Skip to content

News

Climate change adaptation

Nature based solutions

Urban infrastructure planning

+4

Copenhagen inspires Buenos Aires’ push for climate adaptation and harbour baths

A partnership between Danish authorities and companies has helped the Buenos Aires prepare for the future. Inspired by Copenhagen, Buenos Aires sets out to create a more liveable and greener city able to manage the negative impact of climate change. In the future, the Argentinian capital's goal is to clean the surrounding water, making it possible to swim from the coastline.
image
By Magnus Højberg Mernild | [email protected]
13 October 2022
Urban water management

White paper: urban water management

Explore the many benefits of adopting nature-based solutions in creating resilient cities and learn how thinking holistically about wastewater as a resource can yield both energy and natural resources.

In recent years, climate change has created new challenges for many cities around the world. One of these is the South American metropolis of Buenos Aires, where dated infrastructure has been hit hard by major outbreaks of flooding and cloud bursts on several occasions.

Therefore, the city council in the Argentinian capital has started to explore the possibilities of implementing new blue-green infrastructure solutions focusing on climate change adaptation. The inspiration has been found by looking to the other side of the world, more precisely Copenhagen.

Copenhagen as a blue-green focal point

The City Council of Buenos Aires is looking towards Copenhagen, its harbour baths, and blue-green infrastructure, which is considered a global source of inspiration.

Together with representatives from the City of Copenhagen, Buenos Aires has prepared a climate adaption plan, which for example will cover better wastewater management seeking to improve the water quality in the city’s rivers. In the future, the goal is to make the water areas surrounding the city recreational, making it possible to swim and bathe from the coastline of Buenos Aires. As is the case in the clean harbour baths around Copenhagen.

According to the plan, the results of the partnership between the two capitals are to be presented at this year’s C40 Summit, where mayors and business leaders from across the globe meet to discuss sustainable city solutions. This year, Buenos Aires is the host.

Danish solutions provide environmental and practical purposes

Besides the two city councils, the Danish-Argentinian collaboration has been assisted by The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Danish companies such as HOFOR have been involved in implementing water solutions in the city.

In concrete terms, this has initially resulted in a project in Saavedra Park in the northern part of Buenos Aires, optimising the absorption and management of large amounts of rainwater from cloudbursts. Today, the park can store around 50.000 m3 of rainwater. Additionally, plans have been made to expose some of the river flowing in underground pipes below the park, which will instead create a recreational water area for the public.

With Buenos Aires’ rapid growth in inhabited areas, alongside its geographical location on the pampas, making it highly exposed to flooding and cloudbursts, the Danish partnership provides both much-needed green areas in the city, as well as preparing the Argentinian capital for future climate change.

You should consider reading

Climate change adaptation
Nature based solutions
Urban infrastructure planning
Urban planning and development
Urban water management
Water management
Water resource management

News

Climate partnerships

+19

Climate ministers convene in Denmark to set the course towards COP29

11 March 2024
For the third year running, COP discussions get off to an early start at the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial. This year’s ministerial, hosted by Denmark in cooperation with the former and current COP presidencies of the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, will prepare the path towards a successful COP29 in Baku.

Perspective

Wind energy

+32

10 green news stories from Denmark in 2022

22 December 2022
With a significant focus on energy transition, 2022 has been buzzing with new climate pledges and cross-border initiatives. In this recap, we serve the ten most popular news stories published in 2022.

News

Living labs

+61

Danish companies obtain the most green patents

16 January 2023
Known to be among the globe's most sustainable, Danish companies are number one in obtaining green patents in both Europe and the US over the past ten years.

News

Job creation and transition

+101

Sound of Green, a podcast series with insights from Denmark’s green transition

27 January 2023
From managing cloudbursts to setting up climate partnerships, we examine how Denmark has turned acute climate challenges into new opportunities. In our podcast series Sound of Green, experts convey how Danish experiences can push the needle toward global green transition. Find it on Spotify, Apple Podcast and stateofgreen.com.