Book Launch and panel debate: The City between Freedom and Security

What temporary and permanent restrictions on free space, buildings and events are we prepared to accept in exchange for the feeling of security? How secure will our democracy then be? Where is the line dividing security and surveillance?Join us for an afternoon of book launch, debate and wine. The event will be in English.

The publication "The City between Freedom and Security" addresses the contested territory between the state and corporate drive to ‘securitise’ contemporary urban space – and the principle of the city and its public spaces as fundamental yet fragile sites for enacting open civil society, participatory democracy, and the freedom of speech and assembly.

From the starting point of the disputed redevelopment of the Oslo Government Quarter in the aftermath of attacks in 2011, the book functions as a broader discursive platform mediating a range of opposing actors and positions at the intersection of architecture/urbanism and security/democracy – themes that have become increasingly topical in European and Danish cities in recent years.

The book interposes theoretical texts, interviews, cross-disciplinary
dialogues, detailed documentation of international cases, discursive design proposals, a lexicon of terms, and photo essays documenting fieldwork in the UK, USA, Israel, Palestine, Spain, etc.

Presentation of book by editors
Deane Simpson (architect, professor IBBL KADK)
Vibeke Jensen (architect/artist, visiting professor BAS)
Anders Rubing (architect, teacher BAS)

Panel debate
Lars Bo Kaspersen (political scientist, professor KU/CBS)
Lene Bjerg Kristensen (special consultant, TMF, Københavns Kommune)
Representative from PET/Københavns Politi (to be confirmed)
Book editors of 'The City Between Freedom and Security'
Moderator: Katrine Lotz (architect, head of institute IBBL KADK)

Followed by wine and refreshments - the event is in English