City officials bring back ideas from Copenhagen trip

City Manager Isaiah Hugley and W.C. Bradley executive John Turner were among 27 civic leaders from 13 cities across the United States who spent a week in Copenhagen, Denmark, in late September to learn that city's approach to modern urban living.

The trip, which was sponsored and funded by the Knight Foundation, focused on how the city stresses bicycle and pedestrian travel and creates welcoming public spaces, sometimes in unlikely places.

Hugley said he and Turner learned a lot from the trip and came up with three specific ideas that could translate into Columbus' urban landscape.

"Columbus can't be a Copenhagen and we shouldn't want to be Copenhagen. We have a great city that I am very proud of," Hugley said. "I do believe that we can learn many things from Copenhagen regarding the use of public space, public places, public transit, walking and biking infrastructure, and making our city a better people-place."

Hugley said some of the things Columbus has already done, or has either the plans or the desire to do, fit well with what they saw in Denmark. The Chattahoochee RiverWalk, Hugley said, is an invaluable civic asset and should be a larger attraction. He also pointed to the city's proposal to build more than 27 miles of bike/pedestrian paths to connect to existing and planned paths that would create a 60-mile grid.

"Once done, all trails will connect walkers, joggers and bikers to our jewel and focal point -- the RiverWalk," Hugley said. "It's a great amenity, but we have to figure out how to get more people down to that area. We have to have more activity, coffee shops or things that will attract people."

Turner said Copenhagen is a good example of how an inner city doesn't have to be built around cars. In fact, 45 percent of its residents walk or use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation, he said, and it's likely because it's easier than driving there.

"You'd go to a train station you'd see a thousand bicycles parked," Turner said. "And you'd think, if every one of those bicycles represented a car, where would they go? What kind of infrastructure would you need to accommodate them?"

Another idea Hugley and Turner came up with was to make better use of the Government Center's outdoor plaza on the north side of the complex. After the Oklahoma City bombing, Sept. 11 terrorist attack and a recent state law expanding the places where citizens can carry guns, the city had to basically "lock down" government buildings. The building is difficult to get into and has a lot of wasted space as a result.

"We know that with the courts being in the Government Center, it's a challenge," Hugley said. "So how can we regain use of the plaza at the Government Center? How do we open it back up and make it a people-friendly place, with the security challenges that we have?"

Hugley said the public space, both hardscape and green space around the City Services Center could similarly be more welcoming to the public.

The third idea they would like to see the city explore involves the Liberty District, the area surrounding the historic Liberty Theatre, once a centerpiece in the black arts and cultural community.

Except for the renovated theater itself, the surrounding area consists primarily of blighted buildings and vacant lots, but Hugley said with the right approach, he thinks the neighborhood could see a renaissance.

Hugley said there was a presentation in Copenhagen called "Better Block," which demonstrated ways to show people a place's potential when it otherwise wouldn't be apparent. Organizers basically create a temporary situation in a blighted or vacant area, setting up landscaping, temporary shops and cafes and such, creating an illusion of what might be possible, Turner said.

"We saw a lot of images of these places coming to life just for a weekend, just to show that it's possible," he said. "It was really interesting and pretty inspiring, too, in terms of what's possible if you just get folks to think a little differently about their neighborhoods."

Hugley said the second Knight Cities Challenge, which is currently soliciting ideas for civic improvement, could be a source of funding to create such a program in the Liberty District. All it takes is for someone to come up with a plan, submit it to the Knight Foundation and hope for the best, Hugley said.

Turner said Columbus is already moving forward with some of the ideas that they came across in Copenhagen, to the point that leaders from some other cities on the tour were "envious."

"It was interesting being with mayors and city managers and planners from other cities," Turner said. "If you live here, you think about our frustrations, but compared to some other places, they were very envious of how functional Columbus appears to be to them."

In addition to Hugley and Turner, participants in the trip came from Akron, Ohio; Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Grand Forks, N.D.; Gulfport, Miss.; Lexington, Ky.; Long Beach and San Jose, Calif.; Macon, Ga.; and Miami, Tallahassee and West Palm Beach in Florida. The officials were from local governments, the private sector, nonprofits and local foundations.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 10:28 PM with the headline "City officials bring back ideas from Copenhagen trip ."