Association of Metropolitan Mayors Learns Urban Regeneration Lessons Through Denmark's Eco-Friendly Incinerator

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] The Association of Metropolitan Mayors (Chairman Lee Sang-il, Mayor of Yongin Special City) visited Bjarke Ingels Group (hereinafter BIG), which designed Copenhagen's iconic incinerator Amager Bakke on the 30th (local time), and heard explanations about the process of designing and constructing the incinerator in an eco-friendly, sustainable, and citizen-friendly manner.

The delegation of mayors included Mayor Lee Sang-il, Goyang City Mayor Lee Dong-hwan, Seongnam City Mayor Shin Sang-jin, Namyangju City Mayor Ju Kwang-deok, and Gimpo City Mayor Kim Byeong-su.

The Amager Bakke incinerator designed by BIG was selected as the "World Architecture of the Year" at the 14th World Architecture Festival in 2021.

Amager Bakke, along with Vienna's Spittelau in Austria, shattered the conventional notion that "incinerators are nuisance facilities" and gained fame as a landmark that citizens and tourists enjoy visiting because it was created as a facility for the public through a paradigm shift in thinking.

BIG is known to have been selected in Copenhagen's competition because it not only ensured the safety of the incinerator through eco-friendly technology but also presented groundbreaking ideas and innovative design by incorporating citizen-friendly facilities such as ski slopes, hiking trails, and gardens into the incinerator.

The delegation subsequently visited the Superkilen district, where BIG and others transformed a crime-ridden slum area of Copenhagen through urban regeneration projects into a place free of crime and violence.

BIG and others implemented a project to improve local safety, public security, and quality of life as violence and crime were rampant in areas where immigrants from many countries lived.

Immigrants from 62 countries living in this district actively participated in the urban regeneration project, bringing 108 kinds of small furnishings and facilities from their home countries—such as small fountains, chairs, and stone tables—that reflected their unique traditions and cultures, transforming the district center into a space of multiple coexisting cultures where people understand and enjoy together.

Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin said, "The Amager Bakke and Superkilen projects are innovative cases that transformed incinerators and crime-prone areas into spaces that citizens enjoy visiting through creative thinking, and I believe they can provide valuable lessons for local government administration in Korea."

The delegation, led by Mayor Lee, concluded their trip on the afternoon of that day examining eco-friendly incinerators and climate change response agencies in Austria and Denmark, and boarded a flight home.