Deconstructing the (E)state - An interpretive content analysis of the Danish government’s 2018 ‘ghetto-initiative’

Abstract: This thesis seeks to study the connection between space, architecture, city planning, policy and human rights. The case studied is the so-called Danish ‘ghetto-initiative’, focusing on the government’s 2018-plan “A Denmark Without Parallel Societies – No Ghettos By 2030”. The strategy entails initiatives legalizing sales, demolishing and renovation of residential areas that fulfils criteria based on resident’s ethnicity and social status, classifying them as ‘severe ghettos’. Through the application of philosopher Henri Lefebvre’s theory on production of space, this thesis seeks to understand the Danish government initiative and the role the building environment plays, through a human rights perspective. The method used is an interpretive content analysis, applied to the government plan and the renovation plan for the housing area of Mjølnerparken, Copenhagen. The results of the study are discussed in relation to human rights indivisibility, state obligations, integration, and how arguments of space can be used to target minority groups and reinforce polarization.