Urban justice. Politics of space in a floating community in Copenhagen

Abstract

In this contribution I discuss the role of space in the processes of conflict management by groups of citizens affected by redevelopment processes in suburban areas of cities. The case presented deals with the community of Fredens Havn, a small squat located in a canal in the center of the city of Copenhagen.  Through a particular way of conceiving urban space and the relationship between domesticity and nature, the inhabitants of Fredens Havn claim their right to citizenship by opposing the policies of land control, which aim at the implementation of redevelopment projects designed to exclude people in marginal conditions from urban areas, depriving them of the right to inhabit the spaces of the city.  The purpose of this contribution is to understand the way in which the inhabitants of Fredens Havn, through the use of spatial and environmental resources, assert their political and identity position and demand recognition of their rights within the urban context of the city.