Since 1958, The Green Square in the district of Valby has been a wholesale market for florists and greengrocers. Today the old historic marketplace is in the process of becoming a new residential area to be named Ny Valby. Covering an area of just over 20 soccer fields, here high-rise buildings, institutions, shops, cafés, a park and offices are currently under construction.
In the interim period between the last traders leaving Grønttorvet in the spring of 2016 and the completion of the new area, it has housed various cultural initiatives. Artist-driven galleries, artist studios, a coffee shop, workshops and more have nourished and brought a strong, temporary creative vibe to the area.
Different touches will remind residents of what once was: some buildings are named after flowers like hydrangea, amaryllis and dahlia; along streets and squares there'll be fruit trees and bushes; and a large park will be established in the place where the vegetable market hall once stood.
As affordable housing in Copenhagen is increasingly difficult to find, and many of its new construction projects are unaffordable on average incomes, the aim at Grønttorvet is to meet that shortcoming. Thus the 2,200 apartments will be a mix between senior and student housing, condos and housing cooperatives.
