Århus, Denmark
City population: 308508
Duration: 2007 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Other
Last updated: November 2021

“An integrated solution for groundwater, rainwater, waste water, streams and ponds creates attractive housing in a new suburb (NyE), with room for exciting architecture. The water cycle plays a key role in urban development in Denmark, and water is one of the ever-present elements in our lives. Århus needs to prevent flooding caused by climate change, avoid polluting our groundwater, and improve the environment in streams and ponds to allow the use of water to create recreational value for the residents. This way, Århus can build a balanced aquatic environment, which will ultimately create a better city.” (Ref. 1) The establishment of the first stage consisting of 650 homes, day care center and grocery store was initiated in the autumn of 2016 after more than 10 years of planning, and in the summer of 2018, the first residents moved into Nye. More homes are on the way. (Ref 14). In its current form of just over 150 ha, it has a capacity of approx. 15,000-20,000 inhabitants or approx. 10,000 homes at full expansion (Ref 15)

Visualization of NyE (2015)
Visualization of NyE (2015)
Created by: AART architects, retrieved 08/29/2018 from Jesper Hallstrøm Eriksen

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Parks and urban forests
  • Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Lakes/ponds
  • Wetlands/peatlands/marshes
  • Green areas for water management
  • Sustainable urban drainage systems

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Improvements to water quality
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Environmental quality
  • Waste management
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Enabling physical activity
  • Creation of opportunities for relaxation and recreation
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Economic development: service sectors
  • Real estate development

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Maintenance and management of urban nature, Management of rivers and other blue areas, Ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems

Project objectives

The objectives of the intervention are to integrate solutions for groundwater, rainwater, wastewater, streams and ponds that create attractive housing. The aims are to prevent flooding caused by climate change, avoid pollution in the groundwater and improve the environment in streams and ponds, and to use the water for recreational values. Green and blue spaces (mostly connected to water) are included in the vision of Nye. A long-term goal is the development of a climate park that can be created in the form of a nature reservation with marshy areas, trees and bushes, in the undeveloped area west of Nye. The climate park will make it possible to tackle extreme rainfall caused by climate changes over the next few years, through a collection of rainwater and controlled flooding into the park. (Ref. 1, 5) A long-term goal is the development of a climate park that can be created in the form of a nature reservation with marshy areas, trees and bushes, in the undeveloped area west of Nye. (Ref 5)

Implementation activities

Using the integrated streams and ponds (which provide the possibility for architectural solutions) for outdoor activities. (Ref. 1) "Aarhus Water and the Tækker Group are working to think up better ways of using rainwater integrated into the development plan right from the start. The project group is currently looking beyond the boundaries of the city for ideas and working on a development plan that incorporates them." (Ref. 13) Also, NIRAS has developed an ambitious strategy for handling the water, which means to integrate rainwater as a recreational element, as well as to use water for toilet flushing. (Ref. 12) The finished city is seen as an independent city with shopping opportunities, schools, day care institutions, sports facilities, medical center, cafes, church, playgrounds, etc (Ref 15) The climate park will make it possible to tackle extreme rainfall caused by climate changes over the next few years, through collection of rainwater and controlled flooding into the park. (Ref. 1, 5); repurpose water: integrate rainwater as a recreational element, as well as to use water for toilet flushing. (Ref. 12)

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Restore wetlands and/or coastal ecosystems to dissipate the effects of flooding and/or storms
  • Implement sustainable urban drainage infrastructure (e.g. to make space for water)

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
  • Other

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Private sector/corporate actor/company

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Co-planning

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Property developer Tækker Group joined forces with the City Council and Aarhus Vand (Aarhus Water) to put together an integrated solution for water in the town. Furthermore, Nye sets new standards for how a private developer can join forces with the local authority, water utility and consultants to create the town of the future, by focusing on a cohesive approach, balance and sustainability. (Ref. 1)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (In the municipal plan from 2001, around 2100 hectares were selected for new urban areas. (Ref. 7) The area around Nye is part of a 'perspective zone' in the 2009 Municipal Plan. (Ref. 1))

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public local authority budget
  • Corporate investment

Type of funding

  • Direct funding or subsidy

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate, energy and emissions
  • Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
  • Environmental quality
  • Improved waste management
  • Water management and blue areas
  • Improved water quality
  • Increased protection against flooding
  • Improved stormwater management
  • Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
  • Green space and habitat
  • Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
  • Improved prevention or control of invasive alien species
  • Other

Economic impacts

  • Increased property prices
  • Attraction of business and investment
  • Generation of income from NBS

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved social cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Improved physical health
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Increased sense of place identity, memory and belonging

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

Yes

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

Ref. 1. City of Aarhus (2017) Attractive housing with water in the centre. Projects. [Website not available in 2020]
Ref. 2. Cebra (n.d.) Nye - suburb of the future. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. Source: Source link [Accessed 14 September 2020]
Ref. 3. Nye (n.d.) Historikken. Nye. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. Source: Source link [Updated 2019. Accessed 14 September 2020]
Ref. 4. Nye (n.d.) Spørgsmål og svar. FAQ. Nye. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. Source: Source link [Accessed 14 September 2020]
Ref. 5. Nye (n.d.) Naturen. Byen. Nye. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. Source: Source link [Accessed 14 September 2020]
Ref. 6. Nye (2011) Udkast til Helhedsplan for den Nye by ved elev. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. [Website not available in 2020]
Ref. 7. Tækker (2007) Fremtidens Forstad. Nye. Source: Source link [Accessed 18 September 2020]
Ref. 8. City of Aarhus (n.d.) Aarhus CO2 neutral in 2030 - tackling climate change in ecocity Aarhus. Source: Source link [Accessed 14 September 2020]
Ref. 9. City of Aarhus (2016) Urban development north of Aarhus. Projects. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. [Website not available in 2020]
Ref. 10. Stiftstidende (2017) Tækker Group tjener en milliard kroner til Nye på salg i Berlin. Wilhardt Boesen, C. 2017. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. Source: Source link [Accessed on 14 September 2020]
Ref. 11. Nye (n.d.) Miljø. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. Source: Source link [ Accessed 14 September 2020]
Ref. 12. Niras (2014) Indbyggerne i NYE skyller toilettet ud med regnvand. Information obtained: 2017-06-23. Source: Source link [Accessed 14 September 2020]
Ref. 13. City of Aarhus (2016) Project: Attractive housing with water in the centre. Information obtained: 2017-07-28. [Website unavailable in 2020]
Ref. 14. Nye (2020) FØLG UDVIKLINGEN. Source: Source link [Accessed on 14 September 2020]
Ref. 15. Nye (2020) SPØRGSMÅL OG SVAR. Source: Source link [Accessed on 14 September 2020]
Visualization of NyE (2015)
Visualization of NyE (2015)
Created by: AART architects, retrieved 08/29/2018 from Jesper Hallstrøm Eriksen