The Copenhagen Model: a Publicly Owned, Privately Run Corporation - Case Study
May 18, 2020
In the late 1980s, Copenhagen wrestled with the challenge of how to use the city’s underperforming assets to build large-scale infrastructure. The city responded to the challenge with an innovative institutional arrangement - a publicly-owned, privately-run corporation- the Copenhagen (CPH) City & Port Development Corporation. In the following three decades, the corporation played a pivotal role in transforming Copenhagen from an ailing manufacturing city to one of the wealthiest cities in the world through a combination of strategic zoning, land-based financing, and private sector collaboration. Through this innovative institutional structure, the city rebuilt a vibrant waterfront, expanded the metro transit system, and increased social housing facilities.
