WHEN

"Citizen Street will always be written on your back, my mother often said. Citizen street is a stain on society. Slime, rot, whores, thieves, a filthy shitwhole.", novelist Vita Andersen about her childhood in Borgergade (Citizen Street)

THEMES

1932: POVERTY

I am Citizen Street, once a proud artery in Copenhagen. Trodden by royals and nobles, I am now an old woman, a shadow of my former self. Summer blankets me in humid, oppressive heat, the air thick with the smell of decaying garbage. My grandeur has decayed into a melancholy slum, my cobblestones weeping under the tread of the destitute. The stench of rotting refuse fills my air, and whispers of lurking shadows haunt my narrow alleys. Yet, amidst the squalor, there is a strong pulse of survival within me. My citizens cling to me fiercely, and I hold on to them, trying to save them from the harshness of reality

1938: CRIME

Fall drapes me in crisp, cool air, the leaves turning vibrant shades of red and gold before blanketing my streets. The city declares me a firetrap and breeding ground for disease, destined for demolition. But they are wrong. Just look at what happened in Bremerholmen. The prostitutes and gangsters, fleeing the demolition, make me their new home and bring prosperity, feeding my starving citizens. The scent of roasting chestnuts and damp earth fills the air. My alleys buzz with the sounds of clandestine deals and lively chatter. I am now a rich matriarch, sheltering my wayward children.

1943: WAR

Winter wraps me in a blanket of cold, the snow crunching underfoot and the air sharp with frost. The war years bring darkness but also money as the black market flourishes. My streets are shrouded in shadows, the air thick with tension and whispered secrets. Amidst fear and scarcity, resilience grows. Citizens, Jews, women, and young men are shot or taken away by disease and death. I begin to understand that my protection traps them in a cycle of dependency and decay. I must let them grow beyond my crumbling walls.

1950: THE END

Spring arrives with a bittersweet atmosphere, the air fresh with new beginnings yet heavy with farewell. The war is over, and the city rebuilds. My demolition is reaffirmed, and my buildings come down one by one. Each crash of the wrecking ball feels like a death knell. I tremble with fear at the thought of my own end, terrified of the emptiness that will follow. And then the rubble clears, and the space where I once stood is bathed in sunlight, a blank slate for the future. I must let them go, and live on in the memories of those who called me home.

SEASONS

Summer 1932

June

Town Clerk's Letter:

"My dear colleague,

I write in haste, for strange things are afoot in Citizen Street. This morning, as I walked along the familiar cobblestones, I could not help but notice the curious men who have ... " continue HERE

July

Dickensian Prose:

"It was a summer’s day—hotter than any summer should be, and yet there we were, toiling away upon the dusty roads of Citizen Street, as though we were no more than ... " continue HERE

August

Ryme (Bobby Shams-inspired):

"On the edge of the slums,

Before the council came through, no one cared about these blocks

Fights in the alley after every shift

Big, small, always Mikkel and Yaakov

Hiding in the ..." continue HERE

Fall 1938

Winter 1943

Spring 1950

ORIGIN STORY: CITIZEN STREET is established in 1750s by the Danish King who wants to create a hood next to his castle with shops and venues for his entourage and the rich. But in the late 1890's a group of refugees from Ukraine are invited to move in. The rich move out and poor people move in. CITIZEN STREET quickly degrades. And with the lack of housing during the industrialisation people start building illegal wooden constructions in the backyards of CITIZEN STREET leading to multiple violent fires killing randomnly. As the street itself wants to punish its own children.

EPILOGUE: After CITIZEN STREET is demolished the well off CITIZENS are compensated and move to rich areas of Copenhagen. The poor CITIZENS from the back yards are moved to something new: the first concrete suburb. While the CITIZENS were against the demolishment, they actually all become really happy and healthy suburbans. And because they are moved to the same concrete suburb the social kit keeps them tight together. Until the city decides to build many more concrete buildings and let people from all over denmark move in destroying the social kit. The concrete suburb deterioates in crime and in the late 1990's the situation is so alarming that the city decides to demolish the concrete suburb with dynamite.

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