Internship Edgar de Bruijn (Utrecht), Aarhus, September 2010

Edgar de Bruijn of City Development went on a seven day internship to Aarhus in September/August 2010. His research topic was citizen participation in Aarhus, Gellerup.

His internship left the following impression on him:

Gellerup is famous and notorious in Århus and the rest of Denmark. The area is special, because of the high percentage of residents with another cultural background than Danish. About 80 percent of the population has foreign roots. The area is also known because of social problems like poverty and unemployment. For many years, the area has attracted a lot of attention of politicians and professionals all over Denmark.  

During one week in September 2010, I was the guest of the “Gellerup Sekretariat” (the office of the project team). As a guest from abroad, I visited projects and met people who are involved with the district. They all gave me an insight view in the process which is going on in Gellerup.

This spring, an ambitious Master plan for the renewal of Gellerup was presented to the public (“Hellhedsplanen for Gellerup og Toveshøy”). How does the City of Århus stimulate the residents of Gellerup to take part in the renewal of their area?

Most of the chosen methods are also used in similar Dutch projects. There’s one big difference. The Gellerup Sekretariat has to operate in a very political force field. Many people in Denmark, even national politicians, are very interested in Gellerup. The area has a difficult reputation. Many people have an opinion about what must be done Gellerup. This opinion is often the opposite of how residents of Gellerup think about the problems of their neighbourhood.  In this difficult force field, it’s a challenge to keep sending a fear but positive message.

In some way, the public in the Netherlands is more used to urban renewal projects with big incentives like tearing down houses and building new dwellings for other groups. The challenge for the Gellerup Sekretariat is to gain the trust of the residents and the local politicians for the physical renewal of the area . And that kind of challenge looks very familiar for a Dutch project manager who works on urban renewal projects.

Edgar de Bruijn