Copenhagen

It’s our last night in Copenhagen. We’re in the midst of the biggest thunderstorm they can remember. We just got soaked running back from the train station. Which is appropriate, as we’ve gotten soaked in every city thus far, but so far all I’d gotten here was a tan. We’re hoping it lets up enough to run out and eat some Italian food. Since that’s what we’ve had every night here (I mean, if your local cuisine is eh, why not just adopt the best in the world). Otherwise, room service herring it is.

Copenhagen is a delightful city. For some reason, I can’t just can’t get that pumped up about it right now. And when I say for some reason, I mean the reason is that since the last time I was here (2004) I’ve built this image of Copenhagen as a car-free, totality egalitarian, creative city populated only by supermodels (yes, I had a very nice trip here last time). But it’s only 90% true. It’s the funny thing about expectations – they take some place outrageously lovely and make it somehow a bit disappointing.

Yes, of course, everyone has free healthcare, free education through university, guaranteed housing, and a host of other amenities. Of course the train runs every two minutes, the bus every five, and every major street has separated bike lanes next to the sidewalk, away from the moving and the parked cars. Yes, of course Danes are exceedingly sweet, funny, beautiful, and hospitable. And the buildings are those beloved five-stories, colorful, and in the downtown, often ornate. OK, just writing this I’m talking myself back into the city. I gotta admit – we’ve been living so large this last month that I also take many beautiful things for granted, which is never a good idea, because you never know when such a glorious run will end. Or you do, because your plane leaves tomorrow.

This isn’t intended to be the trip recap piece, so let’s get back to Copenhagen. My take is that it’s a city with an uncertain future. Copenhagen is a relatively small city (500,000) in a relatively small region (1.5 million) in a damn small country (5 million). Denmark has not historically handled immigration well, and so it’s unclear how much demand for growth there will be – which is particularly relevant because the City has plans for some quite beautiful new neighborhoods that will not materialize as such there is demand. It’s also not clear what the city’s economic trajectory is – none of the planners seemed to have a firm grasp on it (compared to places like Lyon, where the economic strategists informed the planners). While I firmly believe an economy can thrive without steering, I’ve seen every city identifying how best to integrate with the global economy that I’m concerned that such a small outpost such as Copenhagen will get passed by without being more strategic.

And so I complete my last city report. Tomorrow to London, and Monday back to San Francisco. We’ll share more – Abbie has 2,096 pictures thus far. And we’ll see y’all soon.