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Normalising autonomous spaces: Ongoing transformations in Christiania, Copenhagen

Author

Listed:
  • Alessandro Coppola

    (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)

  • Alberto Vanolo

    (Università di Torino, Italy)

Abstract

Christiania is an autonomous Free Town, born as a squat in 1971, located in the centre of Copenhagen. After 40 years of struggles and negotiations with the Danish institutions in order to survive and to maintain its autonomy, Christiania reached an agreement with the state in 2011. If on the one hand the agreement apparently guarantees the survival of Christiania, on the other hand it regulates various domains that used to be self-regulated by the community, and therefore limits Christiania’s autonomy. The aim of the article is to discuss the potential effects of the agreement – and more specifically of the new government technology placed in operation through the agreement – on some of these domains. Assuming that autonomy is always fractured, partial and ongoing, the thesis proposed in the article is that, in this new context, Christiania has come to represent a peculiar case of hybridisation of forces of autonomy and of forces of neoliberalisation, and that the tensions between these two forces could potentially lead to different outcomes that challenge traditional understanding of both autonomy and neoliberalism in urban contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Coppola & Alberto Vanolo, 2015. "Normalising autonomous spaces: Ongoing transformations in Christiania, Copenhagen," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(6), pages 1152-1168, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:52:y:2015:i:6:p:1152-1168
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098014532852
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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