The Burden of the Rainbow: Exploring an Alternative Vision of Sustainable Urban Community

Abstract: As of 2008 more than half the world’s population was living in urban areas and that trend is expected to continue. Satisfying and sustainable design is now a top priority for urban and community planners. While much of the current discourse and research is centered on large-scale sustainable technological development projects such as low carbon impact housing and transportation, many studies and projects place their emphasis on the importance of smaller-scale self-regulating and participatory communities and the acquisition and development of different forms of community capital, i.e. human, social, cultural, natural, structural and economic. Some concentrate on design function and usability. Others focus on and call for the slowing down of our current pace of production and consumption as a pathway towards satisfying and sustainable urban life. This work takes a trans-disciplinary approach in exploring the alternative community of Christiania in Copenhagen, Denmark, and situating it within the current sustainable urban community development discourse. This city within a city populated by close to one thousand “activists, artists, academics, criminals and all around black sheep,” while not without its share of difficulties and challenges, offers a fascinating glimpse of how alternative visions of satisfying and sustainable community and society can be successfully incorporated into a modern urban context.