Deane Alan Simpson

An international research network I co-lead with Nina Stener Jørgensen examines the role of the ‘blended city’ as a spatial imaginary in urban theory, policy, planning and design, and the diverse ways in which it is interpreted, mobilised and contested in practice. The ‘blended city’ has become an influential concept in architecture and urban planning, used by politicians, planners and architects to justify interventions aimed at creating more socially mixed public spaces, neighbourhoods and cities. As a ‘spatial imaginary’, it articulates a shared notion of a preferable city and identifies urban challenges to be addressed in achieving it. Like imaginaries such as the ‘smart city’ or the ‘liveable city’, it can align different actors around common goals. Its meaning, however, remains vague and contested. In Denmark, the ‘blended city’ has been framed in different ways: as a response to disadvantaged housing areas; as a justification for large-scale demolition, redevelopment and resident displacement; and as a rallying cry for affordable housing, inclusive neighbourhoods and diverse public spaces.

The research network has examined the ‘blended city’ as a spatial imaginary in Denmark and internationally, comparing theory, policy, public discourse, measurement frameworks and spatial outcomes to critically explore its implications for planning theory, policy and practice. It investigates the gap between the concept’s ambiguity and its material consequences for urban spaces and residents. Danish policies such as Parallelsamfundslovgivning and Tættere på II – Byer med plads til alle involve investments of tens of billions of kroner and affect the spaces and lives of tens of thousands of citizens.

Network participants: Professor Sako Musterd (University of Amsterdam), Professor Simin Davoudi (Newcastle University), Professor Laura Kurgan (Columbia University), Professor Helena Mattsson (KTH Stockholm), Senior Researcher Sonia Alves (University of Lisbon), Lecturer Amani Hassani (Brunel University), Aysha Amin (Andromeda 8220), Professor Tom Nielsen (Aarhus School of Architecture), Professor Anna Piil Damm (Aarhus University), Associate Professor Troels Schultz Larsen (Roskilde University), Senior Researcher Marie Stender and Postdoc Elise Stenholt Lange (Aalborg University BUILD), Assistant Professor Nina Stener Jørgensen and Professor Deane Simpson (Royal Danish Academy).

Project funding: Explorative Research Network in the Humanities Grant from Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF). The network is led by the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation, and Aalborg University BUILD.

Future Food Spaces explores one of Denmark’s most pressing challenges: the reorganisation of rural, periurban and urban land use in the green transition. With over 60% of the country’s surface area dedicated to agriculture, Denmark is both an emblem of industrial food production and a key site of conflict between urbanisation, climate goals, biodiversity, energy and food security. Transforming the agrifood system is not merely a technical debate but a site of territorial and political conflict – a ‘battle for square metres’ in which farmland competes with nature restoration, rewetting, forestry, renewable energy, recreation and urban expansion.

While Denmark’s Green Tripartite agreement marks progress, experts warn that it falls short of addressing the scale and urgency of the environmental crises associated with the agrifood sector. Dominated by sectoral expertise and quantitative targets, current debates give limited attention to the spatial and qualitative implications of alternative agrifood futures. Yet it is precisely on the ground that political choices collide and become visible. Through built-environment perspectives and spatial scenarios, Future Food Spaces explores how different policy pathways – from land-sparing to land-sharing, mitigation to adaptation – could reshape Danish landscapes. Spatial planning is understood here as a political arena where environmental, economic and cultural agendas are negotiated.

Published by Birkhäuser, Future Food Spaces brings together Danish and international researchers, practitioners and policymakers through peer-reviewed articles, interviews, photo-essays and curated projects. Organised around three themes – Spatial Typologies, Land-Use and Spatial Imaginaries – the book examines emerging agricultural and landscape forms, competing demands on scarce land, and qualitative and aesthetic approaches to envisioning alternative agrifood futures in urban, periurban and rural landscapes. The contributions investigate how land might be distributed, who determines its use, and how multifunctional spatial approaches such as agroforestry, agrivoltaics and regenerative farming might reconcile food production, biodiversity and climate goals.

Forthcoming publication: Deane Simpson, Aleksander Nowak, Tina-Henriette Kristiansen and Michael Asgaard Andersen (eds.), Future Food Spaces, Birkhäuser, 2027 (640 pages).

Project funding: ARKAIA, Danish Arts Foundation, Dreyers Foundation and the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation.

Cities for Free is a documentary film project critically examining the origins, mechanisms and consequences of the internationally referenced ‘Copenhagen urban development model’. Focusing on By & Havn, the City of Copenhagen and the state, the two-part series investigates how land value capture and large-scale urban development have financed Copenhagen’s transformation since the 1990s. Taking the controversial Lynetteholmen megaproject as a central case, it explores tensions between urban growth, financial interests, climate adaptation, environmental sustainability, affordable housing and democratic accountability. Through interviews with researchers, policymakers, planners and decision-makers representing different perspectives, Cities for Free questions the political, spatial and environmental implications of financing urban development through rising land values. The series seeks to inform public debate in Copenhagen while contributing to international discussions of urban governance, land value capture and alternative approaches to urban development.

Part 1 examines the emergence and implications of Copenhagen’s land value capture model, while Part 2, planned for release in 2026, explores its democratic and environmental implications through the case of Lynetteholmen.

Film: Archie Cantwell (director), with Deane Simpson and Jeppe Nielsson, Cities for Free Part 1, 2022 (20 min 15 sec). Premiered at CAFX 2022

Project funding: Danish Arts Foundation, Dreyers Foundation and the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation.

The City Between Freedom and Security explores the contested relationship between the growing state and corporate drive to securitise urban space and the principle of the city as an open arena for civil society, participatory democracy and the freedoms of speech and assembly. Taking the controversial redevelopment of Oslo’s Government Quarter following the 2011 terrorist attacks as its point of departure, the publication examines how security concerns shape architectural and urban decisions, and how these interventions may challenge the accessibility, openness and democratic character of public space. Bringing together diverse and sometimes opposing international perspectives, the book provides a discursive platform for critically examining the tensions, negotiations, and possible reconciliations between security and freedom in the contemporary city. It positions architecture and urban planning as central disciplines in negotiating these competing demands, questioning how cities can accommodate legitimate security needs while safeguarding public space as a foundation for democratic life.

Publication: Deane Simpson, Vibeke Jensen and Anders Rubing (eds.), The City Between Freedom and Security: Contested Public Spaces in the 21st Century, Birkhäuser, 2017 (336 pages). Winner of 2017 Swedish Book Art Award, Winner of 2017 DAM Architectural Book Award

Project funding: PST, NSM, COWI and BAS.