SAMFUNN: Green Urban Spaces - the role of the cemetery in multicultural and inter-religious urban contexts

The study discusses democratic use of urban cemeteries in the 21st century and is a study of the diversity of activities and attitudes towards various uses. As cities become denser, the proximity to and also presence of green spaces may decrease.The shortage of urban space and influences from new inhabitants could potentially lead to other recreational areas becoming more, or differently used. Cemeteries could represent spaces of this kind, and has through the history been used for a variety of activities. Cemeteries are public spaces and part of the green structure in cities, but they are not necessarily perceived as open to the public. However, many of the old urban cemeteries in Scandinavia are located centrally and close to public transport. In densified parts of the city the cemetery may be the closest green space accessible for use from where people live and work.In Norway the cemeteries list rules of use posted at the entrances of the cemeteries. Among the activities not allowed are biking, jogging and playing. In the study presented in this abstract we want to investigate the relation between the actual activities performed at the cemeteries, the rules given by the Cemetery Officials and the users' attitudes towards activities beyond visiting graves in urban cemeteries. The study presented in the abstract is a comparative study of two urban cemeteries in Oslo, the Old city (Gamlebyen gravlund) and the Eastern cemetery (Østre gravlund). The methods used are observations and short interviews. Moment observations of users' activities were registered at specified locations in the cemeteries from April to July 2014, twice every work week and once every second weekend. Seventeen types of activities were registered, including visiting grave, crossing on foot, cycling, socializing etc. The study also looks closer at cemeteries throughout the centuries in view of whether they primarily have been considered public or private. Cemeteries in Norway as we know them today are public spaces - free to access all year round and open for all citizens independent of economic status and social belonging. The term public space is then used in accordance with the definition presented by Mehta (2013) "as the space that is open to the public, which generates public use, and active or passive social behaviour, and where people are subject to the general regulations that govern the use of space" (Mehta 2013: 20). In a longer time perspective both accessibility and property rights related to cemeteries have changed fundamentally. In a paper the laws and regulations which have influenced the ownership rights to cemeteries have been examined closer. It questions how changes in property rights have influenced the accessibility to cemeteries. It is based on a close up examination of historic documents. The results from the historic study are finally discussed in view of preliminary results from the contemporary field study of two cemeteries in Oslo. How accessible is actually the cemetery as a green urban space? From a democratic point of view, it is relevant to study what reasons people have for not to be on the cemeteries, as green urban spaces with potential for contemplation and recreation. A confined pilot-study interviewing 55 passers-by outside has been carried out in the two cemeteries studied. The pilot-study showed that most of the non-users did not go into the cemetery actually because they did not have a grave to visit. These informants wanted to show respect for the place and the "grave-owners", and because of that the area did not feel available to them. Others characterized the cemetery as creepy, and felt the depressive atmosphere as a barrier for use. Some non-users felt that it should be unsafe to be there, and many avoid being there when it is dark, some felt fear for attacks, bag-snatching, flashers, rapes, homeless people and ghosts. For some of the informants, lack of information about accessibility seemed to be a barrier for use. Findings from the pilot study could contribute in management of cemeteries to increase the accessibility and their function as places for contemplation and recreation in densified cities, without being at the sacrifice of conventional norms regarding respect for the place and those who visit graves. Several acilitating initiatives have been pointed out. The international network established in the project has enabled the preparation of a paper that compares three models for using cemeteries as historic assets in future urban development. The part they play in the city's greenbelt varies largely between the three cities in question (Oslo, Sheffield, Kaliningrad). Another part of the study focuses on the affect immigration and transmigration can have om the use of cemeteries. As part of international networking a workshop was arranged in February with a series of presentations from established researchers from UK, Sweden, Polen, Russia, Finland, Denmark and Norway.

Cemeteries in cities are usually part of a larger urban greenbelt and represent an intersection between cultural heritage, outdoor recreation, religion and cult related to death and grief as part of everyday life. As new ideals for compact cities have gai ned ground, parks and greenbelts are being lost or reduced in size. Parallel with this, a more international, multicultural, interreligious and complex late-modern urban society has emerged. The shortage of urban space and new ways of using public space m ay have influenced how the urban cemeteries in Norway are used and esteemed as part of the urban structure. We ask what consequences such assumed extended use can have for cemeteries as cultural heritage. As public spaces and green areas they represent al ternatives for outdoor recreation. It concerns possible use of closely situated local areas, their meaning for different user groups, as well as considering the options for alternative uses in view of different needs according to gender, ethnicity and soc io-demographic variations. Protected graveyards are undisputable national heritage, but their values need to be discussed and mediated in view of the changing demographic nature of modern cities, where increasing multicultural and interreligious pluralism affects the formation of spatial surroundings and sociality. The project integrates several problems that need to be addressed according to the program plan Miljø 2015. It focusses on the assets that cultural heritage and outdoor activities represent in a rapid changing contemporary society, hereby improving the quality of urban life. Through discussions with various stakeholders it will address how new models for management and interaction can be envisaged, in a way that intends to form a basis for futu re integrated management and value added activities in urban communities. The project is a qualitative study based in the humanities with a distinct interdisciplinary character.