By: Ida Marie Piper
It is a beautiful, clear day in February. The sky is blue, interrupted only by white stripes from charter planes. The Nordgård School in Gellerup was closed in 2008, but the buildings are still here, looking rather lonely.
These days, the old school serves as a community centre for the inhabitants of Gellerup. Scattered around the school are small notes advertising sewing clubs, food clubs, and music nights. Today, 30 university students are gathered in one of the old classrooms to learn about Helhedsplanen (meaning something like "the total plan"), which outlines the future for Gellerup. Furthermore, the group have been promised a guided tour of the area. "We're going on a ghetto safari", a young man whispers perkily and smiles.
The dream became a ghetto
Trine Kyed Jansen and Christian Harbo Jeppesen from Aarhus Municipality's Gellerup secretariat have come to talk about the changes awaiting Gellerup. "We want to transform Gellerup from a marginalised zone to an attractive part of town", says Trine Kyed Jansen, gesturing optimistically with her arms. The blocks of flats in Gellerup were built in the late sixties. The idea was for Gellerup to be a quiet, peaceful village outside of town. Without roads, cars, and shops, far from the stress and hectic pace of the big town. Gellerup was to be a place where families could retire and live. Quite simply. Things went fast when the blocks were put together, and on a good day, two or more flats were completed.
Sadly, the demand for the flats was never very high, and today, few families make use of the green areas. Approximately 7200 people live in Gellerup, but there is room for many more. Approximately 60 flats are vacant, and every year, 20 per cent of the inhabitants move away from the area.
"People don't like living here", says Christian Harbo Jeppesen and continues: "It's all so big, but there's no centre to orient oneself towards. There are only tall blocks of flats and long pathways".
Trine Kyed Jansen agrees. ”We need to bring more life to Gellerup”.
"Trine Kyed Jansen and Christian Harbo Jeppesen put on their coats and take the students with them out among the blocks of flats to show where they wish to create life. The students plod along in groups, pointing at empty playgrounds and enormous blocks of flats which will, before long, become subject to the care of the state's cranes. Everything is very calm and quiet, making it hard to imagine that Gellerup will soon be turned into Denmark's largest construction yard."
First of all, they want cars in Gellerup. "Gellerup is very closed around itself", Christian explains. "And we want to change that by generating traffic through the area". Chritian Harbo Jeppesen points to a red building, explaining how it will virtually be perched on pillars. A street is to be established, which will run strait through the building. Quite literally. Just like in Canada, where large trees are carved through in order for the roads to run freely.
According to Christian Harbo Jeppesen and Trine Kyed Jansen, recent international research shows that housing areas that are physically self-enclosed, containing only homes, run a greater risk of becoming ghettoes. This is why roads are to be added, and it is why some of the blocks of flats are to be demolished, making room for shops and corporate activity. Christian Harbo Jeppesen point to a large block of flats scheduled for demolition. Three blocks in all will be done away with. It looks like the rest. A dull, eight-storey, yellow building. But even though the buildings in the area look alike, apparently very different types of people live there. One family have chosen pink curtains with frills, and another window is adorned with purple rococo curtains with large tassels. There are also white IKEA curtains, and one window is covered with plastic bags.
The curtains and the TV antennae bear witness to the plurality in Gellerup. All in all, around 80 different nationalities are represented here. The majority part of Gellerup's inhabitants come from non-Western countries, and approximately three out of four fall outside the job market.
Back in the classroom, Trine Kyed Jansen talks about the visions for Gellerup of the future. "The goal is not for ethnic Danes to come knocking at the door in five years, she says and continues: "But we hope to be able to slowly turn around the negative development and stop the drainage of socioeconomically advantaged inhabitants".
At Aarhus Municipality, hopes are for roads, shops, and corporate activity to create more life in Gellerup, thus making the part area of town more attractive. "It has been decided that 500 municipal workplaces will be moved to Gellerup", says Trine Kyed Jansen. "We are currently working on getting an advanced education institution to move out here. Having a lot of students here would create life and good energy". On their way out from the Nordgård School, a couple of students express their hopes that it not be their department. After all, it takes half and hour to cycle there against the wind. On the other hand, there is good and cheap food to be found in Bazar Vest, they note, walking off with their bicycles. It is time to eat, and the Bazaar is a welcome prospect.
