Comment: Copenhagen鈥檚 collective living experiment can work Published on: 3 July 2018 Writing for The Conversation, Dr Helen Jarvis discusses how communities such as Christiania pursue 鈥渄egrowth鈥� by prioritising human relations over market relations. Community post office, Freetown Christiania. Helen Jarvis. , Author provided , Since the first squatters arrived in 1971, the self-proclaimed Freetown of Christiania has inspired radical thinking and social experimentation. 鈥渓oser鈥檚 paradise鈥�, the squat became a haven for young people unable to access affordable housing in Copenhagen, and activist pioneers from all over the world. In July 2012, Christiania struck a deal with the Danish state to 鈥渘ormalise鈥� its status. The change was fraught: after 40 years of illegal occupation, a community of activists fiercely opposed to the idea of private property had to establish a foundation and purchase the entire site, with the exception of some features, which were heritage listed. The deal enabled Christiania to buy itself free of speculation, as a common resource . Today, Christiania receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, making it the in Copenhagen after Tivoli Gardens and the statue of The Little Mermaid. Growth and the good life It鈥檚 considered normal for cities and states to measure success in terms of economic growth. But point to the treadmill of addictive consumption, property speculation, long working hours, debt, waste, one-upmanship, fast food and short-lifespan technologies that unending growth sets in motion. Opposing this trend, communities such as Christiania pursue 鈥溾�� by prioritising human relations over market relations; maximising sharing, togetherness, social justice and the health of the planet. The pressures to conform with mainstream society can be divisive for the 800 or so residents managing their lives communally in Christiania. Big decisions are made through a decentralised democratic structure: 14 area meetings and a 鈥渃ommon meeting鈥� must reach consensus between artists, activists and cannabis dealers on Pusher Street. A self-built home. , In 2012, a minority of residents wanted to be allowed to buy and sell homes that they had built or renovated . The final deal with the Danish state prevented this. Residents have the right to , but not to buy or sell their homes or businesses. The whimsical variety of domestic architecture that has evolved makes Christiania visibly distinct from surrounding up-market neighbourhoods. The residents鈥� resistance I know from my brief time living in Christiania as in 2010 that degrowth values were practised there long before this term became associated with of alternative, ethical and ecological actions. Stage made from compressed cardboard for 鈥楧ancing at the Trasher鈥�, 2010. Helen Jarvis. From the outset, it was the to renovate and adapt rather than to tear down existing buildings, and to build with reclaimed materials at minimum costs. This also made it possible to get by on a low income, with reduced hours in paid employment, giving residents a way to resist the earn-to-spend treadmill. Christiania is known as a place where nothing goes to waste. Numerous craft skills and social enterprises thrive on a culture of making do and mending. Elsewhere in Copenhagen similar local livelihoods fail to flourish under profit maximising conditions. The community has for comprehensive garbage collection and recycling. The collectively run Green Hall trades in salvaged and repurposed building materials. Six years on This summer, Christiania hosts a , to show that it is ethical and green to resist the . The festival coincides with an exhibition of archives on the history of the place, which forms part of the sixth taking place just across the 脰resund Bridge in Malm枚, Sweden. Social investment with the Christiania people鈥檚 share. Helen Jarvis. One example of grassroots degrowth since 2012 is the 12.8m Danish Kroner (拢1.5m) raised from : the 鈥淧eople鈥檚 Christiania Share鈥�. The scale of this crowdfunding (shares are symbolic and have no financial value) outstrips previous experiments with . These include payment of a Christiania wage for community jobs 鈥� for example, working in the bakery, gardens, laundry, waste collection or machine hall 鈥� which functions much like the degrowth policy of , where everyone is paid a minimum stipend. By comparison, the cannabis market on Pusher Street to be 635m Danish Kroner (拢74m) annually. While social models of investment benefit Christiania, profits from the hash market drive growth and speculation elsewhere. Recognising this conflict, residents chose in May this year to temporarily. Younger residents are driving this shift from individual freedom (to profit from criminal activity) to mutual responsibility (for future generations and the planet). This coincides with broad based support for the recent crackdown on intimidating cannabis markets in Christiania. The festival of degrowth will introduce visitors to a 鈥溾��. My Christiania is an inspirational space to think differently about conventional standards of living, precisely because of the absence of private property. A collective shift in mindset can be achieved here, which would not be possible in neighbourhoods of conventional single family homes. Making the magic Yet puzzles remain, when it comes to practising sustainable degrowth at scale. One reason why Christiania鈥檚 car-free landscape is so 鈥渕agical鈥� is that residents live at remarkably low density: at first glance, they seem to live in a public park. Low-density living. While this site might otherwise be expected to accommodate several thousand people in high density social housing, the legal safeguards of the 2012 deal endow Christiania exceptional experimental status. This allows residents to take risks with living creatively on a low income, enjoying close friendships in place of material consumption. There are lessons here for places where degrowth is dismissed as impossibly Utopian, limited to fringe green debates and reduced goals of 鈥溾��. In the UK, state sponsored private property and ownership impose smaller private homes, rather than collective ownership of private and shared spaces. But from Christiania, we learn that smaller private spaces only benefit sustainable degrowth when combined with collective ownership and generous community space for shared use: people come together to share skills and collectively manage scarce resources to reduce consumption. The hope is that as young green activists gather in Christiania this summer, thousands of visitors will look favourably upon collective living as the new normal. , Reader in Social Geography, This article was originally published on . Read the . Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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