Sweden
Project history
The former harbour and wharf area of Malmö
stretches in the shape of a peninsula out into the
sound (Öresund) from the central parts of the city.
The development of the harbour was relatively late,
towards the end of the eighteenth century. The peri-
od of industrialisation at the end of the nineteenth
century resulted in increased activity, but the major
land-winning projects were carried out after the
Second World War. The Kockums Company, which
specialised in submarines and naval technology, has
had the greatest impact upon the area. The com-
pany has since closed down and left the area.
At present, this part of the city is called the Western
Harbour and the aim is that it will be transformed
step by step into a new urban district with 600
dwellings, shops, restaurants, offices, streets, parks
and gardens. The Masterplan was approved by the
municipal authorities at the end of the 1990s. The
character of the older parts of the inner city forms
the model of the structure – dense and intimate.
With the development of the Western Harbour dis-
trict, the close relation between the sea and the city
will be re-established.
The area facing the waterfront was treated as an
international exposition, Bo 01 – the City of the
Future – in 2001. Within the concept of a dense and
irregular small-scale urban structure, a number of
buildings in minimalist and neo-modern styles were
constructed.
Five landscape architect companies, from Sweden,
Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, were invit-
ed to take part in a competition dealing with the
parks and the public open space of the district. The
programme for the competition gave clear sugges-
tions for the design of the shoreline park:
The Waterfront Park is situated facing the sea
... The site is exposed, the wind is harsh and
salty water is thrown to the shore in hard
weather. The high content of salt in the air,
in the sea and in the ground water forms
difficult biological conditions for plants, but
gives a strong character. The place is unique
and the design reflects this character. The
Waterfront park is to a great extent a public
park ... The scale is immense and must
be profoundly studied ... Possible words to
describe the character are: sea, barren, salty
water, windswept, sculptural, contemplative,
rustic, urban, public.^1
The architects of the exposition decided to co-oper-
ate with different landscape architects upon differ-
ent sites within the district. For the waterfront park,
given the name Daniaparken, the proposal of the
company FFNS Architects, with landscape architect
