Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This is my final thesis in landscape
planing at the Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences (SLU). I discuss how
the countryside should be planned, with
a sustainable perspective. In the study I
examine four important conditions for
planning.

The countryside is often defined by
what it is not which makes it difficult to
describe in general terms. The definition of
the term countryside in this study is taken
from the National Rural Development
Agency (Glesbygdsverket). The conclusion
is: Planners and scientists should have an
understanding for the complexity of the
countryside; otherwise there is a risk of
losing the characteristics of the country.

The legislation, goals and conventions
which have an impact on the Swedish
countryside are both national and international.
To find out how the settlement
development is dealt with, I have
studied the Swedish building legislations
(among others, plan- och bygglagen and
miljöbalken).

Similar to the difficulties on finding a
suitable definition for the term countryside,
it is complex to define the term sustainable
development. It can mean different things
for different people. The centre of interest
is how planners can work for better social
sustainable development in the countryside.
This is not as widely discussed in Sweden,
as economical or ecological sustainability.
Planners can create conditions for better
social sustainability in the countryside.
The Habitat Agenda state the UN goals
for sustainable development and it is also
fundamental for the Swedish work on
sustainable town and country planning.

I have also examined who inhabits the
countryside. The largest group moving
to the Swedish country is it the working
class, mostly young families or middle
aged couples. I present these facts because
planners need to know who they are
planning for.

To get a broader perspective on countryside
planning, I counducted interviews
with people working with different
parts of planning. They have all different
perspectives on sustainable countryside
planning which gives my study a broader
wider view of the subject. I met both
scientists and planners from two different
municipalities.

The theoretical discussion and the
interviews resulted in guidelines for
sustainable planning in the countryside.
These guidelines are concretized with
examples applied to Funbo, an area with
rural housing outside Uppsala.