as this former railway space is transformed to positively impact the lives of residents, regenerating this corner of Copenhagen into an urban space that promotes a healthier and more fulfilling lifestyle for all.
Spor10 is a Community Hub project led by NREP and a variety of
multiple urban partners: C40 Cities, Novo Nordisk A/S, Ingka Group
(IKEA Retail), Gehl Architects, Arup, COBE, Gehl and Archival Studies,
DSB, Freja Ejendomme, Novo Holdings, Industriens Pension and a growing
network of community partners: Maker, Mills, Vestia, Cycling without
age, PlugIn, DGI and many more
Spor 10 hosted its first public event in May 2023. The Copenhagen Street Festival featured sports, dance, creative play and much more and was attended by Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, Mayor of Copenhagen.
Watch the video from the Copenhagen Street Festival here.
