One thing that I have taken for granted many times this semester is the amount of travel and questioning of differently constructed spaces I have been exposed to in my core course of Urban Studies.
Sluseholmen, Denmark
We have focused on different aspects that go into creating a livable space including (but not limited to) transportation, community, environment, general aesthetics, location, and the underlying politics.
Field Study to the Municipality Office (“heart of Copenhagen Planning”)
As an anthropology major I have found myself very interested in the reasons people choose to live where they live. This course has made me think even more about the underlying and more abstract components to planning out a space and the things that do matter in people’s individual, everyday lives.
As a person who lives in a suburb in Minnesota and/or Massachusetts, I rely normally on an automobile as transportation. This course, and living in Denmark in general, has really made me think about the underlying infrastructure that needs to be in place in order to have a fully functioning public transportation system.
“8Tallet” Building by BIG in Amager (part of Ørestaden)
Copenhagen is truly catered towards such a system through designated bike lanes, regional and suburb trains, the metro system, and bus lines. From seeing how relied on and reliable each sub-sect of the system is has changed my perspective of what makes a city “great”. So while good food, interesting buildings/museums, street art and cute shops are nice, transportation can make or break a city in the grand scheme of life.
Urban Studies Last (General) Field Study in Sluseholmen, DK
So while I sometimes dread the crazy adventures and various coordination I have to do early in the morning to get to some of these less centrally located areas, I end up being thankful for the sessions and inspired by the new ideas and questions they present. They make me think about life from a different footing literally each time.
I am also very thankful when there is a local coffee shop nearby to wake up my brain cells and introduce me to delicious tasting coffee and cute atmospheres (talking about Riccos Kaffebar from this morning!).
*all group/class photos courtesy of my professor Silvia Dragomir