Nørrebro ... the coolest neighbourhood
/Recently, TimeOut Magazine published the results of their poll to find the 49 coolest neighbourhoods in the world.
The common criteria seemed to be that neighbourhoods have to have good food and to be fun with strong and diverse cultures but - with cities still caught up in the pandemic - there also has to be space for life outdoors and some sense of community spirit, resilience and sustainability.
Generally these neighbourhoods are fairly central, on the edge of the city centre, and distinctly urban so generally densely built, preferably with historic or re-purposed industrial buildings and with little high rise so dynamic urban areas rather than areas concocted by political committee or ‘planned’ on a drawing board and barely a developer in sight.
For most of these neighbourhoods, green space and water - rivers or lakes - are a huge plus but also life seems to spill over, into and across the streets where there is a strong sense of the local so independent shops and new and upcoming restaurants with barely a global chain in sight.
Nørrebro - the inner northern suburb in Copenhagen - slightly to my surprise - came in as the number one neighbourhood in the world. That's no disrespect to Nørrebro, but, here in Copenhagen, citizens of Vesterbro, Østerbro and Christianshavn would all challenge the decision.
But the TimeOut poll concluded that Nørrebro " is a dazzling blend of historic landmarks, ultramodern architecture and food and drink joints to make this famously gourmet city proud."
Traditionally, Nørrebro has been an area of cheaper housing and mostly housing in older apartment buildings dating from the late 19th century or the early 20th century. It attracts students and newcomers to the city looking for somewhere to live and the mixture of cultures here means that there are vibrant, cheap restaurants and diverse food shops and there are also good cinemas and theatres.
On the down side, Nørrebro has less green space than any of the other neighbourhoods of the city although that is something the planners are trying to rectify but the south edge of the area is defined by a string of lakes that once formed a part of the outer defences of the old city and the paths around the lakes are now an incredibly popular place for people to walk or run. There are popular restaurants with outdoor seating on the Nørrebro side of the lakes.
These lakes form the boundary between the inner city and Nørrebro and a wide stone bridge over the lakes, with wide pavements and ornate iron street lights, has a parapet that faces south west so this is a good and often sunny place to meet up in the late afternoon or early evening as people head in and out of the city.
Fælledparken, a huge open area with sports pitches and gardens and lakes, is immediately east of the district but the only large, open areas of green space within the neighbourhood are a long, curved park across the north side - on the line of an old railway - and the large cemetery - Assistens Kirkegård - that is crossed by paths and avenues of trees where families come to walk and look and sit on benches in the sun to talk. A Sunday afternoon stroll in a cemetery …. you can't get much cooler than that and it is an easy, traffic-free route to Jægersborggade ... a shopping street so cool it's almost very uncool.
1 Nørrebro, Copenhagen
2 Andersonville, Chicago
3 Jongno 3-ga, Seoul
4 Leith, Edinburgh
5 Station District, Vilnius
6 Chelsea, New York
7 XI District, Budapest
8 Ngor, Dakar
9 Sai Kung, Hong Kong
10 Richmond, Melbourne
