Having witnessed the less than inspiring upstart of many of Copenhagen’s newer neighbourhoods, we put in an effort to cultivate an actual atmosphere in the making of Copenhagen's newest neighbourhood: Bellakvarter. Through a variety of urban interventions, we move place branding from image to action.

Many people seem to think that creating a neighbourhood is just a question of building a bunch of nice, modern-looking houses. And while that is certainly more than halfway there, it takes more than that to create an actual neighbourhood. So, the question is: how do you create a real neighbourhood atmosphere?

A new neighbourhood, Bellakvarter, in the area around Bella Center, is now well on its way, but two years ago, the area surrounding Bella Center was merely a concept on paper. Solstra Capital Partners, the owner of the area, decided to add Urgent.Agency to the mix as urban quality consultants - in order to jump from paper to pavement. We have worked on brand strategy, identity and cultural development of the area, and when the neighbourhood began being built, we put our efforts into creating… well, life!

Supporting urban life

Building on the existing master plan of COBE and Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects (with us as urban quality consultants), we developed concepts for how to programme urban spaces, squares, buildings and initiatives that support urban life in the early phase of the area. In the summer of 2016, we opened up Nordgården - a previously private and closed-off courtyard parking lot – to the public and created a new urban space. In the courtyard we designed and produced urban gardens (in collaboration with urban garden consultants Slow), play facilities, opened a café and made a massive sketching of the future city in 1: 1 in yellow lines.

The development of a viable neighbourhood identity includes not only strategies for communication: for an area to really take off, actions must speak louder than words. 

– Christian Pagh

Having witnessed the less than inspiring upstart of many of Copenhagen’s newer neighborhoods, we put in an effort to cultivate an actual atmosphere in the making of Copenhagens newest neighbourhood: Bellakvarter. Through a selected variety of urban interventions, we move place branding from image to actions.

Many people seem to think that creating a neighbourhood is just a question of building a bunch of nice, modern-looking houses. And while that is certainly more than halfway there, it takes more than that to create an actual neighbourhood. So, the question is: how do you create a real neighbourhood atmosphere?

A new neighbourhood, Bellakvarter, in the area around Bella Center, is now well on its way, but two years ago, the area surrounding Bella Center was merely a concept on paper. Solstra Capital Partners, the owner of the area, decided to add Urgent.Agency to the mix as urban quality consultants - in order to jump from paper to pavement. We have worked on brand strategy, identity and cultural development of the area, and when the neighbourhood began being built, we put our efforts into creating… well, life!

Supporting urban life

Building on the existing master plan of COBE and Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects (with us as urban quality consultants), we developed concepts for how to programme urban spaces, squares, buildings and initiatives that support urban life in the early phase of the area. In the summer of 2016, we opened up Nordgården - a previously private and closed-off courtyard parking lot – to the public and created a new urban space. In the courtyard we designed and produced urban gardens (in collaboration with urban garden consultants Slow), play facilities, opened a café and made a massive sketching of the future city in 1: 1 in yellow lines.

The development of a viable neighborhood identity includes not only strategies for communication: for an area to really take off, actions must speak louder than words. 

– Christian Pagh