Copenhagen designs floodable park

Enghaveparken park redesigned to cope with climate change.

Water is central to the new redesign of Enghaveparken, Copenhagen's large public park in the inner Vesterbro district, according to an innovative transformation project being undertaken by the city.

As part of the plans, the 1920s-era neoclassical-style park is being redesigned to cope with increasingly frequent floods generated by climate change.

Newly-excavated areas of the park will have the dual purpose of acting as sports fields in the summer and ponds during heavy rainfalls.

The plan includes provisions to store stormwater in underground deposits while upside-down umbrellas and a dyke along the park's perimeter will filter excess water to the park's flowerbeds.

The works are part of a grander scheme by local landscape architectural firm Tredje Natur to make the park's surrounding district into the world’s first “climate-resilient neighborhood”, with certain streets given raised footpaths to help channel flood waters towards the harbour.

In the last five years Copenhagen has suffered two major floods – in 2011 and 2014 – and authorities expect these extreme weather events to become much more frequent in the future.