29-03-11, 06:47 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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Rules close in on Copenhagen freetown
Rules close in on Copenhagen freetown | World news | Guardian Weekly
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Quote:
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Fristaden Christiania is a commune on the site of an old barracks in the centre of Copenhagen, home to almost 1,000 people whose determination to defend their lifestyle has kept the Danish authorities at bay since the commune was founded in 1971.
It is Copenhagen's second most important tourist destination and one of Europe's most famous squats, with cannabis on sale. The freetown has rules about other things, though, and over the years imposed strict bans on arms, hard drugs and insignia on leather jackets (to combat criminal biker gangs).
The 22 hectares of land occupied by the settlement is full of micro-neighbourhoods, carefully restored shacks, old sheds and eco-houses designed by architects. An extraordinary accumulation of recycled bric-a-brac litters the sides of paths. Some residents acknowledge that it is a "human zoo", but maintain that it is good to show that other ways of life are possible.
Yet earlier this year Denmark's supreme court confirmed state ownership and control of the land, affirming that the same rules must apply there as elsewhere. Property developers have been trying to get their hands on the site for years.
When the rightwing government was elected in 2001 it made "normalisation" of Christiana a symbolic plank in its platform. In 2004 it managed to pass a special law, then in 2007 it was agreed that provision should be made for non-residents to get accommodation in the settlement. Many Christiana residents rejected this, but their options were limited. To stay on they would have had to purchase their dwelling, which for most would have been impossible.
Under pressure from the Conservative government, backed by the far-right, the alternative culture has crumbled. The battle in the courts is over and the occupants of the squat seem to have lost, but negotiations are now under way to find a peaceful way out. The Liberal finance minister is holding talks with residents about the future of the neighbourhood. If leftwing parties win the general election this autumn, they may yet be saved.
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