Territorial Review Copenhagen - Region Hovedstaden

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A wide range of environmental initiatives could be pursued to bolster
Copenhagen‘s sustainability. These span sustainable transport, urban
ecology, energy conservation and environmental governance. To avoid a
―wish list‖ approach, the implications of these improvements would have to
be rigorously tested and compared to one another beforehand, using
techniques developed in environmental and natural resource economics.
This might be coupled with methodologies that are attuned to political
conditions and the risk management from climate change, such as those
developed in the City of London‘s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
(2007). Similarly, local governments might more carefully weigh their
adoption of environmental projects by taking advantage of the work done at
Eurostat, especially its sustainable development indicators (Eurostat, 2007).
Finally, initiatives should strengthen existing environmental collaborations,
such as the Dogme 2000 co-operation between the City of Copenhagen and
six other municipalities. 43
Improving sustainable transport and bicycle planning
A large number of low-cost sustainable transit solutions might be
considered to reduce single occupant vehicles and carbon emissions from
automobile use. Though many policy makers in Copenhagen focus on
increasing the modal share of bicycle use or public transit, a wide number of
alternative urban transport management solutions may also reduce air
pollution. Ride sharing, for example, encourages residents to use carpooling
and vanpooling rather than drive alone. While carpooling uses drivers‘ own
vehicles, vanpooling utilises vans that are usually owned by an organisation
– a business, non-profit or government agency – and made available for
commuting. Ride-share programs typically provide carpool matching,
vanpool sponsorship, marketing programs, and incentives to reduce driving.
These programs often succeed when employers offer financial incentives
such as a cash payment to employees who carpool or a voucher that covers
vanpool fees. Other policies that might be considered include car-sharing
and charging the most active drivers through mileage-based registration or
mileage-based emissions fees. Though modal share statistics would not
indicate gains from these initiatives – an equal or larger amount of people
would be commuting by cars – benefits would be illustrated through
transportation fuel consumption, vehicle pollution emissions and average
commute time (Litman, 2007).
Copenhageners would benefit from an extension of the central city‘s
well-designed pedestrian network to outlying areas. Compared to the
central city, there is a relative dearth of high quality urban spaces in
peripheral neighbourhoods. The City‘s Traffic Plan could better support
pedestrian improvements to these areas by improved lighting, building