Urban Form and Housing Density, Australian Cities and European Models: Copenhagen and Stockholm Reconsidered

Stockholm and Copenhagen have been widely regarded in English-speaking countries as exemplifying aspects of the compact city—from well planned, mixed use, higher density, transit-oriented development to sociable urban spaces. So how is it that the development of these two cities has also been located in the garden city tradition? This article tackles this question in the context of the implications European cities are often thought to have for low-density Australian cities. Comparisons of the urban form of Stockholm and Brisbane and of higher density housing in Copenhagen and Brisbane emphasise that the ‘Scandinavian model’ is as much about the role of open space in shaping urban form and in housing design as our current preoccupation with density.