018.Copenhagen 01.Strøget

2023-02-11

Copenhagen is one of the best cities for me to live in.

See the main street of Strøget. As going east towards Kongens Nytorv station at the end point, the number of high-class shops increases. Brand shops start around here.
https://goo.gl/maps/EPz2Qu47nuqhgKS89

The cozy downtown has an intricate, meandering network of streets and cute, small-scale buildings, so I didn't get tired of walking around. It was fun to get lost and end up in a different place than planned.

Around the central axis of the downtown is the pedestrian zone Strøget, which began in 1962. It was one of the earliest pedestrian zones in the world and one of the largest in Europe. It is said that there was a great deal of opposition to the plan when the automobile culture was growing. However, the controversy disappeared when the amount of walking greatly exceeded the previous time in a few years.

Since Strøget divided the traffic line of automobiles in the center of the downtown, there was little car traffic, and people could walk freely even outside the pedestrian zone.

On Airbnb, I found a room in an apartment complex with the largest courtyard in downtown Copenhagen. A woman, who had been the head of the city planning department, rented out it. I asked for accommodation because I wanted to hear her story and see the largest courtyard.

I couldn't imagine the feature of the courtyard from the public space of downtown where buildings were lined up in narrow streets. Inside the city block surrounded by buildings was a private garden full of greenery like a big park, rather than a courtyard. In the flat where I stayed, the room on the street side was gloomy even during the daytime, whereas the sun shined brightly into the room on the courtyard side, creating a splendid living environment. I was surprised that there was a living climate full of natural light and a breeze though it was located in the middle of the convenient downtown.

I thought that the view of Copenhagen from the streets was the whole image of the city, but that was only one side of the city. Copenhagen became the city I wanted to live in because of the enjoyment of the built-in public space and the spaciousness of the private space with the courtyard.