Aalborg Locations MR2020

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Location descriptions | Aalborg – Market Report 2020

In brief Aalborg property market

Introduction Aalborg is the largest city and the main growth centre in northern Jutland. Despite its somewhat peripheral location, the city has the entire North Denmark Region (Region Nordjylland) as its catchment area. However, while it only takes about one hour by car to reach Aarhus to the south, the city is fairly hard to reach from all other important growth centres in Denmark by car or train. Both the Triangle Region, Odense, and Copenhagen are more than a two-hour drive away. This emphasises the importance of the regional airport (Aalborg Lufthavn) situated just outside Aalborg. As of 1 October 2019, the City of Aalborg (i.e. the municipality) had approx 217,100 inhab- itants, making it the third largest municipality in the country. According to the population forecast by Statistics Denmark, the City of Aalborg (i.e. the municipality) will see 4.4% population growth by Q1 2029. In the past, Aalborg was a traditional industrial city, among other things known for its distilleries, cement and tobacco industries as well as shipbuilding. Most of these indus- tries have relocated or have closed down altogether. This is a result of a long-term strategy transforming Aalborg from an industrial city to a modern knowledge-based university city. Aalborg University has three campuses and awards bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees. The university has over 20,000 students, approx 80% of which are at the Aalborg campus. In particular, this transformation process is evident around the harbour with the new modern Østre Havn, where new apartments, office buildings as well as renovated ware- houses have replaced heavy industry. Likewise, development of Eternitten, which used to be the home of a major fibre-cement plant, is almost completed with its extensive urban renewal scheme including residential, office and retail space. The remaining heavy industry has moved to the east of the city with commercial shipping being handled at Østhavnen. Generally speaking, regional GDP per capita in northern Jutland falls below the national average. This is due to the region’s slightly below-average level of education, again attrib- utable to Aalborg’s traditional status as an industrial city. Nevertheless, the city’s trans- formation and focus on education and the more office-intensive industries may well boost the economic performance of the region, with regional GDP per capita possibly catching up with the national average as a result.