This NordForsk-funded network and workshop series critically examines urban ‘liveability’ and ‘liveable cities’ as these are constituted and contested in Nordic contexts.
By bringing together researchers, artists and other practitioners in the region, it provides novel exploratory perspectives on issues currently central to Nordic urban life, development and planning.
More about the project
‘Liveability’ and ‘liveable cities’ have become key terms within Nordic urbanism. They are central to discourses and practices of urban development and governance within the region. They are also strong components of the international profile and circulation of Nordic urban planning, design, and architecture. Nordic cities further feature prominently in global indexes of ‘most liveable cities’ and ‘quality of life’ surveys, with Copenhagen invariably ranked high and Stockholm, Helsinki and Oslo not far behind. Urbanists and planners in the region make frequent reference to making not only liveable cities but also liveable neighbourhoods and streets, asserting the importance of well designed and secure mobility infrastructures, public spaces, health and education services, environmental conditions, and more. At the same time, for all its prominence in urban processes and governance today, and for all its influence on how urbanism and urban life are being framed, liveability and its associated ideologies remain underexamined. While its Nordic forms may be associated with a range of ‘life qualities’ and ‘human scale’ urban development, and with an emphasis on people and public life, their underlying assumptions, material interests and (alternative) possibilities require further interrogation.
This workshop series examines aspects of urban liveability and liveable cities as these are constituted and contested in Nordic contexts and primarily in Denmark, Sweden and Norway where the three workshops are held. Rather than assuming what these terms designate, and therefore concentrating on their measure or modes of delivery, the aim is to question and challenge their production and operation. This involves exploring distinctive and varied discursive forms and trajectories that urban liveability has taken in the Nordic region. It entails examining modes of knowledge production and circulation, and also experimenting with different ways of sensing urban liveability. In particular, by bringing together academic researchers, artists and other practitioners from Nordic countries, and co-developing new perspectives and creative proposals, it aims to challenge singular and taken-for-granted definitions of liveable cities, and to explore alternative means and models for their articulation and production.
The workshop series is initiated by David Pinder (Roskilde University) and is jointly organised with Guy Baeten (Malmö University), Anniken Førde (UiT The Arctic University of Norway), and Lasse Koefoed (Roskilde University).
