Territorial Review Copenhagen - Region Hovedstaden

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Municipal fragmentation in Copenhagen has not been deal with
Municipal amalgamation was more intense outside Copenhagen. The
number of municipalities there was reduced from 219 to 63; within the
Copenhagen area (former HUR-area), the reduction was far less radical:
from 52 to 35. The agreement between political parties on the structural
reform aimed at municipalities with on average 30 000 inhabitants. Since
this was mostly already the case, municipalities in Copenhagen had fewer
incentives for further amalgamation. As the reform followed a dominantly
voluntary logic, the central government did not push for substantial
amalgamations in Copenhagen. Consequently, institutional fragmentation at
the level of metropolitan Copenhagen continues. One of expressions of this
is the existence of a separate municipality (Frederiksberg) within the
boundaries of the city of Copenhagen. Another instance is the fact that the
population of the city of Copenhagen proper, as a percentage of the
population within the metropolitan area, is low, both from a national and
international perspective. Only about 21% of Copenhagen‘s residents live in
the city of Copenhagen. In Aarhus and Odense, where suburbs have merged
with the core city in recent decades, 45% and 40% respectively of the
population of the wider metropolitan area now lives within the boundaries of
the city. Comparison with other European cities shows that few cities have
the metropolitan fragmentation of Copenhagen. Although the existence of
several local government units can stimulate competition between them and
lead to more efficient provision of services, local choice, and goods and
services adapted to local preferences, serious challenges are associated with
fragmentation when sub-national governments have responsibilities for
goods and services with externalities such as public transport.