Alternative Capitalism and Creative Economy: the Case of<scp>C</scp>hristiania

Abstract

Abstract The F ree T own of C hristiania is an autonomous community of about 1,000 inhabitants in the centre of C openhagen. Built as a squat for a hippy community in the 1970s, it is today a central node in the geography of activism, anarchism and alternative social life. This article analyses C hristiania from the specific perspective of creativity and within the context of the ‘creative city’ debate. The F ree T own is a lively innovative milieu, nurturing the arts, social experimentation, ideas and original architectural solutions. As such, it is becoming a more and more relevant space from the point of view of the market economy and in the promotion of the idea of a ‘creative C openhagen’. But I argue that much of its creative potential is connected to place‐specific socioeconomic factors. In this sense, the C hristiania experience troubles mainstream conceptions of creativity by revealing that creativity is both fluid and situated.