While Copenhagen has a reputation for its short, grey winter days, it holds a beautiful secret: the summer in the city. All winter long, the families prepare for their sunny, warm, long summer days. Within this preparation, people focus on the best water hub of the city, called Islands Brygge. This area is located on the canal within the city, a perfect getaway from the busy streets.
Islands Brygge is filled with plenty to do: filled with both land areas and harbor baths. The space takes up both sides of the harbor, giving space for all the locals to enjoy the sun. On one side of the harbor, there are little baths for splashing and swimming for small children, along with a bath with a big, wood, man-made cliff that all ages can jump off of. On the other side, there is a giant wooden slide, along with a big pier that everyone can use to soak up the sun.
Personally, I have never been on the side with the slide, but have observed it while boating in the canal. On this side, there is music playing throughout the pier. Additionally, I observed children going down the wooden slide in many ways, including on tin trash lids, towels, and even bikes. Not only were there children enjoying this, but I also observed adults sunbathing, swimming, and sliding down the slide. This proves again that Copenhagen focuses on including every member in each family.
I had the pleasure of visiting the side with the multiple baths and cliff jumping area. I noticed that there were children of all ages were able to enjoy this side. The first thing I noticed was that there seemed to be designated areas for specific age groups. One area was filled with small children and a shallow pool so that they could swim and splash without fear. In another area, there was the cliff jumping platform.
This platform was also designed with the intent to satisfy all ages. The platform had stairs going up the backside, allowing for three spots to be used as platforms to jump off of. The first was around two meters above the water, then about five, then about ten. This was designed so that each kid could jump where they feel is challenging.
I found it incredible that the design was intended to create courage within each child, instead of simply having the high platform, creating fear for a large portion of the children. Through having multiple platforms, every child was able to feel comfortable, but also courageous. At first, I thought that I would only see young children on the first, middle aged on the second, and older children and adults on the top.
However, after a few minutes of observation, I noticed that there were also adults testing the waters by jumping off the small jump, or teaching their small children it was okay and safe. Additionally, there were brave small children sailing off of the biggest platform- even faster than I could muster the courage!
It was so thrilling to see how excited each child was to be in this environment, and how happy each parent was to have an afternoon in the sun. It was also a good reminder that city planners and architects care about people of all ages, creating places that everyone can access and enjoy.
Author: Lizzy Gardner
Photo Credit: Photo Taken by Kathleen Shepherd, 2019.
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