The development of Folkets Park is an urban development project in Nørrebro, which was carried out together with, among others, Spektrum Arkitekter, the construction company Logik og Co., and the local area's many and diverse stakeholders.

 

Background

The historic People's Park in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, was not only developed physically in the period 2013-2014. The transformation of the park also meant a mental change for the area's residents, with a focus on conflict resolution, ownership and job creation. The previously worn, dark and unsafe park was reborn as a people's park.

 

In early summer 2012, four young people were attacked in their car on Griffenfeldsgade by Folkets Park by a large group of young people from Inner Nørrebro. The victims, who were on their way to a concert in Forum, were pulled out of their car and beaten and stabbed because the perpetrators mistakenly believed the concertgoers were from the rival gang AK81.

 

The brutal attack made headlines across the country, and when the gang war was to be illustrated in the media, it was with pictures of Folkets Park. The park was, it was understood, out of reach of both the people and the authorities. It was against this background that Kenneth Balfelt Team and Spektrum Arkitekter were hired to lift Folkets Park physically and socially.

 

Development of the People's Park

Left-wing activists, young men, beer drinkers, homeless Africans and Roma, a hash seller, queers and families with children. Few places can offer such a diverse and outspoken user group as Folkets Park in Nørrebro. The question was how a citizen involvement process with so many and so different users could once again create joy, ownership and security around a park that was gradually only used by those who had nowhere else to go?

The first step was to talk to the park users. One by one or in small groups and with an interpreter if necessary. Get them to talk about what they are experts in, namely the local area and life in the park, the park's qualities and challenges.

 

The Kenneth Balfelt Team met a total of 175 citizens during the citizen involvement process. Projects gradually took shape in interaction with the areas' stakeholders.

 

The "new" Folkets Park opened in the fall of 2014 and has become an attractive and safe place for local residents, who today diligently play on the activity furniture or simply hang out on one of the new hills or wooden platforms.