Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This paper constitutes graduate work at the Depart-ment of Urban and Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. In this paper the urban structure of the million program suburb Husby in Stockholm is examined and what effect this structure has on social life in the area. The main objective of the study has been to, with the help of morphological analyses, examine how to create meeting places and make the Husby Park more accessible
for the inhabitants in Husby. There has been a selection of analyses to ensure that Husby’s spatial relationship with surrounding suburbs as well as local spaces in the Husby Park is described. Additionally, an objective of this study was to, with the knowledge from research concerning the million program and the inhabitants living there, develop an understanding for the kind of living environment that
Husby constitute. A design proposal follows the analyses as way to transform theory into practice. The proposal gives one alternative of how the park could be developed to satisfy the need of accessibility and meeting places.

Research and experience has shown that there is a deficiency in the public space in the million program suburbs. Residential segregation has recently grown in the most urban cities in Sweden and in many cases it is these areas that are classified as segregated. Often, there is a lack of meeting places in public space at the same as the urban structure, built on an enclaves and traffic separation, give rise to feelings of beeing unsafe. Space Syntax is a method used to analyse the relation between urban structure and public life in cities, which makes the method applicable to understand how the urban morphology affect the people living in and visiting the area.
On an overall scale the analyses indicate that Husby is connected to the surrounding suburbs Akalla and Kista through a coherent walkway. The structure, built on separate enclaves in addition to a strict traffic separating system creates a problem where walkways
suddenly discontinue which can affect the possibility to orientate for persons unfamiliar to the area. Furthermore the analyses show that the Husby Park is centrally located in the area which suggests that the park has possibilities to develop into a natural meeting point. At the time of speaking the park is cut off from the surrounding residential area and has not reached its full potential,
yet. The park is mostly used for programmed use as basketball and play and there is a lack of spontaneous use. But just close by, the square is full of spontaneous interaction.

The study demonstrates that Husby is a segregated area, both
at a local and global scale. Furthermore, the study confirms the theories implying that the urban structure of post war areas, and the neighborhood unit, is the origin of deficiency public space. Difficulties in orientation give effects on the Husby Park, as it is revealed that it can be hard finding the way to the park. Better accessibility to the park requires efforts in walk and cycling paths. In addition the park needs to be opened up to the surrounding residential area and the main walkway. New fronts towards the park, and a structure of overlapping meeting places should create a foundation for new use of the park.

It requires more than a newly equipped park to mitigate residential segregation and this study illustrates the complexity of segregation. Segregation is present in all layers of our society, not only in public spaces, but also in our heads. Therefore this issue requires a holistic approach.

A dialog with residents is desired before further developments of the design proposal. Furthermore, it would be interesting to examine the possibilities to use Space Syntax analyses in post war suburbs as a way to gain knowledge and facilitate sustainable development in these areas.