Many cities and nations alike do make great achievements and unfortunately like the case of Denmark, it did not come easily for the Danes, due to many wars from different countries around the world, it made it difficult to create major changes which may have helped and when they became bankrupt centuries ago, it took even longer to re-build.
The only thing that Denmark can be proud of is they kept on going and have today managed to maintain a liveable environment and are able to provide for the Danes that live within its walls. They have become major traders and built their economy by importing and exporting of goods.