KØBENHAVN

Abstract

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and
 the Kingdom’s only metropolis. The city
 embraces institutions of royalty, state and
 national culture as well as all the ‘people’
 of Denmark. Whereas national institutions
 are by and large located within the walls
 of the fortress city, the ‘people’ are generally
 located in neighborhoods constructed
 during rapid industrialization. The article
 explores the idea of Copenhagen as a folkelig
 city, a city that accrues both legitimacy
 and authenticity by invoking the
 ‘people’ in all their social, regional and
 ethnic diversity in certain areas of the city.
 Although a down-to-earth, non-elite, folkelig
 community is commonly thought to
 derive from the daily lives of ‘common
 people’ in lower class neighborhoods, the
 article illustrates how the idea of folkelig
 community is intentionally evoked in
 efforts to revitalize such very neighborhoods
 deemed lacking a proper sense of
 community. The article discusses how two
 voluntary organizations run by middle
 class reformers invoke different aesthetics
 of diversity and authentic commonality in
 attempts to infuse a working class neighborhood
 undergoing urban renewal with
 a new sense of folkelig community. With
 each their own facility for voluntary sport
 and culture, both aspire to create venues
 promoting a common sociality that cross
 cuts social difference. While the locally
 based organization invokes a plural community
 of locals, the nationally based
 organization invokes a plural community
 of citizens. The article concludes that the
 aesthetic of common diversity and the performance
 of folkelig community are vital
 to the ideal of the good city upheld by
 Copenhagen’s mentors, organizers and
 authorities.