Constructing Copenhagen in a Time of Economic Downturn: Reevaluating 1990s Postmodernist Urban Development before the City Became “Livable”

Abstract

In this article, I argue that despite its limited appearances, stylistic and planning oddities, poor building quality, and current pariah status in terms of building heritage, Copenhagen’s postmodern architecture is an intrinsic part of the Danish welfare architecture urban development. I wish to show that Copenhagen’s postmodernist development has been criticized largely for the wrong reasons, and that the period can offer alternative visions that do not inevitably yoke livability and urban quality of life to economic growth and consumerism. Moreover, I argue that this reinterpretation gives us a more differentiated understanding of the architecture that emerged at the turning point when Copenhagen went from being deprived and anonymous to become the prosperous yet livable urban center we know today, thanks to infrastructural investments following the 1989 government report Hovedstaden, hvad vil vi med den? (“the capital, where should it go?”).