Investigative Urbanism

The case study researched the development process of a failed potential “main street” in the southern inner suburbs of Stockholm, and how it influenced the final quality of the street.

Analysis of how the street’s present condition was developed and what planning, design and administrative features should be improved to make the street generate more activity and subsequently contribute to the city as a high-quality public space. The development from the mid-2000s can be viewed as an attempt to locate urbanity into a suburban context that delivered less than desired results, and our contribution was to measure and suggest improvements for its success.

We found apparent miscommunication and flexible language use in the planning documents that allowed for lower quality, and a lack of specificity that would have otherwise assisted to create a successful sociable urban street. 

Re-examining planning decisions that created present conditions is one key to understanding the city and developing necessary interventions, for the numerous improvements to environmental, social, and economic conditions cities are in pursuit of.