10 years The Øresund Bridge and iTs region Ø r e s u n d s B r o k o n s o r T i e T 2 0 1 0 www.oresund10.com Contents A region under development The Øresund Bridge – a regional symbol 2 Traffic development Traffic jump at Øresund 4 Traffic on the Øresund Bridge 6 Passenger car traffic 8 HGV traffic 10 Bus/coach traffic 11 Rail traffic 11 Future prognosis 13 A common labour market Explosion in commuting 15 Economic differences drive commuting 20 Language presents no barrier – tax and pension conditions do 22 Against the tide 22 The financial crisis will only hamper developments in the short-term 24 The housing market Migration 25 Malmö City and the areas near the bridge prove the most attractive 26 Majority of migrants from Copenhagen 27 Young Danes dominate the migrant flow 28 Substantial differences in housing prices 30 Cheaper housing attracted the Danes 30 Perspectives 33 Economic activity Impact of economic conditions 34 Commercial structure 35 More Scanian companies have Danish owners 36 Network platforms 36 Tourism and leisure New patterns 38 Overnight stays fell and then rose 39 A new identity The Øresund citizen 40 The next decade A new era 43 Future-proof infrastructure 44 The company behind the Øresund Bridge Basis for business activities 46 Ownership 47 Organisation 48 Framework conditions 51 a region under developmenT The Øresund Bridge – a regional symbol A decade has passed since the Øresund Bridge Zealanders’ attitude. Mentally, it took significantly opened to traffic and much has happened since the longer than 35 minutes to get from Copenhagen first vehicles drove across the bridge on that starlit Central Station to the central station at Malmö. summer’s evening. Today, the picture is significantly different. 25,000 When, on 1 July 2010, the Øresund Bridge celebrates Danes currently live in Scania, 20,400 commuters its tenth anniversary, the barriers at the toll station at cross Øresund every day to go to work on the other Lernacken will have been raised 51 million times to side, 68 per cent of Zealanders and 44 per cent of allow a vehicle through. On the bridge’s lower deck, Scanians have family, friends or colleagues across 76 million train passengers have journeyed across the waterway. In other words, the Øresund Region Øresund. In all, 194 million travellers have enjoyed has become part of daily life for many as Danes and a quick and easy journey across the Øresund Bridge Swedes become ever closer. by car or train. This corresponds to the combined populations of Denmark and Sweden crossing the Across the region, many people now regard them- Øresund Bridge 13 times, or the population of the selves as Øresund citizens. But what does it mean Øresund Region visiting the other side 52 times during to be an Øresund citizen? What is the identity of the past ten years. Not everyone, however, is an those who live there? What is the soul of the Øresund equally frequent traveller. Some people never make Region? Perhaps we can find it in the commitment the journey to the other side, whilst others experience and dynamism that many people have invested in Øresund when they commute to and from work. making their daily life function just as smoothly One thing all travellers have in common, however, across national borders as it did before in the two is that they have all helped to make the Øresund parts of the region – those who feel passionate Region what it is today. about the region and have never given up. The toasts were many and expectations high when Although many issues have been resolved, challenges traffic, after nine years of planning and construction still remain before the two countries’ systems and work, began to flow. The successful opening of the regulations can work together. The future is knocking Storebælt bridge two years earlier had raised expec- and there is much building to be done. We will soon tations for traffic and regional development. But the be building a fixed link across the Fehmarnbelt fixed link across Øresund only laid the foundation between Denmark and Germany as well as the ESS for realising the vision of a common housing and and MAX IV facilities in Lund and probably high-speed labour market. The physical bridge would not in itself rail links from Stockholm to Malmö. turn the vision into reality – spiritual bridges needed to be built as well. The Scanians knew well what How to successfully exploit these opportunities is Copenhagen had to offer, but the Zealanders were one of the major challenges facing the Øresund more hesitant. The Swedish playwright Strindberg’s Region over the years ahead. comment “Asia begins in Malmö” expressed the 2 live your opportunities 3 Traffic developmenT Traffic jump at Øresund The opening of the Øresund Bridge in 2000 has led With traffic growth of just 3 per cent, 2008 stood out to a dramatic increase in traffic across Øresund as from the seven preceding years. The slow growth a whole. In the 1990s, between two and three million represented a 5.1 per cent increase on the Øresund vehicles crossed the Øresund waterway per year. Bridge and a fall of 2.6 per cent in ferry traffic between By 2009, the figure had risen to 9.3 million with Elsinore and Helsingborg. This trend continued in a total of 35.6 million travellers crossing Øresund 2009 when average daily traffic across Øresund fell by car, coach, train or ferry per annum. by 1.2 per cent. The Øresund Bridge experienced a small increase of 0.5 per cent on the year, while Following a modest fall in traffic in the early 1990s, the ferries saw a fall of 6 per cent. The weak growth traffic across Øresund rose by an average of 10 per of the past two years is a reflection of the global cent per year between 1995 and 1999. New routes, financial crisis and its economic impact in both more departures, lower prices and economic growth Denmark and Sweden. in Denmark and Sweden were, by and large, the drivers behind the growth in traffic. The opening The bridge has seen stronger growth than the ferries of the Øresund Bridge generated a further traffic over the period. This is owing to the fact that the increase of 43 per cent and overall traffic across traffic composition of the ferries differs from that for Øresund rose by an average of 10 per cent each the bridge. Whereas regional traffic, i.e. commuters, year between 2001 and 2007. commercial traffic and regional leisure traffic dominate on the bridge, holiday and shopping traffic account for most of the traffic on the ferries. Traffic across Øresund Number of vehicles (million) 10 8 6 4 The Øresund Bridge 2 Ferries Copenhagen-Malmö 0 Ferries Elsinore-Helsingborg 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 4 The Øresund region S k a g e r r a k Jönköping Göteborg Frederikshavn SWEDEN Aalborg K a t t e g a t Karlskrona JUTLAND Kristianstad Århus Elsinore Helsingborg DENMARK SCANIA Copenhagen G Malmö r e a t ZEALAND Kastrup Ystad B Sturup Ø e r l Esbjerg t e s u n Odense d FUNEN BORNHOLM MØ N B a l t i c S e a LOLLAND FA L STER Flensburg Rødby F e h m a r n b e l t Gedser FEHMAR N Puttgarden Kiel Rostock Travemünde POLAND GERMANY Hamburg 5 Traffic on the Øresund Bridge 194 million people crossed the Øresund Bridge Today, the picture is entirely different. Daily commuter by car or by train during the period 1 July 2000 – traffic between 06:00 and 09:00 is now the same as 1 July, 2010 – 118 million by car and 76 million one full day’s traffic on the link back in January 2001. by train. This corresponds to every Dane and every In 2009, an average of 19,500 vehicles crossed the Swede crossing the bridge 13 times in the first ten link per day, 141 per cent up on the first full year of years. A total of 51 million vehicles carried 118 operations in 2001. Between 2001 – 2007, annual million people between the period July 1, 2000 – traffic growth varied between 10 and 17 per cent, July 1, 2010. In total, an average of 72,000 people rising exponentially. crossed the bridge either by car or by train every day. By 2007, the bridge’s success was fully established The opening of the Øresund Bridge was awaited with when the original forecasts from the opening year high expectations in terms of car traffic – although were significantly exceeded. In 2008, however, the in the final analysis, expectations proved too high. impressive growth slowed during the second half From one hot summer month when many people year as the global financial crisis hit Denmark and crossed the bridge simply out of curiosity, traffic Sweden. declined throughout the autumn 2000 and bottomed out in January 2001 when an average of just 4,700 vehicles per day crossed the Øresund Bridge. Daily traffic across the Øresund Bridge Number of journeys per day (thousands) 75 60 45 30 15 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Car Train 6 The Øresund fixed link DENMARK Metro 1 The artificial peninsula 430 m SWEDEN Citytunnel 2 Tunnel 4,050 m Railway 3 Peberholm 4,055 m Østerport St. Lund Railway, the Øresund Link 4 Western approach bridge 3,014 m Copenhagen Motorway, the Øresund Link 5 High bridge 1,092 m 6 Eastern approach bridge 3,739 m Copenhagen Central Railway Station Ørestad Kastrup SALTHOLM ØRESUND 1 Copenhagen Tårnby Airport 2 Malmö Central Amager Railway Station 3 Triangeln der PEBERHOLM Bor 4 5 Toll Malmö 6 station Lernacken Hyllie Svågertorp daily traffic across the Øresund Bridge growth category 2001 2005 2007 2008 2009 2001 – 2009 Passenger cars 7,290 12,328 16,831 17,767 17,986 147% Motorcycles 67 82 106 96 93 39% Vans and caravans 204 300 465 441 449 120% Lorries 421 737 927 932 817 94% Coaches 103 155 153 131 117 13% Total traffic 8,085 13,602 18,482 19,367 19,462 141% number of individual journeys Cars 21,900 32,000 40,600 41,000 41,300 89% Trains 13,500 18,100 26,600 29,400 30,400 125% Total 35,400 50,100 67,200 70,400 71,700 103% 7 Passenger car traffic 95 per cent of all vehicles on the Øresund Bridge In 2001, holidaymakers accounted for 38 per cent are cars.