Layered Landscapes of Welfare Values – Revisiting Køge Bay Beach Park in Denmark

This essay studies the perceived spatial characteristics of the Danish welfare landscape of Køge Bay Beach Park from the late 1970s. The project is one of the few realized examples of landscape-based coastal adaptation projects in a Danish context, and it is expected to undergo an extensive modernization process in the near future. Based on the premise that the rising sea level requires great public engagement and investments, we claim that future climate adapted coastlines could be regarded as the next generation of welfare landscapes. By using Køge Bay Beach Park as a lens, we examine the potential perceived spatial qualities of integrating welfare values in coastal adaptation projects. We further discuss how past planning and design practices of welfare landscapes could be revived in the future transformation of Køge Bay Beach Park, and in future coastal climate adaptation projects in general.