Abstract
Danish suburbs are facing major challenges trying to coping with demographic changes, with structural changes in retail businesses and especially with sustainability-related challenges that have to do with cutting back on energy consumption for heating and transportation.
Also climate changes and counteracting the segregation of the suburbs into sharply socially-separated residential areas are major challenges.
Therefore, in these years the post-war era’s suburban areas are being revitalized and the suburb urban life and urban qualities are concepts, which are often brought up in this context.
In this paper I will explore the concepts “suburb” and “urban life”.
More than half of the Danish population live in suburban areas, and the majority of suburbs were built in a short and hectic period in the years from 1960 to 1975 and in conformity with the functionalist ideals that gave rise to a number of mono-functional enclaves that were sharply differentiated from one another. Commercial, residential, institutional and recreational areas were placed outside the traditional city centre, and these enclaves were separated by an infrastructure skeleton. This structure created the appropriate spacing - a principle which at that time was the planners' best answer to the city's challenges: disease, pollution and overpopulation.
Thus the suburbs were not planned to have a vibrant city life with traditional urban qualities.
The suburb had a strong dependency to the city centre in their origin, where the cultural and urban life took place in squares, shops, cafes, etc.
However, changed conditions as new forms of everyday life, the current climate and
sustainability agenda, increasing social segregation, etc. give us a need to see the suburb in a new perspective.
This industrial PhD project examines which forms of ‘urban life’ are suitable for the suburbs and discusses which urban life activities are resilient in the suburbs.
What do the residents of respectively single-family housing areas and social housing areas want? Does the idea of vibrant urban qualities in suburban areas, that today's planners and architects articulate, have roots in residents' dreams of the future suburb? How do we support urban life between the enclaves of the suburb, and can this urban life provide a framework for community?
It is important to establish knowledge of the conditions in suburban areas. This is where more than half of the Danish population lives. And as architects’ and planners’ projects in recent years have proposed to establish more 'city life' in the suburbs, there is reason to question whether it meets a real desire among suburban residents.
Also climate changes and counteracting the segregation of the suburbs into sharply socially-separated residential areas are major challenges.
Therefore, in these years the post-war era’s suburban areas are being revitalized and the suburb urban life and urban qualities are concepts, which are often brought up in this context.
In this paper I will explore the concepts “suburb” and “urban life”.
More than half of the Danish population live in suburban areas, and the majority of suburbs were built in a short and hectic period in the years from 1960 to 1975 and in conformity with the functionalist ideals that gave rise to a number of mono-functional enclaves that were sharply differentiated from one another. Commercial, residential, institutional and recreational areas were placed outside the traditional city centre, and these enclaves were separated by an infrastructure skeleton. This structure created the appropriate spacing - a principle which at that time was the planners' best answer to the city's challenges: disease, pollution and overpopulation.
Thus the suburbs were not planned to have a vibrant city life with traditional urban qualities.
The suburb had a strong dependency to the city centre in their origin, where the cultural and urban life took place in squares, shops, cafes, etc.
However, changed conditions as new forms of everyday life, the current climate and
sustainability agenda, increasing social segregation, etc. give us a need to see the suburb in a new perspective.
This industrial PhD project examines which forms of ‘urban life’ are suitable for the suburbs and discusses which urban life activities are resilient in the suburbs.
What do the residents of respectively single-family housing areas and social housing areas want? Does the idea of vibrant urban qualities in suburban areas, that today's planners and architects articulate, have roots in residents' dreams of the future suburb? How do we support urban life between the enclaves of the suburb, and can this urban life provide a framework for community?
It is important to establish knowledge of the conditions in suburban areas. This is where more than half of the Danish population lives. And as architects’ and planners’ projects in recent years have proposed to establish more 'city life' in the suburbs, there is reason to question whether it meets a real desire among suburban residents.
| Translated title of the contribution | Forstadbyliv: Rum for det gode 'byliv' i forstaden - mellem ideal og hverdagsliv |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Publication date | 10 Oct 2014 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Oct 2014 |
| Event | Nordic Urban and Housing Research Conference (NSBB) 2014: Urban renewal – diversified responses to the development of housing and public space in cities - Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn, Estonia Duration: 8 Oct 2014 → 10 Oct 2014 |
Conference
| Conference | Nordic Urban and Housing Research Conference (NSBB) 2014 |
|---|---|
| Location | Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration |
| Country/Territory | Estonia |
| City | Tallinn |
| Period | 08/10/2014 → 10/10/2014 |
Keywords
- Everyday Life
- Suburban development
- Suburban neighbourhoods
- Architectural anthropology
- Urban life