<p>Over the years, what people have considered as the center of Stockholm City has gone from the medieval Stortorget in Old Town to the contemporary Sergels Torg. But more recently it has become unclear how the area really works. It is difficult to say where the actual central part of Stockholm lies, because while the Central Station is where the majority of people arrive into town, it is not necessarily close to Sergelstorg (considered the center of town) or other attractive commercial areas. There's also another issue with where the center of Stockholm is located. The railways and roads running along Klarabergs Viaduct acts as a divide between the areas of Kungsholmen and Norrmalm; these rails, roads and water separate the two areas from each other. </p><p>In response to this problem of area division, a plan is being made to construct a new district near the center to mend the gap between the districts. The idea is that the center of Stockholm city will become more lively and attractive. The plan includes building new housing, commercial areas and a larger terrace called Mälarterrassen. In addition, improved mobility within the area is being planned by having better public transportation lines like <em>City banan</em> and tram named <em>Spårväg City</em> construction, as well as more pedestrian areas shall make the area become a district to thrive in.</p><p>How the area will actually operate in the future is still unclear and many questions still exist about how the area will be able to compete and, above all, integrate with the other districts. The parts considered to be most important for the area is the scale of residential property and an attractive area that keeps people in the area and to encourages them to pass through the area. Perhaps the best solution would be to have something special planned in this area that can attract people in the community – a city park, for example?</p>

Over the years, what people have considered as the center of Stockholm City has gone from the medieval Stortorget in Old Town to the contemporary Sergels Torg. But more recently it has become unclear how the area really works. It is difficult to say where the actual central part of Stockholm lies, because while the Central Station is where the majority of people arrive into town, it is not necessarily close to Sergelstorg (considered the center of town) or other attractive commercial areas. There's also another issue with where the center of Stockholm is located. The railways and roads running along Klarabergs Viaduct acts as a divide between the areas of Kungsholmen and Norrmalm; these rails, roads and water separate the two areas from each other.  In response to this problem of area division, a plan is being made to construct a new district near the center to mend the gap between the districts. The idea is that the center of Stockholm city will become more lively and attractive. The plan includes building new housing, commercial areas and a larger terrace called Mälarterrassen. In addition, improved mobility within the area is being planned by having better public transportation lines like City banan and tram named Spårväg City construction, as well as more pedestrian areas shall make the area become a district to thrive in. How the area will actually operate in the future is still unclear and many questions still exist about how the area will be able to compete and, above all, integrate with the other districts. The parts considered to be most important for the area is the scale of residential property and an attractive area that keeps people in the area and to encourages them to pass through the area. Perhaps the best solution would be to have something special planned in this area that can attract people in the community – a city park, for example?

Open and un-built spaces can be argued as creating holes and abruptions in the urban fabric, or contradictory, as being spaces for opportunities and spontaneity. In contemporary urban ideals of density, spaces as these are rarely planned. In previous paradigms of urban planning however, as during the modernist era, open spaces were more often intentionally introduced as urban elements. The study researches the neighbourhood of Bredäng as a distinct case of a modernist suburban area in Stockholm. Bredäng is characterised partly by its many open unbuilt spaces, which were planned as part of the then prevailing idea of urbanity where nature and open spaces were seen as providing a peaceful living environment in contrast to the hectic and unhealthy inner city. In the current planning ideal of Stockholm, the city is to become a coherent and dense urban environment, and a wish to ‘heal the wounds’ of, primarily, modernist planning, is stressed. Bredäng is placed between its historical ideals of modernism and contemporary ideals of densification and continuous urban landscapes, and in this meeting the open spaces will play a vital role. Through interview studies with planners, engineers and architects involved in current planning of Bredäng, as well as through analysis of planning documents and policies, the thesis examines the open spaces of Bredäng as fields for interaction between planning ideals. Three competing, but not mutually exclusive, strategic approaches emerges from the analysis of the contemporary planning of Bredäng. We categorise these approaches to the open spaces as; (1) Sustainable Bredäng in which open spaces are understood partly negative, as spaces without quality, hindering integration, and partly in positive terms as spaces for exploitation and densification. (2) Preserved Bredäng in which open spaces are romanticised as carriers of the historical legacy and seen as important to preserve. (3) Polished Bredäng in which the open spaces are perceived as positive for the marketing of the identity of Bredäng but also as unwanted, unsafe and empty elements. Regardless approach, the open spaces are seen as in need of definition, as urban parks, as cultural heritage or as transformed into vibrant spaces for street life. Hence, to be undefined and undisciplined is not a viable alternative within a contemporary urban context. A historical comparison can be made - if the land where Bredäng was planned can be seen as a tabula rasa for new visions, the small scale open spaces now becomes a tabula rasa for contemporary urban thought on which ideas a nd visions can be pictured. / I den här uppsatsen undersöks öppna och icke exploaterade ytor i Stockholms ytterstadsmiljö. Dessa ytor beskrivs i vissa sammanhang som negativa hålrum och som icke-urbana, medan andra argument snarare håller fram den tomma ytans potential som plats för kreativitet och stadsutveckling. I samtida stadsideal av täthet och funktionsblandning är öppna ytor sällan medvetet planerade, och ses inte heller som självklara element att bevara. Detta till skillnad från tidigare planideal där den tomma ytan gavs en annat funktion och därmed tilläts ta plats i stadsbilden. Ett sådant ideal där den öppna ytan medvetet skapades som del av det urbana återfinns hos modernismens planeringsideal. Frågan om den öppna ytans vara eller icke vara kan även ses som signifikativ för en vidare debatt om vilket stadsideal som eftersträvas i och med att det sätter gränser för i vilken miljö och på vilka villkor som det urbana livet ska levas. Denna uppsats tar sig an stadsdelen Bredäng i södra Stockholm som ett fall av en välbevarad modernistisk stadsmiljö där den öppna ytan ges stor vikt och plats i stadsmiljön. Bredängs öppna ytor ses i uppsatsen som spår av ett stadsideal där grönytor, natur och luftiga typologier sågs som ett positivt alternativ till den täta innerstadens osanitära och hektiska liv. I samtida planering av Stockholm framhålls dock en vilja att ‘läka såren’ som uppkom ur en modernistisk planering, samt ett fokus på förtätning och utveckling av modernismens stadsmiljöer. Bredäng placeras därmed i ett tydligt möte mellan två olika stadsideal, och i detta möte erhåller de öppna ytorna en central roll. Genom intervjuer med aktiva planerare, ingenjörer och arkitekter, samt genom dokumentstudier av planeringsoch visionsdokument, utforskar uppsatsen Bredängs öppna ytor som platser för interaktion mellan stads- och planeringsideal. I analysen av det empiriska materialet framkommer tre parallella planeringsstrategier i den pågående utvecklingen av Bredäng. Dessa strategier bär med sig tre olika förståelser av Bredängs öppna platser, som även visar på tre olika visioner av det framtida urbana livet i Bredäng. Strategierna kan kategoriseras som; (1) Hållbara Bredäng där de öppna platserna förstås delvis negativt som icke-kvalitativa ytor som hindrar möten och integration, men även positivt som ytor som möjliggör exploatering och förtätning; (2) Bevarade Bredäng där ytorna romantiseras som bärare av ett historiskt kulturarv och därigenom hålls fram som viktiga att bevara; samt (3) Polerade Bredäng där de öppna ytorna ses delvis som negativa element som skapar upplevelse av osäkerhet, men även som potentiella element i skapandet av en ny positiv identitet och i en vidare marknadsföring av området. Oavsett strategi så förstås de öppna ytorna som att vara i behov av tydligare definition - som urbana parker, som kulturminnen eller som ytor att omvandla till plats för levande gatuliv. Följaktligen uppfattas odefinierade och tvetydiga ytor som svåra att bevara i den samtida urbana kontexten. Den öppna ytan kan här beskrivas som en tabula rasa där nutida stadsideal kan visualiseras och prövas.