Urban Participation - Urban Non-participation

The project looks into various forms of urban participation - from art in public spaces to activist and collaborative urban culture. The focus is also on non-participation, when citizens chose not to take part, or individuals transgress the framework for participation. The project raises the question what is participation in urban culture today? Is urban culture merely contributing to the city with its maelstroms of affect, or can urban culture be understood as a critical stance against affective urbanisation with its gentrification, commerce and accellerated production? And finally, what are the alternatives to urban culture? In literature, Walden chose to live in the woods while Bartleby "preferred not to". How can we today escape the life in the city, and what is the role of the citizen when urban institutions and urban planning increasingly ask citizens to take part? The project "Urban Participation - Urban Non-participation" is part of the FKK funded network, TAKE PART chaired by Birgit Erikson, AU.