Gellerup City Park

Restoring & reconnecting nature & people

Gellerup and Toveshøj are in the process of being transformed from a socially challenged neighbourhood into an attractive and integrated part of Aarhus City. EFFEKT's 2009 winning proposal for a new masterplan for Gellerup sets the scene for this transformation and in many ways breaks with the rational urban planning and architecture of the 1960s modernism. The green spaces in Gellerup Toveshøj play a central part in the development of the area as an attractive part of Aarhus.

The new green spaces opens up the area to its surroundings both physically and psychologically, simultaneously, as a missing link to Aarhus, reconnecting the green space with the two main landscape areas Skjoldhøjkilen and Brabrand Ådal.

EFFEKT worked holistically with the many elements of the park - terrain, landscape, rainwater, plants, network, activities, "special places", etc. - and believed that the project represents a robust and long-lasting strategy for the new green spaces of Gellerup. The intention was not to create one single controlling concept to which all other elements would adhere - on the contrary, the project consists of a number of different elements referencing the wild uncontrolled "nature". These work together and complement each other in the dynamic and exciting green space. The new green space creates a completely new storyline for Gellerup Toveshøj and will contribute positively to the great and ambitious transformation the area is undergoing.