Tim Knudsen

International influences and professional rivalry in early Danish planning

Influences on early Danish planning came from a variety of international sources. The Big City paradigm was mainly taken over from German planning, sometimes varied with elements from Haussmann and American cities. Later inspiration from Camillo Sitte and from the English Garden City movement was combined with traditional Danish small town values into a competing paradigm. The engineers mainly adhered to the Big City paradigm, whilst the architects were the chief proponents of the English inspiration, and these two paradigms have been used as tools of rivalry between the two professions. This discord might in the long run have led to a weakening of the planners’ political influence.