For the first time in a generation, the City of Copenhagen will establish a new, large-scale urban park. The city has announced Team SLA as the winner of the design competition to develop the landmark project over the coming years.
Team SLA’s project Nordør – New Park in Nordhavn will create what is arguably one of Copenhagen’s most important urban design projects in more than a decade: A new 30-hectare (75-acre) coastal nature park in Nordhavn.
Nordør – New Park in Nordhavn will connect people and nature, set new global standards for climate-positive and nature-positive urban design, and redefine Copenhagen’s relationship with its water.
A park shaped by nature itself
The design of Nordør – New Park in Nordhavn is based on a bold concept: allowing nature’s processes to unfold naturally over time. Using minimal interventions, the park is shaped from the existing landscape—comprising decades of soil deposits, slopes, and ridges from Copenhagen’s construction sites—carefully sculpted into a diverse topography that supports both social and ecological functions. It features sports fields, beaches, playgrounds, activity zones, and community spaces within a vibrant, self-growing natural environment. This approach provides Copenhagen residents with daily amenities, enhances ecological resilience, and fosters a vital reconnection with nature right at their doorstep.
“Today, humanity is more alienated from nature than ever before. With Nordør – New Park in Nordhavn, we have designed a climate-positive and nature-positive park that not only sets new standards for carbon sequestering and biodiversity, but above all restores our connection to nature. For us, Nordør is a true Copenhagen landmark – rooted in community, wild nature, climate adaptation, and all the city’s amazing diversity of life,”
Mette Skjold, CEO and Senior Partner, SLA.
A climate and nature-positive catalyst
Designed as a carbon sink and a driver of biodiversity, Nordør – New Park in Nordhavn will sequester more CO2 than it emits and serve as a catalyst for creating new habitats on land, coast, and sea – both on-site and off-site. Habitats for rare species are conserved, expanded, and left undisturbed, while a diverse mosaic of lagoons, meadows, beaches, grasslands, forest edges, and marine reefs transform the site into a lively meeting point between land and sea, providing equal space for both people and wildlife.
Designed with citizens, for citizens
The park is rooted in an extensive and year-long citizens dialogue involving residents, nature organizations, local sports clubs, and other stakeholders and will provide a broad spectrum of experiences: from football fields, activity areas, community houses, and a universally accessible beach in the south, to quiet wilderness areas in the north where birds, amphibians, and insects take priority and can be experienced up close.
Activity highlights include The Stub, a 24-meter-high viewing point; The Ore, a west-facing lagoon beach with small islands; and The Forest Edge – a one-kilometer-long, species-rich woodland edge, the longest in Copenhagen.
A global inspiration for nature
Nordør – New Park in Nordhavn is designed by Team SLA for the City of Copenhagen and By & Havn and will stand as a global inspiration for how cities can embrace nature as a driver of livability, resilience, and identity.
Led by the internationally acclaimed nature-based design studio SLA, Team SLA comprises SLA, VITA Engineers, Urban Agency, Aaen Engineering, Pihlmann Architects, Buro Happold, Kerstin Bergendal, Holdbart, and Aiming Spaces.
The construction of the park is set to start in 2028.
Nordør – New Park in Nordhavn
Location: Nordhavn, Copenhagen
Client: The City of Copenhagen and By & Havn
Design Team: SLA, VITA engineers, Urban Agency, Aaen Engineering, Pihlmann Architects, Buro Happold, Kerstin Bergendal, Holdbart, Aiming Spaces
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