Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen is the capital and most populated city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,246,611 and a metropolitan population of 1,969,941 (as of 1 January 2014). It is situated on the eastern coast of Zealand, 42 km northwest of Malmö, Sweden and 164 km northeast of Odense. The city stretches across parts of the island of Amager and also contains the enclave of Frederiksberg, a municipality in its own right. Originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. During the 17th century, under the reign of Christian IV, it developed into an important regional centre, consolidating its position as capital of Denmark and Norway with its institutions, defences and armed forces. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century, the city underwent a period of redevelopment which included the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and cultural institutions such as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. After further disasters in the early 19th century when Nelson attacked the Danish fleet and bombarded the city, rebuilding during the Danish Golden Age brought a Neoclassical look to Copenhagen's architecture. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the creation of housing and businesses along the five urban railway routes stretching out from the city centre. Since the turn of the millennium, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark and one of the major financial centres of Northern Europe with the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. In 2012, Copenhagen was third in the ranking of the richest cities in the world in terms of gross earnings, dropping from first place in 2009. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, the metropolitan area of Copenhagen has become increasingly integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö, known as the Øresund Region. With a number of bridges connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterised by parks, promenades and waterfronts. Copenhagen's landmarks such as Tivoli Gardens, the Little Mermaid Statue, the Amalienborg and Christiansborg palaces, Rosenborg Castle, Frederik's Church, and many museums, restaurants and nightclubs are significant tourist attractions. In addition to recent developments in the city service sector and the pharmaceutical industry, there have been a number of initiatives in clean technology, matching the city's aim to be carbon-neutral by 2025.
The Øresund Bridge is a double-track railway and dual carriageway bridge-tunnel across the Øresund strait between Scania (southernmost Sweden) and Denmark. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometres from the Swedish coast to the artificial island of Peberholm, which lies in the middle of the strait. The remainder of the link is by a 4 km tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager. The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe, and connects two major metropolitan areas: Copenhagen, the Danish capital city, and the major Swedish city of Malmö. It connects the road and rail networks of Scandinavia with those of Central and Western Europe. A data cable also uses the bridge to carry all Internet data transmission for Finland. The international European route E20 crosses via the road, the Øresund Line via the railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link, connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula, and the Øresund Bridge have connected Central and Western Europe to Scandinavia by road and rail. The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish engineering firm COWI. The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen International Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait. The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union, there are usually no passport inspections. There are random customs checks at the entrance toll booths entering Sweden, but not when entering Denmark. The Øresund Bridge received the 2002 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award. In the foreground of this photo is Copenhagen Airport on the island Amager, to the left of the bridge is the Danish island of Saltholm, and in the background, the bridge connects to Malmö. At 7,845 m, the bridge covers half the distance between Sweden and the Danish island of Amager, the border between the two countries being 5.3 km from the Swedish end. The structure has a mass of 82,000 tonnes and supports two railway tracks beneath four road lanes in a horizontal girder extending along the entire length of the bridge. On both approaches to the three cable-stayed bridge sections, the girder is supported every 140 m by concrete piers. The two pairs of free-standing cable-supporting towers are 204 m (669 ft) high allowing shipping 57 m of head room under the main span, but most ships' captains prefer to pass through the unobstructed Drogden Strait above the Drogden Tunnel. The 491 m (1,611 ft) cable-stayed main span is possibly the longest of this type in the world. A girder and cable-stayed design was chosen to provide the specific rigidity necessary to carry heavy rail traffic, and also to resist large accumulations of ice. The bridge may experience short-term closures during rare massive storms as a safety precaution against hurricane-force winds or ice falling off the cables; it closed for several hours, for example, during the St Jude storm in October 2013. Due to high longitudinal and transverse loads acting over the bridge and to accommodate movements between the superstructure and substructure, it has bearings weighing up to 20t each, capable of bearing vertical loads up to 96,000 kN in a longitudinal direction and up to 40,000 kN in transverse direction. 
These images acquired over Copenhagen (Denmark) in a time window of 25 years by the Landsat 5 and 8 satellites, aim to show the Øresund Bridge and the urban changes of the city during this time. The city can be seen in the centre of the image. Using this type of comparison it is possible to see all the changes around the two sides of the city. Another aim of these images is to promote the opportunity to download Landsat data through the ESA portals, where images captured every day are made available in near real time to the users and the scientific community. Landsat full resolution data products are freely available for immediate download at:  View Landsat 5 TM high resolution image (JPG 1.3 MB) View Landsat 8 OLI high resolution image (JPG 1 MB)
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