4.1.1 Kanten/The Edge scale
Figure 105. Screenshot of the Kumu map (Kumu, 2020). The Edge network/scale encompasses the analysis of the competition brief, the judging process, winning entries and other entries alongside the Vejle Municipality’s Storm surge strategy that was ratified in December 2020 (Vejle Municipality, 2020c). By clicking on the node “The Edge Networks (Vejle Kanten)”, one can access the information on the competition.
Introduction to Vejle Municipality’s assessment criteria for Kanten/The Edge design competition
The assessment process started on 10 August 2020 to 16 September 2020, when the judging committee reviewed a total of 25 entries that were submitted and admitted for assessment. There were four deliberation meetings with nine judges[191] (seven from Vejle Municipality, one from the Aarhus Architecture School and one from Vejle Art Museum) and four advisers to the judges (one from Vejle Art Museum, one from the Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, an independent artist/researcher/art consultant and myself from the Aarhus Architecture School). The city architect of Vejle and a representative from the Aarhus School of Architecture acted as deliberators, with one member from Vejle Municipality as the competition secretary. The details of the participants in the judging process are included in Appendix 11. The deliberation meetings included short presentations from the advisors to the judges (two artists, a biologist and I) on their expertise (i.e. artistic merit, biological merit, spatial merit of the entries) in relation to the competition and which entries deserve merit from a particular point of view. The deliberators also presented to the judges a summary of all the entries, the main themes that arose from the entries, and the selection of the best proposals that satisfied the brief.
The competition required the participants to submit drawings, physical models and a written document[192]. An analysis of the context of the meeting between land and water in the two main zones (site) set out by the brief, the urban and the nature zone (see Figure 7 and Figure 106), as well as what role the proposal for Kanten/The Edge conditions in both zones will play. The analysis also had to describe how the proposal adhered to the following six main qualities (Vejle Municipality, 2020a, author's translation):
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A protection level of 2.5m above the current sea level against storm surge events and flexible to be developed to an adaptation level of 3m in the future.
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The proposal must be a nature-based solution (i.e. utilise its ecosystem services) with sustainable materials[193] and constructions with minimal CO2 footprint where possible.
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Explore another perspective of the water through aesthetic, sensory and spatial manner, conveying the transition and meeting between city, nature and water by using the water as an active design parameter in landscape design. Furthermore, Kanten/The Edge should strive to create a common reference, narrative and understanding of the water and its inherent challenges and qualities.
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The proposal must incorporate nature above and below the water as part of the storm surge protection. The marine landscape design needs to feature qualities at varying water levels (i.e. both at normal and elevated water levels due to storm surges).
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The proposal must address Vejle Municipality’s Storm surge strategy[194]
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The proposal must address Vejle Municipality’s Resilient design criteria[195]
Figure 106. (Top Left) The green lines indicate the security line to envelop Fjordbyen, with the two main zones as the representative site (the dark green line represents the current hard edge condition and the light green line a soft edge). Image credit: Vejle Municipality (2020a).
(Top Right) Vejle Municipality’s idea of the edge as a zone. The edge should be considered as a zone extending off the concrete coastline. Image credit: Vejle Municipality (2020a).
(Middle) The way the water flows in Vejle is determined by its topography of the river valley, with the three streams/rivers meeting at the heart of the city centre of Vejle, while the water from the sea comes from the inner fjord. Image credit: SCALGO and Vejle Municipality (2020a).
(Bottom) An aerial photo of Fjordbyen and Vejle’s city centre with the Fjord and the bridge. Image credit: Vejle Municipality Facebook page.
(Extracted from Kumu Multiscalar map – Fjordbyen scale node).
In addition to the six main qualities above, the following points further elaborate spatial and aesthetical aspects of Kanten/The Edge that Vejle Municipality would like the participants to consider (Vejle Municipality, 2020a, author's translation):
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THE URBAN ZONE is the Harbour Square called “Havnepladsen” (as shown in Figure 7, Figure 106 and Figure 107). Havnepladsen has great significance as a meeting place for the city, port and water. The site has parking facilities and a recreational area with trees and benches. The area is a public space with a stairwell that leads to the water with a concrete edge condition (bulkhead). This area is an obvious site for exploring an alternative urban design of Kanten/The Edge (Vejle Municipality, 2020a, author's translation).
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THE NATURE ZONE runs along part of “Tirsbæk Strandvej” (Tirsbæk beach road), which currently functions partly as a road, cycle and pedestrian path between Vejle city centre, Fjordbyen and its waterfront area, including the Skyttehushaven (see Figure 7, Figure 106 and Figure 107). This zone must partly be regarded as a recreational stretch, where pedestrians and cyclists are prioritised and are a central place for demonstrating Kanten/The Edge's nature-based design (Vejle Municipality, 2020a, author's translation).
Figure 107. Images of the Kanten/The Edge zones: Urban and Nature Zone.
(Top images) The urban zone is a typical concrete bulkhead 1m-2m below the current water level. Image credit: Vejle Municipality (2020a) and photo of the hard concrete edge taken by the author on 17/09/21.
(Bottom images) The nature zone consists of reed beds and a small stone reef with grass alongside the road and bicycle path. Image credit: Vejle Municipality (2020a, n.d.).
(Extracted from Kumu Multiscalar map – Kanten/The Edge scale node).
In addition to the six main qualities above, the following points further elaborate on spatial and aesthetical conditions Vejle Municipality would like the participants to consider (Vejle Municipality, 2020a, author's translation):
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PROTECTION LINE AS A ZONE - In the first phases of Vejle’s storm surge strategy, the security line along the city's existing edge (shoreline) needs to be continuous so that by 2025 onwards, the edge will protect the city from future storm surges (refer to Figure 114). The security line runs along the harbour promenade, quayside, industrial port areas and along the beach (as shown in Figure 106 from Skyttehushaven to Ibæk Strandvej). The line consists of a different wide range of zones. However, a common feature is that they are all placed in spaces where the city meets the water. The security line must be experienced as a space (see Figure 106). This is why it is called a “zone” by the Kanten/The Edge competition brief (Vejle Municipality, 2020a, author's translation).
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ADAPTIVE AND FLEXIBLE PROTECTION: Future forecasts and predictions inform a certain height above the current sea level could protect the city from future storm surges (as shown in Figure 108 below). However, these forecasts are unpredictable and uncertain concerning how high the sea will rise by the end of the century. Therefore, the proposed storm surge protection must be an adaptive urban space that can evolve and host different possibilities and expressions in the future (Vejle Municipality, 2020a, author's translation).
Figure 108. “Kote” (elevation) level 0 corresponds approximately to the current normal water level in the fjord (tidal variation of approximately 50cm). The Edge/Kanten protection levels are 2.5m for protection and 3.0m for adaptation (Vejle Municipality, 2020a). Image credit: Vejle Municipality (2020a, n.d.).
(Extracted from Kumu Multiscalar map – Kanten/The Edge scale node).
Assessment of the Kanten/The Edge design competition brief
The Kanten/The Edge competition design brief was pioneering in many respects. It emphasised the need for more nature-based solutions, especially incorporating nature underwater when considering coastal protection and adaptation strategies. It also highlighted the need for a different perspective on the water moving past B-A-U practices. Moreover, it is commendable that the Kanten/The Edge competition was an open call to artists, landscape architects, architects, practitioners and students, which allowed small, unknown practitioners to enter and be judged anonymously. Interdisciplinary collaboration was encouraged[196], such as between marine biologists and artists (not surprisingly, all of the winning teams had team members with both art and architecture backgrounds).
Nevertheless, this type of open design competition is disappearing in places like Denmark and Sweden, as noted by one of the winners, where design competitions often only invite big, well-known architectural firms, which can result in B-A-U proposals.
Furthermore, the design brief was limited in scope by focusing on the “edge” conditions (see Figure 106), which fails to capture and analyse the dynamic spatial networks of water that goes beyond the immediate site. The focus on the edge condition is due to the nature of design competitions, where it is difficult to assign a larger area of intervention due to budget[197] and other practicality issues, even though larger-scale interventions are often required for more effective marine nature-based solutions (refer to section 3.2.2).
In the following analysis, I briefly discuss the six main criteria in the Kanten/The Edge competition from the perspective of the Urban Seascaping propositions, considering the potentials and limitations offered by each of the criteria offered to the entrants.
Kanten/The Edge design brief criteria 1: 2.5m protection by 2050, 3.0m adaptation by 2100
--> Urban Seascaping proposition 3: “Beyond the edge”
While Vejle did not want to resort to sea walls, there was still the requirement of a protection level of 2.5m and 3m adaptation. This meant that some form of elevation was required to meet this criterion. Due to the limited area for intervention (i.e. allocated site), much of the competition entries ended up being some form of a stepped dike, albeit “nature-based” (see Figure 109). Many proposals displayed a solution to adaptation level to 3m by adding more materials and thereby increasing the dike's height (see Figure 109).
Figure 109. The most popular approach to meeting the 2.5m and 3m protection requirements.
Image credit: Vejle Municipality (2020), SUPERFLEX and Baldios.
(Extracted from Kumu Multiscalar map – Kanten/The Edge scale node).
Thus, the protection systems do not have much room to be implemented further back from the edge (especially at the urban zone), taking advantage of the higher topography of the railway lines that border Fjordbyen (on a diked mound – see Figure 110). Fjordbyen could be a place that offers a larger transition zone from land to sea,[198] as it is also the most vulnerable area to the sea. The research questions the unexplored possibilities in expanding the site (Kanten/The Edge) further back into Fjordbyen to seek solutions other than the popular stepped dike approach in most proposals. Thus, the USS proposition of going “beyond the edge” highlights whether Kanten/The Edge has explored what it truly means to go beyond the “edge” condition to a zone. This aspect is explored further in the multiscalar analysis in the preceding sections, 4.1.2 to 4.1.7 and from the competition-winning entries.
Figure 110. (Top image) A 20-year and 50-year storm surge event by 2050 (NetGIS, 2022) from Vejle Municipality. The area shaded in green is flooded due to water from the fjord, and the area shaded in yellow is flooded due to the river bleeding in the event of a storm surge. The extent of the water from the fjord does not go beyond the railway tracks on top of an existing dike, as shown in the photos. The water from the fjord can bleed through the tunnels further into the city centre. Images source: Net GIS (2022).
(Bottom row of images) Google street view of the elevated railway tracks that doubles as a dike. The water can only infiltrate through the tunnel bridge openings. Image source: Jernbanegade in Google Maps.
(Extracted from Kumu Multiscalar map – Fjordbyen scale node).
Kanten/The Edge design brief criteria 2 & 3: Nature-based solution (NbS) above and underwater
--> Urban Seascaping proposition 1 & 4: “Multispecies coexistence” and “Making the invisible, visible”
Kanten/The Edge competition has limited the site (area for intervention) to the inner fjords in Fjordbyen, which is a challenging area for marine nature but represents the meeting place where people have the most everyday opportunities for interaction with the water. However, the poor water clarity in the fjord impedes photosynthesis and the ability to view the marine vegetation under the water. Moreover, the sea bed is largely devoid of hard substrates and suffers from an unbalanced food web (see section 4.1.7 seaweed networks for more detail). Addressing these factors is crucial for the success of NbS with marine species[199]. Therefore, it is crucial to continue marine restoration projects like Sund Vejle Fjord until a healthier ecological condition of the fjord is achieved (see Figure 111 below). To coexist with marine life in coastal cities means ensuring the right conditions for marine habitats to thrive and ensuring that marine habitats are big enough to provide impactful ecosystem services[200] , as indicated in the research in section 3.2.2 (Mork, 1996; Orff, 2016; Boderskov, 2021).
Figure 111. Photo evidence of positive signs of marine life returning to the fjord due to the restoration efforts of eelgrass and mussels from the Sund Vejle Fjord marine restoration project. They are also fishing out the exploding crab population and establishing rock reefs back into the fjord in several locations (refer to Figure 10) where small fish can use as nurseries. The mussel beds and eelgrass plantations have settled in different parts of the mid-outer Vejle fjord. Image credit: Sund Vejle Fjord (n.d.).
(Extracted from Kumu S-O-T-A map – Sund Vejle Fjord, Denmark node).
Therefore, any interventions to reinstate nature below water (as NbS) must work with the current poor water visibility in the inner fjord, which requires shallow water depth for marine life to gain better access to sunlight. For instance, seaweed was found on the concrete staircase submerged from 10-30cm depth (as shown in Figure 112). The current visibility on a sunny day (from the naked human eye) is at a 3m depth maximum[201] due to the floating particles in the fjord (Boderskov, 2021). Moreover, Nielsen et al. (2015) reported that seaweed was only detectable to a water depth of up to 4m in the inner fjord (see Figure 112). These environmental conditions indicate that bringing the invisible nature underwater into the visible, accessible and tactile urban realm for the engagement with the human actors is a challenging design task that requires tackling much bigger issues of water quality, which is a concern beyond the edge conditions.
Figure 112. (Top row) A concrete pedestrian platform borders the Vejle marina. At the end of the walkway, a concrete staircase leads into the water, where several different species of seaweed (and blue mussels) can be found due to the shallow water. Only a shallow water depth of around 10-30cm allows the seaweed to be seen by the human eye due to the fjord's poor water clarity. The photos were taken by the author on a site visit: on 07/06/22.
(Second row) Photos of green and red macroalgae growing on the submerged staircase. The underwater photo was taken with GoPro Camera by Niels Rysz Olsen on 07/06/22 (Rysz, 2022).
(Third row): Blæretang (Bladderwrack – brown macroalgae) was found attached to most of the concrete edges around the waterfront area. Crabs were also seen underwater. Seaweed is grown on lines in the Kayak Club in the waterfront area. The photos were taken by the author on a site visit on 29/07/20.
(Bottom left) Mapping the sea bed conditions and habitat types in the study area of mid-fjord. The figure is reproduced from Niras 2016.
(Bottom right) The average number of macroalgae species observed in Vejle's inner and outer fjord within the specified depth intervals in the time period 2009-2012 (Data from The Danish Nature Agency's monitoring program) (Nielsen et al., 2015). Also, refer to Appendix 13 on the list of seaweeds available in Vejle Fjord.
(Extracted from Kumu Multiscalar map – Seaweed scale node).
The need for better environmental conditions[202] at the inner fjord marks the importance of connecting the Kanten/The Edge initiatives with the water’s networks – i.e. upstream to downstream. For instance, the wetland restoration projects upstream through the Vejle River (see Figure 113) and the Natura2000 protected forests along the coast of the fjord (as shown in Figure 79) play a role in filtering the agricultural runoffs before being flushed to the fjord (Chivian, 2003; Hedrup, 2021), while the Sund Vejle Fjord project clean the water from the mid-outer fjord. These nature restoration areas[203] serve an important role as a place for habitat, recreation and interaction between the human and the nonhuman world (e.g. visitors can engage in bird watching in the wetlands, as shown in Figure 113 (Naturstyrelsen, 2022)). The wetland restoration areas also double as a place to hold excess water in the event of a cloudburst (i.e. retention ponds). Consequently, it is important to highlight these stories of nature restoration as part of the water’s network in parallel with Kanten/The Edge project if such projects are to contribute as vital blue-green infrastructures[204] in Vejle.
The competition brief misses an opportunity to scale up the NbS and expand the site from an edge to a zone in ways that might facilitate multispecies coexistence. Without 1:1 scale local testing, it is hard to know if these NbS will incur significant ecosystem services or even be big enough to provide decent habitat for marine life (i.e. wave attenuation, water filtration, carbon sequestration). Nevertheless, due to the limitations of the narrow width of the site in both urban and nature zone, the outcomes of most of the proposals ended up being a green dike or different sorts, limiting the number of possible solutions.
Figure 113. (Top image) “Kongens Kær” is an artificial wetland created to provide habitats for animals, and recreational activities, filter pollutants before being flushed to the fjord (Naturstyrelsen, 2022) and a place to hold excess water in cloudburst events. Wetlands are part of blue-green infrastructures in Vejle. Image credit: Vejle Municipality (2021), Visit Vejle (n.d.), Miljøstyrelsen (2016).
(Bottom image) Vejle River runs through Kongens Kær wetland to meet The Nature and Wild Reserve (“Natur og Vildt reservat” in blue). The reserve was established in 1940 to ban bird hunting in this area. The reserve (682 hectares) includes some of Fjordbyen and part of the Vejle river (Vejle Municipality, 2019b; Miljøministeriet Naturstyrelsen, n.d.; Bekendtgørelse om Vejle Inderfjord vildtreservat). Image credit: Miljø GIS by Miljøstyrelsen (2016).
(Extracted from Kumu Multiscalar map – Fjordbyen scale node and Kumu Temporal map 2004– 2009 node).
Kanten/The Edge design brief criteria 4: Another perspective on the water
--> Urban Seascaping proposition 2: Invite the agency of the water
This brief criterion asks the participants to envision the “edge” not only as a spatial intervention but also as the way we think (perceptions) about how to live by and with the water, thereby making possible the cultivation of novel forms of ocean literacy. The criterion provoked philosophical approaches that advocated the need for a paradigm shift in how we view water (and its life forms). All the winning entrants responded strongly to this brief criterion (see the next sections for details). Moreover, the brief discusses the potential of how water could inspire new parameters in landscape design, albeit primarily from an instrumental point of view (e.g. as storm surge protection). Consequently, the brief fails to offer intrinsic value propositions of what the city can do for the fjord – to cater for its right to exist in its own right. Furthermore, the brief does not necessarily explore alternatives to existing with water other than the currently dominant approach to coastal protection to block the water from entering the city, as outlined in the competition brief.
Kanten/The Edge design brief criteria 5 & 6: Resilient Vejle and Vejle’s Storm surge strategy
Vejle Municipality’s storm surge strategy report was approved in December 2020, which includes Vejle’s action plan for its coastal protection and adaptation of Fjordbyen by 2025, 2050 and 2070 (Vejle Municipality, 2020c). As shown in Figure 114, the short-term phase 1 plan revolves around increasing the elevation (bulkhead and promenade) of the edge conditions by 2m, installing temporary sea walls and upgrading the infrastructure by 2025 (Vejle Municipality, 2020c). Medium-term phase 2 begins to include more recreational nature areas at the edge of the harbourfront (see number 6 in Phase 2 in Figure 114) with an elevated area of 2.5-3m (Vejle Municipality, 2020c). The long-term phase 3 for 2070 is vaguer in its plan and indicates a space further out in the fjord for some degree of nature-based barrier to protect to a level of 3m. There is no mention of a retreat or relocation plan for Fjordbyen in the report, nor a no-development area in the risk zones for the future (ibid).
*NB: The following images are embedded into the above "Vejle Municipality's Storm surge Strategy" node (scroll down the information window plane in Kumu).
Figure 114. Summaries of the main actions from Vejle Municipality’s storm surge strategy. Short-term strategies include increasing the protection line by 2m by 2025, medium-term strategies include enhancing the protection line by 2.5-3m by 2050, and long-term strategies include increasing the elevation to 3m by 2070. Image credit: Vejle Municipality (2020b).
(Extracted from Kumu Multiscalar map – Fjordbyen scale node and Kumu Temporal map – 2025, 2050 & 2070 node).
The storm surge strategy suggests using the predominant approach of elevating bulkheads. While it may not be a sea wall disconnecting the view and physical engagement with the water, the approach still repeats the business-as-usual practice of dualistic divide between city and water in many parts of the security line. Furthermore, it is unclear what the future intention is for Fjordbyen’s existing buildings, whether they will be retrofitted, relocated or dismantled, not to mention what the urban development strategies will be in the future[205].
Moreover, as highlighted in the Resilient Vejle City plan, there is a clear emphasis on the green transition of Vejle, including the need for GHG reduction, mitigation and sequestration. There are many initiatives implemented in Vejle Municipality to uphold these sustainable visions and goals[206]. Kanten/The Edge as the initial catalyst for the green-blue transformation of the entire Fjordbyen district, especially with a stronger focus on the potential of nature underwater in aiding this change.
The next section discusses the four winning entries from Kanten/The Edge, the judge’s comments on why they were selected, how the entries satisfied the brief, shortfalls and new potential innovations that could be developed further. Like the case brief itself, the winning entries are also analysed from the four main Urban Seascaping propositions, emphasising how the proposals work from seaweed’s perspective in each case. To substantiate this analysis further, I here supplement the design entries with information gathered from interviews with the participants.
[191] As this competition is funded by Realdania, the project manager of Realdania participated in one of the deliberation meetings with a presentation on the importance of going beyond the hard approaches to coastal protection, with the rundown on the work Realdania has been supporting through its “rising sea water” pilot projects, which had an influence on the judging process of reminding the focus on exploring alternative approaches.
[192] Competition submission requirements: x1 A0 poster (or x2 A1), A4 booklet and x2 physical models that describe the concept of the proposal. Physical models need to be in a scale of 1:50 (15m x 15m in real life or 30cm x 30cm as a scaled model). The participants are required to submit the following drawings: x1 floor plan of each urban zone and the nature zone in 1:100, x1 sections of each urban zone and the nature zone in 1:50. The analysis can be done through drawing, illustration, diagram, ideogram, collage or other visual methods. (Vejle Municipality, 2020a).
[193] This can be achieved through upcycling, cradle-to-cradle principles, recycled building materials and other innovative approaches to architecture and the landscape (Vejle Municipality, 2020a).
[194] Kanten/The Edge must be designed to adhere to all three criteria of the storm surge strategy in each of their proposals (Vejle Municipality, 2020a).
CRITERIA 1 - The water and Vejle Fjord are part of the city's identity and self-understanding. Vejle actively uses art in urban spaces to communicate stories and create identity. Therefore, future storm surge protection must enter into a common narrative of the city, the water and the arts. The edge's design must help strengthen Vejle's identity.
CRITERIA 2 - Fjordbyen must be developed into a resilient district where stormwater protection with added value and sustainable climate adaptation go hand in hand. The district should inspire how to create a future-proofed city by the water. The design of the border is to protect the city, promote urban nature and contribute to the urban and social capital.
CRITERIA 3 - Proposers must adhere to all three basic principles of each of their proposals:
PRINCIPLE 1: VALUE - Flood protection must ensure added value for the city as a whole. These can be, for example, urban spaces that are aesthetic and recreational, have blue-green qualities, promote physical movement, reduce insecurity and stress and have a positive environmental impact on the land as in water.
PRINCIPLE 2: SECURE THE BACK - In storm surge protection, every measure must be considered in the security line that runs along the entire Fjordbyen.
PRINCIPLE 3: THE GOOD MEETING OF THE WATER - Storm flood protection must contribute to expanding contact with the water, visually as well as physically, in the future.
[195] Vejle's Resilience strategy (created in 2016) is based on the four focus areas: climate resilience, collaborating/co-creating city, social resilience and the digital city. Most of these four focus areas need to be incorporated into Kanten/The Edge development (see Vejle’s Resilience Strategy for more details (Vejle Municipality, n.d.)).
[196] However, as one of the winners pointed out, while inter-transdisciplinary collaborations are ideal, it may also be a time-consuming and labour-intensive endeavour, not least considering that the participants – at least in the case of those who did not win – had to do this work for free. Moreover, as one of the representatives of the winning team suggested that the lack of artists participating in the competition might indicate that without collaboration with landscape architects, it would be challenging to come up with a realisable pragmatic project. At the same time, it could be challenging for architects to be more artistically experimental if they were not trained to do so.
[197] It is also difficult for these open competitions to ask practitioners to do extensive large-scale work for free.
[198] This is referring to a future scenario where the current B-A-U high-rise residential and commercial buildings in Fjordbyen are either demolished or relocated to make way for a new use in Fjordbyen.
[199] Nevertheless, many of these marine restoration initiatives have been implemented on the mid-outer fjord which currently has better conditions for reviving mussels beds and eelgrass plantations (due to salinity level, water flow, water clarity etc.) (Sund Vejle Fjord, 2022).
[200] Such as, water purification, wave attenuation, improve biodiversity, coastal erosion mitigation, blue carbon etc. Refer to ecosystem services of seaweed in section 1.5.2.
[201] According to marine biologist working in Vejle Fjord, the visibility of the outer fjord reaches between 3-7m on a good sunny day (Hedrup, 2021).
[202] Unfortunately, limiting the amount of fertiliser use by the farmers in the water catchment area has been a long battle that has been going on in Denmark for the past 20 years (Organo Quintana, 2020; Fjeldsø Christensen, 2021; Hedrup, 2021). Vejle Municipality is proactively working with farmers to find ways in which the agricultural runoffs to the fjord can be limited, albeit with resistance (ibid.).
[203] See the report “Fremtidens natur i Vejle Kommune” by Danmarks Naturfredningsforening (n.d.) for all the nature restoration initiative in Vejle.
[204] See “Ecological infrastructure” in definitions.
[205] Potential future plans for Fjordbyen are not made public for various reasons. The workshop I had with key members of Vejle Municipality indicated that they are indeed thinking about the future role of Fjordbyen and accept a potential scenario in the future that this district may need to be very different from the way it is built currently.
[206] Such as the Paris Agreement and the biodiversity goal by the EU directive (European Commission, n.d.). For Danish municipalities, they have plans to increase “nature and wetlands” (natur og vådeområder in Danish) from 12% coverage today to 25-30% by 2050 and forests (skov in Danish) from 15% to 20-25%, while farmland currently at 61% to either grow or shrink by 2050. However, it does not contain area requirements (arealbehov) for marine nature underwater but could be considered within the wetlands area as part of climate adaptation (Arler, Munk Sørensen and Søgaard Jørgensen, 2017).
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Securing the edges will help establish new qualities in blue-green urban spaces, landscapes, art and architecture, which will increase the added value of the urban port areas, where nature and city become more integrated on both the macro and the micro scale
Translated from Vejle’s Stormflodsstrategi (Vejle’s Storm surge strategy)
(Vejle Municipality, 2020c).