Culture’s Role in Urban Development

May May 2016

Varberg

Our society is undergoing constant transformation. How can art and culture contribute to the worthy visions made for emerging city districts? The residency Culture’s Role in Urban Development, is interested in exploring and creating dialogue around Varberg’s current identity and future developments for the city.

a new neighbourhood

The city of Varberg is facing major, albeit planned, changes with the relocation of its port, an new train station that will be underground, and the building of a new neighbourhood. During Culture’s Role in Urban Development, six artists contributed with new perspectives and solutions to future issues in the design of the city. The focus was on Västerport, a new district in development, to be situated in Varberg’s existing port. The vision for the area, which is set for completion in 2025, is to help make the coastal city to the cultural hub of Sweden’s west coast.

The artists were given the task of producing ideas for the new district, in critical and investigative ways. What constitutes good living environments, where a balance between housing, work, leisure and culture for all ages exists, was the basis for the investigation. What is the ideal urban environment? What does it look like? How do its citizens perceive it?