| dc.description.abstract | This study investigates the state of skateboarding in Norway. It takes a closer look into skateboarder’s perception of today’s society, more precisely to which extent their practice is accepted in public spaces.
The phenomenological approach was used, as it is known for being especially effective at foregrounding the life stories and insights of individuals from their own perspectives. Also, Vivoni’s theory of spatial desire has been used to comprehend how skateboarders and their craft are perceived in Norwegian cities. This is a qualitative study involving interviews as a method for gathering data. Three interviews of experienced skateboarders were conducted in total. All of the informants had used both skateparks and streets, which made it interesting especially for comparison purposes.
In Norway, skateboarders believe that public spaces should ideally be shared spaces allowing for freedom of expression. However, through the use of elements of controls (‘skatestoppers’) meant to hinder skateboarding, cities confirm that so-called “public” spaces are not as open as they claim to be. While in skaters’ eyes, most citizens do not seem to be bothered by their use of the city, private owners definitely are. Indeed, those spaces automatically become economically profitable, since they gather large crowds of people. Consequently, skateboarders get forced out of those spaces, since they do not take part in consumerism. However, Norway does not go nowhere near as hard against skateboarders as other countries such as the USA. By being polite and showing tolerance, Norwegian skaters seem to have taken their future into their own hands and understood what is at stake. There is no doubt that this made them more likeable to both citizens and authorities. Everything indicates that cities in Norway are becoming more willing to cooperate with skateboarders, instead of stopping them. Indeed, skateboarding is gradually becoming a more integrated part of cities through the work of companies such as Betongpark, thus promising a bright future to a practice that has too often been misunderstood and marginalised.
Keywords: skateboarding, architecture, skateurbanism, cities, skate-friendly, cohabitation, cooperation, urban landscapes, public spaces, acceptance, hostility, Norway. | |