ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates Aalborg’s post-industrial waterfront as a dynamic site where sustainability is not merely implemented but actively made, contested, and reimagined. Through a phased analysis of key urban projects and processes, the chapter examines how symbolic infrastructures have shaped transformations in urban identity and framed evolving narratives of urban sustainability. The analysis is organised across three phases. Phase I marks the shift from industrial decline to public-orientated redevelopment, featuring projects such as Vestre Havnepromenade and Ø-Gadekvarteret. Phase II centres on cultural identity and aesthetic rebranding through interventions like Jomfru Ane Parken, Tolbod Plads and Slotspladsen, the Utzon Center, and Nordkraft. Phase III highlights strategic regeneration and ecological integration, as exemplified by Musikkens Hus, Create, Østre Havn, Vestre Fjordpark, and Spritten. Guided by the question – How have the logics of urgency, legitimation, implementation, and experimentation shaped Aalborg’s sustainability transformation? – The chapter applies the Urban Sustainability Compass (Chapter 1 this volume) to demonstrate that sustainability in Aalborg is not solely an institutional endeavour but is continuously narrated, negotiated, and materially embedded in the urban space.
