Pleasurescapes - A HERA-project

An international cooperation between the HafenCity University Hamburg, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Escola Universitària ERAM/University of Girona, and Stockholm University


Liseberg in Gothenburg, main entrance, 2015, (c) Wikimedia.Commons.

Where people have fun, encounter happens. Where encounters take place, change begins. Are pleasurescapes in port cities Europe’s
true driving forces after all?
Public spaces of entertainment in European port cities, which we name “pleasurescapes”, mirror traits of European urbanization in
an extraordinary way: They are transnational microcosms, representing conformity and rebellion at the same time. They are public
zones of encounter and melting pot for divergent classes, cultures and religions. In studying the past and present of European
port cities’ pleasurescapes, we gain insights into Europe’s cultural pluralism and its exchange of knowledge, material, technologies,
and practices.

PLEASURESCAPES is a humanities-led collaborative research project that brings together researchers with museum curators,
stakeholders of cultural industries and NGOs. Together, we will create a touring exhibition with accompanying catalogue and theatre
production. Four cities and their pleasurescapes are of special interest for us and will be studied empirically: Hamburg(DE),
Rotterdam (NL), Barcelona (ES) and Gothenburg (SE). Despite their national di erences, their pleasurescapes show intriguing
transnational convergence – why and how exactly is the subject of our research.


More information on the project webpage and our flyer.