Through radical and progressive initiatives and policies like city-wide cycling systems, smart sewers, waste-to-energy plants, seawater abstraction for cooling, and green urban gathering spaces, Copenhagen has long been viewed as a paragon of urban design and planning.
The town of Brøndby Haveby proves the Danes know a thing or two about suburbia as well.
Imagined as a place to promote community spirit by visionary landscape architect Erik Mygind, Brøndby Haveby, also known as Brøndby Garden City and built in 1964, springs from sprawling, ripe fields and forestland around a half-hour drive west of downtown Copenhagen. What makes it so unique is that the community’s cluster of dwellings are arranged in circular patterns that need to be seen from the air to be truly appreciated – and believed!
Arial shots showcase interconnected collections of streets and houses with inward facing gardens fused around a central circular plaza, rooted together by single swirls of road. From above, the captivating designs look akin to a collection of giant snowflakes or crop circles or “an alien civilization” or “giant pizza with each slice a home” as described by photographer Henry Do whose drone images of Brøndby Haveby went viral a few years ago after he discovered the circular settlement by chance while on holiday with his wife. The place looks just as mind-bending when viewed on Google Earth, too, perhaps even reminiscent of koru before it begins to unfurl.
While seemingly futuristic, the philosophy behind the layout takes its cues from centuries-old Danish villages which would use their centres as focal points to socialise with neighbours. Hobbies are also encouraged.
These areas are known as ‘Colony Gardens’ owing to their designated allotments which allow locals to grow produce, and while each of the 284 houses have their own well-sized backyards, the communal gardens need to be rented, priced at €130 ($220) per month. Local zoning laws, however, means that residents may only stay for six months of the year (usually April-October), so plants and produce need to be planned accordingly.
Similar to baches here in Aotearoa New Zealand, Denmark has a cabin culture whereby more well-off city folk will often buy a bucolic bolthole for weekend and extended breaks – a culture that the utopian Brøndby Haveby perfectly taps into. However, those considering a second home in Scandinavia shouldn’t get too excited as the dwellings of Brøndby Garden City can only be purchased by those who live within a 20km radius of the village.
