Copenhagen's Forested Areas

               After World War II, the world, and our lifestyles changed as we know it. A major trend that happened in the post war era was the idea of suburbs. More couples were having families (the baby boomers), and they did not want to be in the congested city areas, they wanted a yard, a car, and all of the amenities that may come with living in the country, while still being able to commute to the city for work. Rows, upon rows of suburban how’s began to be planned and built, with little concern or thought of greenspaces being integrated into the suburban set up beside a personal lawn. However, planners in Copenhagen were more innovative, and thus the five finger plan was born in 1947. Each finger has its own type of suburban development that has evolved over the years, and in between each finger are important forested areas that have been purposefully preserved for recreational usage (as well as providing ecological benefits).

 
           It is in fact true:  these wedges of land between each finger of Copenhagen’s suburban extensions are valuable. With a population of roughly 5.3 million people, and a geographical size of about 43 square kilometers, the country of Denmark has a high level of agricultural output, mostly in the form of pig farming. Nearly 62 percent of Denmark’s land is used for agriculture, which given its size is a very large amount. This means that land is valuable, but also, that it is extremely important to preserve the land, especially the land close to Copenhagen as it serves not only as a retreat for those in the suburban areas, but also for those living in the city center. The five finger plan was designed for this reason and it is integral that it is upheld to its purposes and not turned over for development. When visiting one of the forested wedge areas in class, there were not many people around, given it was a weekday, however it is still an important space where people row crew on the lake, school groups come explore, and people hike. Without these wedges people would have to travel some extra distance, but given Copenhagen’s comprehensive public transportation system, one can easily take the S-train that runs through each finger.