During the Spring 2018 semester I had the opportunity to spend a semester in Copenhagen through the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (https://disabroad.org). I took four classes abroad, including Sustainable Development in Northern Europe, Strategies for Urban Livability, Sustainable by Design, and Narratives of Postcolonial Europe.

Living in Copenhagen was an amazing, stimulating and challenging experience. One of the reasons I decided to study in Denmark was because I had learned that Northern European countries had made great strides in sustainable development, which aligned nicely with my burgeoning interest in urban sustainability. This turned out to be true; I was able to learn firsthand about wind and solar energy systems and battery-powered ferries in Copenhagen and other parts of Denmark. However, my coursework also really challenged the way I think about urban studies.

Urban sustainability had always been my focal interest, and I am the first to acknowledge that the term “sustainability” has ballooned to become somewhat of an umbrella term to define many different trends in the globalizing world. Spending time in Copenhagen introduced me to other umbrella terms that worked not under, but in tandem with sustainability, namely urban livability and urban mobility. Many people consider Copenhagen one of the world’s most livable cities, and exploring Copenhagen’s various neighborhoods during class visits and in my own time illustrated why. The city is filled with public spaces and forward-facing businesses, so there are always people gathering in the built environment. Parking lots have been transformed into open markets and other community assets. The public transportation system is excellent, and city has made intense strides to become bicycle-friendly, with raised bike lanes and bridges designed solely for bikes adding to a deep-rooted cycling culture. I would want to see all of these things in a sustainable city, but considering them through the lenses of mobility and livability encouraged me to take a different approach to the way I experience an urban space, and reoriented my values in terms of how to consider the residents of a city during the planning process.

My learning in Copenhagen was directly applied to my summer internship at the City of Pittsburgh, and although I am keenly aware that U.S. cities cannot simply replicate the successes of Copenhagen and other European cities, I believe that my abroad experience has equipped me with a new perceptive skillset that will be extremely valuable for me when I begin my career.