This project aims on exploring ways to redefine the relationship of gender and space through urban design. Gender inequalities expressed in spatial manners have been theorized by feminist geography, an approach to human geography. Having a good understanding of this theoretical context will provide the tools to tackle distantiation, spatial separation, constraint and the limited spatial opportunities women experience in public places. Using Rinkeby square as the canvas for this exploration, the effort will be put on mapping the uses of the square through observation, quantitative research, as well as interviews with local organisations, shops and authorities close to the square. An inventory of the architectural features of the square will be made along with a site analysis focusing on the questions of effects on equality. Furthermore existing female networks and societies in the area will be contacted seeking possible collaborations for a later project work, workshops or events. Finally, as a result of the initial investigations, this project intends to explore how a physical intervention would affect these questions at Rinkeby square. It is the working hypothesis of this project that any project in order to be successful would need to be based on a deeper understanding of the challenges surrounding female presence on the square, and be tied into the already existing networks for women. This project therefore hopes to establish contact with existing female networks such as (D)Järva Kvinnor, Café Respekt and Tensta-Hjulsta Kvinnocenter, amongst others.

This master project adresses the challenge of transforming the former Bergs Oil Terminal in Nacka into an adaptive, collaborative, and socially just environment supporting the development of a self-sufficient post petroleum society. As tools, it experiments with temporary "pop ups" with various life cycles. The project critically examines urban development under the viewpoint of bottom-up activities where future development must be adapted to current socio-economical conditions and ecological concerns.

Nacka should become an apprehensible city. This thesis aims to create a basic, strategic framework and approach described as a set of strategies and principles which will be used to make a design proposal. The strategies and principles will be used to identify and understand the barriers (e.g. highways, hills etc) and possibilities (e.g. existing urban areas, public spaces, green paths etc) of and for Nacka City’s spatial development and to reach a criterion for densification and “city making“ (concepts from Nacka’s “FÖP”). The main concern is to identify and investigate the barriers, functions, values and assets of Nacka (and its connections to Stockholm) as well as the general goals set up by the municipality. By understanding the existing conditions, and to be aware of the future evolvement and development of Nacka, I will try to identify and locate appropriate locations for urban growth and densification. This location/s, depending on the strategies and principles revealed by the framework, will then be presented as a design proposal.

Taking as a starting point the theory and concept of Landscape Urbanism, this thesis project explores an alternative solution for the regeneration of old industrial areas using a case study: the design of Slakthusområdet in Stockholm. The project focuses on how to use landscape as a medium to transform Slakthusområdet into a sustainable, attractive, and people friendly area. And at the same time integrate it into a wider urban context. It covers two aspects: First, the integration of the site in the surrounding green network. Second, the regeneration of the green infrastructure inside of the site that could add ecological and social values to the site.

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Kristianstad is a city of 41.000 inhabitants in southern Sweden. Once a fort on an island in the river of Helge Å, parts of the river and surrounding lakes were lowered or removed as the city expanded. This has caused parts of Kristianstad to have the lowest point in Sweden, -2,32 meters below ocean level. The surrounding river has an important role as it creates a wetland ecosystem called Vattenriket that surrounds the city. This area is recognised as a biosphere reserve of international importance. Water is currently held at bay with help of embankments, but the city experiences recurring floods during years of high water levels. The threat that the water poses is expected to increase by the end of the century due to rising sea levels.  How can a city combat flooding through use of urban design in relation to local ecosystems in an era of rising water levels? This project is about how a city in an exposed position could deal with water, ecosystems services and sustainable development in a changing climate with care towards the surrounding wetland, to use it as a major tool in how to tackle the challenges ahead.

vi ABSTRACT Rebuilding Urban Place: Negotiating Individuality and Belonging New London, CT September 2013 PETER R. WEBSTER B.S.,TUFTS UNIVERSITY M.ARCH, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST Directed by: Professor Kathleen Lugosch The aim of this thesis is to test an approach for reconnecting ourselves with the urban fabric. By recognising the damage of urban renewal as more than simple blight but rather one that undermines our sense of place, we begin to appreciate the depth of the wound. It is not a matter of reconstructing what was taken away, but rather a process of rehabilitation. Re-establishing a viable sense of place requires the intertwining of both spatial form and social engagement. The project makes use of a parking lot located between the main street and a disruptive artery that forms a rift in the urban fabric. A spatial reorganization mediates the automotive scale of the rift and re-establishes a human one. A local organization, Hygienic Art, is poised to engage the rift with a new performing art center. Interactivity between the site and the client is reflected outward across the block and inward through the building. The center’s performance and service areas are designed to facilitate participatory events, which support the social interactions of the organisation and the extended community. This thesis examines how scale and materiality can nurture the individual and group experience, and how this might be tested at the scale of the city, street, organisation, event, parcel, and building.