• A coherent town
• A green town
• A democratic town
• Exciting housing environments of a high standard
• Better conditions for children and young people
• Life in the culture – culture in life
• A dynamic economic life

Contact:

Kvarterværkstedet
Project assistant, Vibeke Foltmann
Sebbersundvej 2A
9220 Aalborg Øst
Tel: +45 98 15 75 79
Fax: +45 98 15 22 59
Homepage: www.kvarterloeft9220.dk
E-mail: kvartervaerksted@kvarterloeft9220.dk

Description of the area.
Aalborg Øst (Aalborg East) is a young district, which was devised and planned in the middle of the 1960’s. Aalborg had growing pains and it was decided to give its residents the opportunity to move out of their small two-room flats and into large, light and spacious flats in green surroundings. It was before the municipal reform of 1970, so Aalborg only had the option of expanding in one direction – namely East. Large undeveloped areas situated between four old villages were situated there.

Aalborg Øst was built 6-8 kilometres from the town centre of Aalborg on a bare field. The district was thoroughly planned. There was a clear physical separation between industry, non-profit housing, areas designated for detached houses, institutions etc. and there was plenty of room in the new district - approx. 30 square kilometres of which, however, only 800 ha. were itilised in connection with residential housing. This provided a good opportunity for the laying out of large green areas for recreational purposes.

The predominant type of housing is of a two-storeyed, non-profit nature. Along with a number of courtyard houses, the district’s non-profit dwellings now make up 66% of the built-up area. The detached houses, including the four old villages, make up 25% while the remaining built-up area basically consists of three halls of residence. (The university is also situated in Aalborg Øst)

The traffic structure
To ensure that the traffic runs smoothly, large through-roads for car traffic have been built, and pathway systems, which do not cross the main traffic roads at the same level, have been provided for cyclists and pedestrians. Both the non-profit housing area and the area designated for detached houses are characterised by their independant locations - in fact, they are only connected by foot and cycle paths. In many ways, the main traffic roads function as barriers between the built-up areas.

Industry, trade and service trade
At the far east/north-east and western areas of the district respectively, large trade and industrial areas are situated. To the south, Aalborg University and a number of administrative firms are situated. This means that there are many jobs in Aalborg Øst, but most of the employees commute from outside the area.

Only very few of the many jobs in the district lie within the trade and service branches. There is not a commercial life in Aalborg Øst, which adequately reflects and services the district’s almost 15000 inhabitants. In Aalborg Øst, the trade and service branches are made up of a few doctors and dentists, one huge and 3-4 smaller supermarkets/all-night shops, three takeaways, one pub, two financial institutions, one post office and one chemist. This is one of the reasons why the district does not function as independantly but rather as an appendage to the town of Aalborg.

Schools, institutions etc.
Aalborg Øst contains 15 day-care centres, three schools including after-school recreation centres and three leisure centres/youth clubs. In addition to this, there are one nursing home with attached housing for the elderly and 22 protected dwellings for the physically handicapped and mentally ill. There are also two day-centres for the mentally ill with a total of 27 places.

Leisure-time activities.
There are sports centres connected to two of the schools in the area, which are also used by local sports people outside school hours. In the north-eastern part of Aalborg Øst, "AaBs" training centre and football grounds are situated. However, the latter facilities are not really active in the sporting life of the area. In spring 1999, a football ground with an attached handball ground was opened in the south-west of the district.

Apart from the local library, the district contains a local culture and association house called "Trekanten" (The Triangle). Besides a fitness centre, it holds various workshops, meeting rooms and a hall with room for 200 people. "Trekanten" arranges exhibitions, concerts, lectures and other cultural activities and it acts as a base for a large number of the area’s associations. Several of the housing associations have community centres in connection with their individual branches - there is a village hall in one of the villages and a large parish hall in the other. Aalborg University also contains various facilities which, by appointment, can be used by local residents for events and activities.

The area covers two old parishes and therefore has two village churches. The district’s population is unevenly distributed in relation to the positions of the two churches. This means that one parish numbers 12,500 parishioners and the other only 2,000.
 

Problems and resources
There are many children and young people and relatively few elderly people in the district compared to the municipality of Aalborg as a whole. Just under 60% of the housing stock is non-profit housing and the make up of residents reflects this. This reveals itself in a marked over representation of single parents and residents of non-Danish origins. Furthermore, there is a concentration of refugee families in Aalborg Øst. This group makes up 7-8% of the district’s residents. many are refugees from Somalia.

In spite of the fact that Aalborg Øst also includes some fairly large areas designated for detached houses, the average income in Aalborg Øst is below the municipality’s average. However, this is due to great income differences between the non-profit housing areas and the areas designated for detached houses.

The district’s employment profile differs from the picture that emerges from Aalborg as a whole. Furthermore, far more people receive cash benefits and early retirement pensions in Aalborg Øst than in Aalborg as a whole. Moreover, the amount of frequently changing residents in the area is much higher in the district than in the municipality as a whole.

There is a fairly rich association life in the area, with 70 associations registered with activities in Aalborg Øst. For instance, various sports clubs, several scouts associations, pensioners’ clubs and a local history association. The associations contributes to giving Aalborg Øst its own identity. The residents in the four small villages in the area have their own local identity which is connected to the villages, but apart form that, the area cannot be said to be marked by a strong sense of community.

The "modern" targeted planning of Aalborg Øst has among other things meant that there are large open spaces between the individual housing branches and one single "park" in the district. However, the quality and utilisation of these large green areas could be improved.