Ballerup

From World travel guide

Ballerup Kommune (Template:IPA2) is a municipality (Danish, kommune) in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. Approx. 15km. From central Copenhagen. The municipality covers an area of 34 km², and has a total population of 47,116 (2008). It is also the name of the municipality's principal town.

Its mayor is Ove E. Dalsgaard, a member of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) political party. His opponents accuse him of a "tax and spend policy", several prestige projects and an "art fetish", which supposedly have led to severe cuts in services, especially in areas such as education and senior care. His supporters, on the other hand, claim that the cuts in service are primarily due to the compulsory fund transfer between Danish municipalities. He celebrated 25 years as mayor in September 2006, cementing his reputation as the "Boss of Ballerup". Parallels to the career of indicted former mayor of Farum (later a part of Furesø municipality), Peter Brixtofte, have been drawn by his opponents. Despite this he was re-elected by a wide margin in the most recent elections.

Other than Ballerup, the towns that make up the municipality are Måløv and Skovlunde.

Neighboring municipalities are Herlev to the east, Furesø to the north, Egedal to the west, and Albertslund and Glostrup to the south.

The geography of Ballerup municipality was not affected on January 1, 2007 as the result of the nationwide Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007).