City of the Anthropocene : A Case Study of Lynetteholm, Copenhagen.

Abstract: This paper is a study upon a global vision of a sustainable future, to local implementation of environmentally effective solutions, in contemporary urban planning projects. The purpose was to illuminate a gap between the global rationality of sustainability and local rationality of sustainability and to identify the effect it has on sustainable outcomes. To do so, I did qualitative research on the Lynetteholm development project and analyzed the data using document – and critical discourse analysis. My research was guided by the theory of ecological modernization, their perspectives upon sustainable solutions within the capitalist-liberal democratic society, and urban regime theory, which provided an insight into the concept of scale in environmental politics. Through an in-depth analysis of the presented motivation and prime drivers behind the Lynetteholm project proposal and the impact it has on sustainable outcomes, I have found that the local vision of sustainability is constructed by hegemonic narratives of prosperous urbanity, that is equalized with growth, progress, and profit. I have identified economic growth as the prime driver of developing Lynetteholm and concluded that it has a significant impact on sustainable outcomes, as economic growth is not compatible with sustainable development, without political interference. In addition, the gap between global and local rationality of sustainability in urban planning lies in the process of redelegating the responsibility to implement sustainable practices and secure an environmentally beneficial outcome. The issue is that despite much expertise and knowledge of the field, planners and politicians continue to address socio-ecologic impacts isolated and reject the cumulative effects, which inevitably retains the sustainable transformation from taking place.