Fra lavmælt provinsby til kreativ storby? Kulturel dynamik i senmoderne byudviklingsprojekter i Odense

Late modern urban culture, urban development and cultural dynamics in relation to the creation of “Odense as a city of experience” are the topic of this anthological thesis. Odense is currently engaged in several big urban development projects which are supposed to strengthen the city’s position in the interurban competition for socio-economically advantaged citizens, investors and tourists. Under the headline “To play is to live”, the vision of the municipality is to create an attractive city for the creative class and change Odense “From a Big Danish City to a Danish Metropolis”. The thesis’ three articles analyze three specific urban development projects: Brandts Klædefabrik (Brandt’s Textile Mill), Odense Havn (Odense Harbour) and Thomas B. Thriges Gade (Thomas B. Thrige’s Street). The academic background of the thesis is Cultural Studies. Employing narrative cultural analysis the thesis researches the relationship between the physical, social and mental productions of the urban spaces, the relationship between the urban development project, urban space and identity and the power structures of the urban spaces. The empirical material of the analysis consists of the physical appearance of the urban spaces, articles, letters to the editor, homepages, advertisements, tourist brochures, television features and the visions for the urban development formulated by the municipality. These cultural representations as well as non-representations are narratives which can clarify the cognitive signification and cultural dynamics of the urban development projects.

The thesis holds two central discussions: The analyses on the one hand show that a significant discrepancy exists between the physical, social and mental level of the urban development. The discrepancy between the three levels may complicate the development of the city. This is the case when understandings of the urban spaces, life in the city, citizens’ life style groups and the physical transformation of the city do not take place in mutual understanding. On the other hand the analyses show that the urban development projects’ courtship to the creative class may counteract the intention. If the urban spaces become creatively and artistically designed to the degree that they lose their “edge”, their liminality – they thereby both lose their attraction to the boundary-pushing and authenticity-seeking creative class and also become socially and culturally excluding. The experience and knowledge city can become a scene for cultural fights, which does not lead to a dynamic and diverse metropolis but on the contrary to a city which has pronounced socially, economically and culturally dividing lines.

Brandts Klædefabrik is a closed-down textile mill, which in the 1980s was transformed into a new cultural centre in the city with a photo museum, a museum of modern art and a media museum, but also an amphitheatre, a theatre hall, a cinema, shops, restaurants and cafes. Brandts Klædefabrik represents a successful transformation from industrial culture to experience culture. But the analysis shows that the cultural dynamic in the popular “experiencescape” is complex. The experiences offered are on the one hand manifold and directed at different social- and lifestyle groups. But on the other hand the municipality and the business community try to exclude already marginalized groups through regulations and experiences targeted to a different audience. More cultural exchange between different cultural groups should take place in order for Brandts Klædefabrik to continue being a popular place for the desirable creative class and simultaneously a public domain.

Odense Harbour is a canal port, which was dug out from a canal from Odense Fiord in the beginning of the 1800s. Over the years the harbour has accommodated heavy industry such as grain, coal, cement and concrete. But since the 1980s many industrial companies have moved away and left vacant sites at the harbour. Since the beginning of the 2000s the municipality of Odense has tried to create a new attractive and creative city area at Odense Harbour. Exclusive housing buildings and business domiciles have been erected and old storehouses have been renovated and now accommodate new and creative businesses. Moreover the harbour has become the new centre for modern and experimental art in the city. The article researches the relationship between the mental image of “the stream city” and “the port city”. An important part of the imaginary picture of the city centre is connected to “the stream city” and H.C. Andersen. The experimental artists at the harbour dissociate themselves from the popular culture that the city centre and H.C. Andersen represent. The analysis shows that the municipality may have a difficult time in connecting “the port city” and “the stream city”, while also maintaining the creative and innovative profile of the harbour.

Thomas B. Thriges Gade is the result of an urban development project in the 1960s, which established a road through the medieval city centre from the harbour in the north to the city and residential areas in the south. Since its opening in 1970 the street has caused much debate. In 2008 the city council decided to close the central part of the street to car traffic and change it into a new urban area with housings, culture and educational institutions and businesses. According to the plan the street will be closed in 2014. The article researches the mental signification of the street and the cultural fights which have occurred in connection with the development of the new urban area. Critics of the street use metaphors such as “a wound” and “a public eyesore” in relation to the street. These metaphors take part in the maintenance of a negative image of the street and the city as “sick”. In connection with the proposed changes of the street a positive counter-position, advocating the functionality of the street, has emerged. Supporters of the street describe it among other things as a life-giving “umbilical cord”. The analysis shows that the change of the street to a great extent favours the needs of the inhabitants in the city centre, whereas the suburban citizens are sceptical regarding the change. If the city centre is to become a gathering place for all the citizens, the development project of Thomas B. Thriges Gade has to consider the multifarious cultural groups, which are a part of Odense.

The thesis does not only convey new knowledge about the cultural dynamic in late modern urban development projects in Odense. It also contributes to the development of Cultural Studies. The thesis shows how an analysis of urban spaces can take its point of departure in performative narrative cultural analysis and in this way bridge the gap between aesthetic and discursive cultural analysis. In other words the thesis shows how cultural science can “do” cultural studies based on the ongoing development of performative theory. The concept of urban culture also encompasses a performance, where a range of complex cultural dynamics, flows and relations take part in the creation of the cultural significations of the city. As a reflective cultural researcher the author is a part of these dynamics and raises new discussions
about the cultural meanings of the urban development projects.

Based on different urban and cultural theories the articles reflect on questions relating to late modern urban culture and urban development in Odense. The thesis shows that a cultural analytical understanding of the cultural dynamics of the city – the relationship between spatiality, identity, sociality and meaning – can help to create a more qualified basis for the development of Odense as a city of experience – “from subdued provincial town to creative metropolis”.