Responding to Urban Challenges in the Twenty-First Century

At the Nordic Geographers Meeting (NGM) in Copenhagen, June 2024, the Nordic Journal of Urban Studies hosted its inaugural lecture. Dr. Vasna Ramasar, from the Division of Human Ecology at Lund University, shared her insights on responding to urban challenges in the twenty-first century. Her presentation was followed by a conversation with Dr. Anders Lund Hansen, from the journal’s editorial board who was the session organizer/chair, and Claus Wilhelmsen, a Danish urban planner and geographer. As a point of departure, the session and this commentary are inspired by the founding editors’ seminal 2021 NJUS article (Haarstad et al., 2021).
Using a decolonial and feminist perspective, Dr. Ramasar reflected on the current state of urban landscapes worldwide, highlighted the underlying causes of our most pressing urban and global challenges, and articulated a feminist response for a new form of urbanism. The dialogue between Ramasar, Wilhelmsen, Lund Hansen and the session participants is summarized here to inspire further discussion, debate, and action.