“Olympic Games influence public space design”

Hölsgens is himself a keen skateboarder, but is also affiliated with Leiden University as an anthropologist. In this role he investigates skateboarding culture in the Netherlands, University writes In a message on the site.

“Previously, they were mainly seen as loiterers and troublemakers who had to be kept away from the centre.” According to Holsgens, skateboarders are sometimes turned away because of the hostile architecture. This includes bumps on stair railings and sidewalks to prevent skaters from sliding over them.

However, he says skaters can have a positive impact on outdoor spaces. Skateboarders can help design a city differently: more creative, more authentic, more just.

“The skaters who tend to organize themselves and talk to the municipalities are precisely the skaters who, for example, feel less safe in certain parts of the city.”

Malmo and Bordeaux

Street culture, with sports like skateboarding and cycling, is often included in urban renewal, says Holsgens, who cites Sweden’s Malmö and France’s Bordeaux as good examples.

“A skateboard-friendly city is not a city with 27 skate parks. It’s a city where you can have dance lessons on the square at 11 a.m., have a gym at 1 p.m., and have a bunch of skaters show up at 3 p.m.

Holsgens tells the university he is happy with the impact of the Olympics. “The research I have been doing for some time on skateboarding culture has gained more legitimacy. It is being taken more seriously.

“Skating is one of the few forms of creativity that is not regulated in public,” Holsgens said on the university’s website. “Everything dictates what you can and can’t do in public. Skateboarders go right through that.”