Public Space Design and Social Cohesion

Abstract

This chapter examines current trends in urban public space design and social cohesion practices in Denmark. It departs from a hypothesis that a special kind of ‘model’ of public space has been developing since the turn of the century, building on ideals that can be related both to the universalist welfare state ideology and the idea of democratic urban public space. In Denmark the political ideology of the welfare state has established a long tradition of understanding social cohesion as dependent on social and economic equity. However, Denmark is witnessing an unprecedented rise of cultural diversity, challenging its established idea of social cohesion and raising important questions for urban design practice. Is public space an important tool for achieving social cohesion in this context? And does urban design have an important role to play? This chapter aims to answer these questions. It provides a framework through which to understand Danish public space design. The goal is to establish a general understanding of how this urban design practice relates to the overall theme of social cohesion. The idea of a contemporary model of public space should be understood here both as a consensual understanding of important principles and as specific physical qualities of urban public space. This is illustrated through a case study of five urban public spaces realised after 2000, based on empirical, theoretical and historical material. It combines empirical fieldwork observations with a historical and theoretical literature review, with a view to establishing a conceptual framework through which to understand the development of a particular type of democratic urban public space in Denmark amidst a rising context of diversity. This chapter concludes with a new theorisation of ‘democratic public space’ and new lessons for contemporary urban design practice, and calls for the recognition of a Danish public space design model within international academia.

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