The green wedges of Stockholm are meant to support a high level of biodiversity as well as cultural and recreational services but evaluating the spatial development of the wedges is difficult because their delineation has changed since they were first used in a regional development plan. This study examines a part of the Hanveden and Tyresta wedges in southern Stockholm, with the goal to use robust ecological theory to evaluate the development of the wedges from 1992 until today with focus on conserving a high level of biodiversity. Using an already existing GIS-based method of identifying connectivity weaknesses in the wedges, more weaknesses were found in 2010 than in 1992 although the total area of the wedges had only declined 3.3%. The shape of the wedges had also changed, with more narrow parts in 2010 than in 1992. To more effectively compare the development of factors in the landscape that are relevant for biodiversity, this study proposes a new method using the common shrew and hazel grouse as surrogate species. The total area loss for the common shrew was 2.96% from 1991 to 2013 and 2.23% for the hazel grouse. Fragmentation increased for both species. A large part of the greenspaces relevant to the surrogate species are covered by the green wedges, meaning that important cultural and recreational values identified by the county council are also present in areas relevant to the surrogate species. Using surrogate species to delineate and monitor the green wedges could enhance the cultural and recreational qualities of the wedges, emphasize the need for connectivity planning, identify ecologically important parts of the greenspaces as well as provide a tool for following up the development of the urban greenspaces of Stockholm. However, formulating goals relevant to biodiversity is important to fully evaluate development and municipal cooperation is needed.

With an increasing urban population, urban areas around the world face great challenges in sustaining its inhabitants without losing its natural values. Fragmentation of the urban green areas is inevitable, causing the biodiversity to decline and the ecosystem services to weaken. In Stockholm, ten large green areas stretch from the inner parts of the city outwards to the more rural parts of the county -these are called the green wedges of Stockholm. The green wedges bring nature closer to the urban dwellers and strengthen the urban ecosystems, which provides the citizens with vital ecosystem services. The population of Stockholm is growing rapidly and is expected to increase with almost 50% by 2050, putting a massive pressure on the development of new dwellings. Suitable and vacant areas for exploitation are rare and so the green areas around and within the city are often encroached or destroyed. The green wedge area is decreasing due to exploitation and there is no real means of protection for a majority of the wedges. The comprehensive plans [översiktsplaner] and regional plans [regional planer] are not legally binding, hence the continuous infringing of the green wedge area. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive picture of the green wedges of Stockholm, its past, present and future challenges as well as possible solutions. By using methods such as GIS analysis, a decrease of green wedge area in the new regional development plan RUFS 2050 compared to the old regional development plan RUFS 2010 was found. The green wedges are diminishing and only a small part, 24 %, is protected. New ways of protecting the green wedge area could be relevant to enable a suitable inclusion within urban planning. A sustainable urban region with a healthy and sound population is dependent on green areas close to residential areas. When encroaching parts of the green wedges it will have an impact on the green infrastructure within the whole of Stockholm County, which, inevitably, will affect the urban ecosystems that provide essential ecosystem services to the city dwellers. There is a need for a clear political vision, proper legally binding guidelines as well as improved and extensive inter-municipal collaborations to make the future of the green wedges prosperous.

The city of Stockholm has set the goal to build 140 000 new residential units by 2030 to meet the demand of a growing urban population. Simultaneously we are seeing a decline in biodiversity in and surrounding the city. Some of the main factors are climate change, pollution, overexploitation and habitat destruction. As cities grow, they have the potential to aid or accelerate these problems, depending on how this urban growth is approached.In current urban development projects in Stockholm, we increasingly see large scale, high exploitation projects that view efficiency and profitability as their main goal. Biodiversity is largely considered an afterthought. We are chipping away at natural habitats and infrastructure, which has dramatic consequences for other species and ultimately ourselves.This thesis is a study on the city’s impact on biodiversity, and how new developments in Stockholm relate to our surrounding ecosystems. It is an investigation of how we, as urban dwellers, can live with nature. It is also an exploration of how we, as architects and urban planners, can shape cities for urban mutualism.

Urban greenbelts are considered a key instrument for shaping sustainable urban growth and protecting the environment in a large number of cities in the world. In most cities, there is a widely shared belief that urban greenbelts are beneficial to the natural environment. By contrast, there is little understanding of the underlying economic impacts of greenbelts and other green space configurations in fast growing cities. The unprecedented rate and scale of urbanisation in the emerging economies has brought the role of greenbelts into an even sharper focus. In cities within these fast growing economies, the urban population is expected to double in the coming decades, which means that greenbelts are under great pressures to adapt to the large forthcoming growth. Few existing urban models are capable of addressing the dynamic nature of the urban transformations and predicting the impacts of urban greenbelts in the developing world. This prompts us to develop a new modelling method that is capable of assessing the impacts of different configurations, scales and locations of green spaces. We then use it to examine alternative futures to the greenbelt through a case study of Greater Beijing. The method we developed is a new variant in the land use-transport interaction (LUTI) model family. This model is capable of addressing the non-equilibrium nature of urban land use and transport development and the equilibrium nature of the day-to-day adaptations made by businesses and citizens. This LUTI model aims to answer the following questions: what are the short-term and long-term economic impacts of a greenbelt on a fast growing city? Which alternative green space configuration performs better in terms of economic well-being and travel costs? Where and how much should the greenbelt land be progressively reshaped or released as the city grows? The new LUTI model is calibrated and validated using data collected for 1990, 2000 and 2010 for Greater Beijing, The model is first tested retrospectively through revisiting the past greenbelt policies in Beijing from 1990 to 2010. Then the impacts of different future green space configurations from 2010 to 2030 are predicted and assessed through quantifying economic costs/benefits and travel costs for socio-economic groups. The model results suggest that under rapid transformative urban change, the configuration, scale and location of a greenbelt have a significant impact on a city’s economic efficiency. Such impacts will transcend the greenbelt boundary, and even the boundary of Beijing Municipality, onto the entire city region. A narrow greenbelt launched in the early age of urban expansion could lead to spatial mismatch of residents and jobs. A wide and strictly controlled ring-shaped greenbelt is not the highest performing intervention either, in terms of economic well-being. The green-wedges configuration is a remedial policy that balances the economic efficiency and environmental benefits. Intensive development around metro/rail stations in the designated greenbelt could reduce spatial costs and promote sustainable travel modes. This implies that a careful siting of new development within existing designations of the greenbelt can be beneficial in terms of economic well-being and sustainable transport.

Projecting Urban Natures is a compilation thesis in critical studies in architecture. It comprises three journal articles and four design proposals in which I have taken an active part. The point of departure for this thesis is the renewed emphasis on social-ecological interaction and resilience that is currently taking place within ecological systems science, and the opportunities that these paradigmatic insights in turn have opened up within urbanism and design. The thesis argues that although they are promising, these emerging integrative frameworks are seldom brought into mainstream planning and urban design practice. Instead, the structuring of “nature” and “city” into a dualistic balance relationship still permeates not only the general planning discourse, but also makes its way into planning documents, notably influencing distinctions between professions. In response, this thesis sets out to rethink and explore more integrated approaches to human/nature relationships, through the utilization of design-based and transdisciplinary research methods. While this core aim of the thesis remains the same throughout the work, the task is approached from different perspectives: through different constellations of collaborative work as well as through parallel case-based explorations that emphasize the relational, anti-essentialist and situated articulation of values of urban natures and how these forces come into play. The work has been propelled through workshop-based, site-specific, and experimental design processes with professionals and researchers from the fields of e.g. systems ecology, natural resource management, political ecology, urban design, architecture, and landscape design, as well as planners, developers, local interest groups, and NGOs. Specifically, projects performed within this thesis include: Nature as an Infrastructural Potential – An Urban Strategy for Järvafältet; Kymlinge UrbanNatur together with NOD, Wingårdhs, MUST and Storylab; Årsta Urban Natures with James Corner Field Operations and Buro Happold; and Albano Resilient Campus — a collaboration between Stockholm Resilience Centre, KTH and KIT. / <p>QC 20171102</p>