Gellerup is front runner in the ghetto debate

The public debate about how we handle the development of the country's ghettos is up and running in the wake of the government's adoption of the ghettoplan. Both Jyllandsposten and Arkitekten are currently running articles concerning the development of Gellerupparken in Aarhus. WE Architects have, in cooperation with JaJa Arkitekter, developed the masterplan for the future Gellerup.

Read the article in Jyllandsposten here

In our development of the masterplan, we turned the starting point upside down - instead of beginning with the physical structures, we took a starting point in the social structures. What creates a ghetto is far from the physical frames - it concerns the social relations, the social rules and all the structures you cannot see. Therefore, this is where we must take our starting point if our plans for the development of these areas is going to contribute to a positive change.

The masterplan focuses on which communities the area needs to support and how the physical environment can affect residents to create new synergies across ethnicity and whether they are "old" or "new" residents. In order to achieve new growth of the communities, it is key that the new buildings are not placed in isolated clusters, but that they are merged into the existing structure and assist in breaking down the current large-scale blocks. The district must be densified through a punctual effort, the large monotonous blocks must be transformed and at the same time, the identity of the neighborhoods must be strengthened through markers that create distinctive character. All of these actions can be decisive factors when it comes to breaking down existing boundaries and promoting positive development.