Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Det finns ett akut behov av att människor ska vilja och sträva efter att agera miljö- och naturvänligt. För att vilja och sträva efter det är det viktigt att besitta en naturanknytning. Dock minskar generellt den växande urbana
befolkningens naturanknytning succesivt och har gjort det i årtionden. Därför behöver dagens stadsutvecklare
beakta människors psykologiska och sociala relation till naturen i större utsträckning, något som denna studie
söker främja. Syftet med studien är att sprida kunskap om betydelsen av människans relation till naturen för en
hållbar stadsutveckling genom att studera en pågående stadsutveckling i området Lokstallarna i Malmö.
Frågeställningarna kretsar kring att undersöka vad för människa natur relationer som kommer till uttryck hos
aktörer som är involverade i utvecklingen av Lokstallarna och hur identifierade människa natur relationer
stödjer en hållbar stadsutveckling. Utgångspunkten för studien är att använda perspektiv från miljöpsykologi och
miljösociologi, specifikt teoretis

There is an urgent need for humans to want and strive towards pro-environmental and pro-nature behaviors. For people to strive towards these behaviors it is important to have nature connectedness. However, nature connectedness is generally decreasing amongst the growing urban population and has been decreasing for decades. Therefore, urban planners of today need to consider humans’ relation to nature to a greater extent, which is something this study is aiming to promote. The study's purpose is to spread knowledge about the importance of humans’ relation to nature for a sustainable urban development by studying an ongoing development in Lokstallarna, Malmö. The research questions revolve around investigating what kind of human–nature relations are expressed by actors involved in the development of Lokstallarna and how identified human–nature relations support a sustainable urban development. The study’s starting point is to use perspectives from environmental psychology and environmental sociology, specifically theories about nature connectedness, plant awareness disparity and societal paradigms.

The study shows that Malmö stad and the real estate company Jernhusen have internalized human–nature relations that are common in Western societies. These relations to nature are characterized by a lack of nature connectedness, an anthropocentric utility-based valuation of nature, a perspective which is strictly informed by the natural sciences, and plant awareness disparity. This means that nature is valued first and foremost based on its benefit to humans, and the development is not planned based on promoting people's nature connectedness. Instead, rare biotopes in Lokstallarna are replaced with nature that is perceived to provide more benefits to urban dwellers via ecosystem services. When existing nature is preserved, what is interpreted as a limited conservation effort is pursued. This means that the conservation of existing biotopes is designed in a way that is in line with human preferences and the aspiration for a materially and demographically growing city. When biotopes are preserved, the planners make a cognitive separation between environments meant for humans versus areas for nature, which results in nature, and especially so the plant life in Lokstallarna, being hidden or reduced to become a backdrop to animal life, in this case humans. What is interpreted as a limited nature conservation effort is also interpreted as being conditioned on human control and domination since biotopes are planned to be removed, replaced, relocated and recreated based on human preferences and demand for ecosystem services.

In the process of developing Lokstallarna, there is also an expression of a different human–nature relation, one that seems to be characterized by a desire to pursue pro-nature behaviors and appreciate the biological and experience-related values of the rare biotopes. Thus, it is interpreted that there may lie a seed, specifically within Malmö stad amongst its urban planners, that contains an idea of an alternative development that does not conceal and diminish the rare biotopes in the way that the current proposed development does. If Malmö stad and Jernhusen nurture that seed, a more sustainable urban development could potentially be achieved in comparison to the current plan proposal.