<p>The purpose is to understand the planning process for residential buildings and toinvestigate the consequences of the choices made in the process. The project will alsoprovide broader knowledge in the design and development under the current law andpractice.The goal is to present a proposal on how a city near the site where water can bedesigned from a sustainable perspective. How can a residential neighborhood be anenvironmentally sound and sustainable region? New systems and techniques havebeen presented previously in terms of sustainable environments and these are intendedof being used in the project Quarter Water-mirror.The project has been implemented on the computer program ArchiCAD in whichdrawings and visualizations have been carried out. These drawings are included asannexes to the report.For information, calculations and drawings, laws for physical planning and Swedishstandard have been followed.Residential buildings have been designed on a site, which is 2, 5 hectares. This area isexploited to a large extent, have generous space and environmentally friendlyachievements. The sustainable development of the area is supposed to contribute tolong-term management. To create an attractive and interesting environment, a channelhas been incorporated into the field.In the planning has availability, guest/ private parking, infrastructure and in the land,the farm formations, water and solar studies taken into account where the Planningand Building Act has been a starting point.Apartments have been presented with regard to the functioning, transparency andlight. When these factors were crucial in the case of a well-resolved data.The investigations made that refined solutions, including waste disposal, diversion ofwater, etc. existed. These methods will not necessarily be used in Quarter Watermirrorbecause nothing is elucidated. However, these solutions are good practice togive the area a sustainable environment.</p>

The issue of unemployment among immigrants in Sweden started from 1980s when a large amount of immigrants had no access to the labour market (Sördersten, 2004). Many foreign born citizens who could not find any jobs have to live on social welfare. Some of them have found a way to solve their unemployment by becoming self-employed. In 2003, Swedish Integration Board reported that the proportion of self-employment in Sweden was 7.4 percent. This proportion was higher among foreign-born (8.8 percent) compared to native Swedes (7.3 percent). It is of great academic interest for our group to conduct research on immigrant’s business entry decisions. This thesis specifically focuses on identifying and understanding the factors that influence immigrants’ decision to start up their business. This research was conducted in Jönköping municipality by doing a case study on nine ethnic entrepreneurs who come from Non-EU countries, namely: China, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Vietnam. Many studies have been carried out on the topic of ethnic entrepreneurship by researchers such as Waldinger et al. (1990), Basu (1998), Curran and Blackburn (1993), Najib (1999) and Ram (1994). Previous studies will be treated in this thesis as a source of evidence and theoretical framework. Qualitative method was used in this thesis. Case study is particularly chosen as the most appropriate tool in qualitative method to conduct this specific research. In order to obtain information for this case study, semi-structured interview with guideline questions was used. Nine cases including: five restaurants, one clothing store, one cosmetic shop, one assembling company and one carpet shop were selected in this study. The results of this study showed that, the factors that motivated ethnic entrepreneurs’ decision to start their own business were: selective immigration, entrepreneurial traits, blocked mobility, opportunity recognition, level of education, desire for independence and autonomy, financial betterment, business background and previous business experience, business culture values, interests and hobbies. However, opportunity recognition, level of education, desire for independence and autonomy and financial betterment were the factors that played a significant role in immigrant business decision making process. The result also shows that positive (pull) factors outweighed negative (push) factors in immigrants’ decision to enter self-employment. One alternative to unemployment is to become self-employed. It is highly possible that self-employment will lead to lower unemployment among immigrants (Hammarstedt, 2001). It should be in interest of the Swedish government to support self-employment since it will contribute to the growth of the Swedish economy. This thesis may be of interest to Jönköping municipality and other governmental organizations as well as policy makers. It might help them to improve the integration level of immigrants into Swedish society, unemployment level or encourage self-employment by understanding the factors affecting immigrants to start up their own businesses.

Bakgrund: Senaste tiden har konkurrensen hårdnat för att locka invånare, företag och investerare till städerna. Detta har gjort det allt viktigare att utmärka sig som en attraktiv plats att bo på och leva i. Städer profilerar sig alltmer genom platsmarknadsföring. Däremot skiljer sig tillvägagångssättet och samarbetet inom planeringsgrupperna av det strategiska marknadsföringsarbetet. Syfte: Med studien vill författarna studera FMJ:s samarbete mellan privat och offentlig sektor samt om de enskilda intressenternas verksamhet påverkar det gemensamma arbetet inom FMJ. Författarna kommer samtidigt att undersöka om intressenterna anser att FMJ har uppnått de riktlinjer och mål som har tagits fram. Metod: Författarna har valt att genomföra en kvalitativ fallstudie i form av samtalsintervjuer. Samtalsintervjuer har genomförts med representanter från Jönköpings näringsliv och kommun. Slutsatser: Studien visar att ett samarbete vid platsmarknadsföring har i Jönköping varit ett lyckat koncept. Både den privata och den offentliga sektorn är överens om att ett samarbete måste finnas men att finansieringen för detta samarbete måste lösas inför framtiden. Vidare ser författarna också att en utvidgning av den styrelse som idag driver projektet tillsammans med verksamhetschefen bör genomföras för att få en större legitimitet i staden.

Background &amp; Problem discussion: Recently, there has been an increased interest in topics such as immigrant entrepreneurship. Considering that most of the research until now is done in America with American examples, it would be beneficial if such results are verified or refuted in other countries as well, such as Sweden (Brundin, Bögenhold and Sundin, 2001). Overall, businesses ran by immigrant entrepreneurs are creating job opportunities and encouraging Europe’s economy, even though exposed to limited immigration policies and unpleasant public opinion (Halkias et al., 2007). Immigrant entrepreneurs are not a new phenomenon in Sweden and according to Hammarstedt (2004) immigrant self-employment compared to native small-businesses has increased throughout the years, and therefore an important role in the integration of immigrants was made possible by the self-employment sector as a source of employment. Rather than that, most of the research done in this topic by many researchers has been focused in factors triggering immigrant entrepreneurs to start a business, but less researchers were focused in understanding the challenges they face and strategies they adopt in order to survive. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify challenges that immigrant entrepreneurs face while starting and running their businesses and analyze how they are interrelated and how do immigrant entrepreneurs cope with them in the setting of a medium-sized town in Sweden. Jönköping as a medium sized town in Sweden is our context. Theoretical framework: The literature used in this study covers studies conducted in different context such as: American, European and Swedish. The conducted studies involve case studies in different context done with immigrant entrepreneurs are mainly about the challenges they face and the strategies they adopt as solutions to those challenges. Such theory helped us identify common challenges among immigrant entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, considering that the existing literature does not explicitly discuss the role of the context (metropolitan, large city, medium-sized town, small (rural town), local community etc), we have to inquire especially into that and use our own data to build a supplementary theory. Method: The method used in this study is a qualitative approach but also with some minor elements of a quantitative approach (the use of the questionnaire during the interviews asked from the respondents to rank the challenges and therefore helped to find out the most significant challenge among them). Considering that generally our study followed a qualitative approach, we have conducted ‘face-to-face’ interviews. There were eight semi-structured interviews. All of the interviews were tape recorded. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that challenges faced by our respondents were: start-up finance, finance for growth, access to markets, lack of language skills, lack of marketing/sales skills, lack of management skills, access to technology, lack of education, lack of visitors to Jönköping, maintaining customers, Swede’s negative views on immigrant businesses, awareness of food among customers, and competition. However, the four most significant challenges among them were: access to markets, start-up finance, lack of language skills and finance for growth. Besides that the findings show that the strategies that are adopted by immigrant entrepreneurs that we interviewed include the following: use of personal savings, use of personal networks, bank loan, enter low market barriers, scanning the market beforehand, asking help from their customers about language barriers or taking a language course before starting, among others. The findings showed that the context is important to a great extent but besides context, in order for the immigrant venture to occur it matters to a great extent, who the individual entrepreneur is and what business idea he/she develops. In addition, they are key factors contributing not only to the immigrant venture occurrence, but also to the success of the business.

Since the introduction of shopping centers, it has become more and more common that the retail trade is taken over by the shopping centers. The shopping centers can offer the customers indoor shopping with stores, cafés and restaurants under the same roof. This comfortability is a competitive advantage for the shopping centers in comparison with other purchasing areas, such as the city core. In Jönköping on the 2nd of April 1987 A6, a large shopping centre at this time the largest in the region, had it opening with great festivities. The merchants located in the city core feared that the large shopping centre would drive them out of business. After negotiations the merchants of the city core of Jönköping, the municipality and A6 made peace. Today the two shopping areas are competing for the same customers, but are they competing on the same grounds? The city core of Jönköping is facing problems with customers leaving, but where are they going? What can be done to attract new customers and gain their old ones? In this report we will try to find out how the city cores can do to gain, maintain and satisfy the customers. This will be done by a quantitative study of the Jönköping city core and the shopping centre A6. Interviews will be done with respondents at both A6 Centre and in the City core of Jönköping. The material we will gather, will be handed over to the organization ‘På Stan’, who is an association working with issues regarding the merchants in the city. Through the interviews with the 200 respondents we accessed three main issues that have an impact on the customer’s choice of shopping location. These three are accessibility, range of stores and environment.

‟Recession‟ and ‟Layoff‟ were the buzz words of late 2008. Economic slowdown and recession have hit the economy hard. At the same time people in society are getting older and the demographic profile of the population is getting increasingly top heavy, with the retirements of the 1940‟s baby boomers expected to peak in 2010. The implications of an increased proportion of old people in society have been debated for some time, but the issue has not become a pressing concern for firms until recently. The purpose of this study is to investigate „How does the economic slowdown and the demographic change affect the recruitment behavior of the firms in the region?, the region being defined as the County of Jönköping and County of Östergötland in southern Sweden. The study is based on an exploratory survey polling respondents about their willingness to employ, the effects that the economic slowdown and demographic change exert on them. The survey was conducted during November 2008. The descriptive and inferential quantitative statistical analysis of the empirical findings and sec-ondary sources draw on contemporary research in the areas of demographic change, economic theory and human resource management. Demographic change is of less importance with regards to firms' willingness to employ than ex-pected and is overshadowed by the lack of skilled and experienced labour, which makes finding a suitable employment not so difficult, even in these recessionary times, if you have the right education, qualification and/or experience. It is hard to give a definitive answer as to how large the effect of the economic slowdown on recruitment is, but it does indeed affect the firms' willingness to employ, and it has generally negative consequences for the overall size of the workforce. Nevertheless, there remains a need for employees fed by the inextinguishable calls for competence and experience. With regards to the general recruitment behaviour, the firms face a dilemma. The weak economic climate commands cost savings. But the widespread call for and concurrent lack of skilled and experienced labour, both in the firms and in the labour market, command resources to be committed to the search for applicants. Furthermore, coping with the challenges of an agediverse workforce will be one of the most important commissions for anyone dealing with human resource management issues in the future. / Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur den ekonomiska avmattningen och den demografiska förändringen påverkar företagens rekrytering i regionen. Region i studien är definierad som Jönköpings och Östergötlands län. Studien bygger på en enkät, utförd november 2008, angående företagens vilja att rekrytera och de effekter som den ekonomiska avmattningen och den demografikas förändringen har på den. Enkätsvaren och sekundär data analyserades med hjälp av beskrivande och jämförande statistisk analys och bygger på en teoretisk referensram hämtad från relevanta forskningskällor inom områdena demografi, nationalekonomi och human resource management. Den demografiska förändringen har mindre effekt på företagens vilja att nyanställa än vad som var väntad och är överskuggad av en kronisk svårighet att hitta utbildad och erfaren arbetskraft. Detta betyder att hitta en anställning i dessa svåra tider inte är så omöjligt som vissa personer föreslår, under den viktiga förutsättningen att man har den rätta utbildningen, de rätta kvalifikationerna eller den rätta erfarenheten. Det är svårt att ge ett definitivt svar på hur stor effekt den ekonomiska avmattningen har på företagens vilja att nyanställa. Klart är dock att den finns en generell negativ ekonomisk effekt som påverkar företagens vilja att nyanställa negativt som även orsakar en generell minskning av den totala sysselsättningen. Dock kvarstår ett behov av att anställa hos företagen på grund ut av den kroniskt höga efterfrågan på kompetens och erfarenhet. Med avseende på den generella rekryteringsbeteende hos företagen står dom inför ett dilemma. Den ekonomiska avmattningen tvingar företagen att spara pengar inom human resources. Den kroniskt höga efterfrågan och bristen på kvalificerad arbetskraft tvingar dock företagen att avvara resurser till att utveckla sin rekrytering för att hitta rätt personal och nyanställa. Företagen måste börja förbereda sig för de utmaningar och förändringar som en allt äldre befolkning innebär på området human rescource management i framtiden.

Svenska högskolor spenderar allt mer pengar på marknadsföring som används i arbetet med att attrahera studenter. Konkurrensen om studenterna är hård högskolorna emellan och resurser satsas på marknadsföring för att överleva i kampen om studenterna. Som i all marknadsföring bör den egna produkten särskiljas från konkurrenter och numera är det inte endast program och kurser som ägnas uppmärksamhet. Staden och dess attraktioner där den aktuella högskolan är belägen får idag en plats i den marknadsföring som sker. Högskolan i Jönköping presenterar Jönköping som stad i sin programkatalog med presumtiva studenter som målgrupp. Det förefaller oss som studenter vid Högskolan i Jönköping intressant att undersöka den bild som sprids av vår stad i programkatalogen. Vårt syfte är därmed att konkretisera en profil utifrån programkatalogens innehåll samt att undersöka huruvida denna profil överensstämmer med inflyttade studenters bild av Jönköping, det vill säga stadens image. Då det fokuseras på tolkning för att nå en ökad förståelse inom området utgår vi från en kvalitativ ansats och använder en sympatisk tolkningsstrategi samt arbetar i samklang med den hermeneutiska cirkeln. Syftet kräver en process av analyser och undersökningar som bryts ned i fyra frågeställningar. Genom dessa når vi följande: en konkretisering av en profil utifrån det innehåll som Högskolan i Jönköping använder i sin programkatalog 08/09, en konkretisering av Jönköpings image, en avstämning av profil och image med den faktiska verkligheten samt förhållandet mellan profil och image. Någon liknande undersökning har tidigare inte genomförts vilket gör vår undersökning relevant för att nå en förståelse för hur profilen förhåller sig till imagen. Resultatet ger en klar och aktuell bild av hur profil och image förhåller sig till varandra. Det framträder att Högskolan i Jönköping presenterar relevanta områden för studenten om Jönköping. Framträdande i undersökningen är att de konkreta exempel som ges i profilen till stor del är irrelevanta för studenten. Exemplen är formade efter en alltför vid målgrupp och stämmer inte överens med studentens bild av vad de olika områdena innefattar. Detta framträdande resultat bidrar till rekommendationer om hur innehållet i programkatalogen kan förbättras. Undersökningen är till nytta för informations- och marknadsföringsavdelningen vid Högskolan i Jönköping att ta del av i arbetet med sin marknadsföring för att sprida en sanningsenlig profil som överensstämmer med studenters bild av Jönköping.

Vår uppsats har sin grund i ett egenintresse för hur kommuner och städer profilerar sig, vårt mål är att försöka förklara skillnader och likheter mellan en mellanstor, Jönköping och en liten kommun, Tranås. Utgångspunkten var att ta reda på hur kommunerna marknadsför och profilerar sig. De frågeställningar som vi använt oss av är resultatet av en genomtänkt arbetsgång, det har varit mycket viktigt att ställa rätt frågor och lägga energi på rätt saker. Nedan följer några av de frågeställningar som förekommit: Hur profilerar sig de olika kommunerna? Vad är citybranding? Vad är placebranding? Finns det likheter eller skillnader i hur en liten och en mellanstor kommun profilerar sig? Valet på metod föll på intervjuer med viktiga personer inom kommunerna som har ett stort inflytande på profileringen för staden. Det var viktigt att eftersträva ett mer djupgående material från ett mindre antal människor och därför var valet att använda sig av intervjuer givet. Vår datainsamling är baserad på både primär och sekundär data. Vårt resultat var både överraskande och inspirerande, det visade sig att de båda kommunerna jobbar på ett liknande sätt. Dock ligger Jönköping steget före Tranås i sin utveckling och profilering. De drar nytta av sitt läge och bra förbindelser samt att de är en residensstad. Alla städer måste profilera sig på sitt sätt och framhäva det som de är bra på och det som finns inom staden. Därför går det inte marknadsföra något som inte finns på platsen utan förutsättningarna är vad platsen erbjuder. Vårt resultat visar att det är viktigt att utnyttja sitt läge på bästa sätt och att ha en positiv bild utåt som lockar till sig invånare, besökare och företag. Sedan visade det sig att de befintliga invånarna i staden spelar en viktig nyckelroll i platsmarknadsföringen. Jönköping använder sig även av en mer bred marknadsföring till skillnad från Tranås. / This paper is a qualitative comparison of two municipalities. The first is Jönköping and the second Tranås. We are trying to see similarities and differences in their way of profiling and marketing themselves in this globalized world. The question at issue for our paper is: How does the two municipality profile themselves? What is city branding? What is place branding? Are there any similarities or differences in the way a small and a bigger municipality profile themselves? The authors have chosen a qualitative method procedure and personal interviews as the primary source of information. The interviewed persons are in some way connected to marketing the both cities and are influential persons within the chosen subject. The results are both surprising and inspiring. The paper shows that both of the municipalities are working in a similar ways. Jönköping on the other way have come a longer way in their development and profiling. Every city has to profile themselves in their own way and find a method that works for them. They also have to bring out a positive image to people, companies and visitors that could be interested in the place. But they should only market things that are included in the place and nothing else. Our conclusion is that the position is important for these two municipalities to make the best of and to represent a positive and collected image of the city for the best results in place branding and try to attract tourists, people and investments to the place. Another big conclusion is that the current people that are living in the city are playing a key role in the success of place marketing or place branding.

The escalating urbanization process has given rise to various complications in the urban structure. One of the major issues is the one concerning urban cohesion. As modern cities are facing a transformation from industrial to knowledge societies, many aspects have to be taken into consideration in the planning of cities. This thesis aims to study the significance of a cohesive city centre from a social and spatial point of view, and to understand modern cities’ development towards innovative Knowledge Cities. The objective is to present proposals for how a unification of a fragmented downtown can be made possible seen from a Knowledge City perspective. The two main research questions of this thesis are answered by literary reviews of existing theories in urban planning, by a case study of the downtown area in the Swedish city of Jönköping, and finally also by a design proposal showing on how urban cohesiveness can be obtained from a Knowledge City perspective. If cities are to become successful knowledge cities they have to promote culture, attractiveness and above all an innovative urban environment. Innovation is mainly achieved by so called “innovation engines” – simple urban elements, such as a café or a library. For innovation to emerge, human interaction and meetings have to occur in the urban environment, why innovation engines are key factors in the development towards knowledge cities. As human interaction is maximized in the simple meetings between people, added interaction possibilities are enabled in public spaces such as a square or a pedestrian street. Public spaces are used as a tool for assembling people in the city. They have positive impact on the city only when they are part of a whole, and works as a network system in the urban structure. This is why urban cohesiveness is essential in the planning of modern cities. Public space is a fundamental feature in the urban structure, endorsing coherence, urban quality and human affiliation, making it an essential element if a city is to be coherent. Cohesion in public spaces can be regulated by the design and planning of cities and either stimulate or dampen the public areas. Gathering people creates opportunities for people to interact on an individual level and thereby stimulate each other, and it is people that need to be gathered rather than buildings. Urban activities and the complementarity between public spaces needs to promote social dynamics, which in turn enhances the urban experience, enables urban cohesion and minimizes social exclusion and urban fragmentation.

The purpose is to understand the planning process for residential buildings and toinvestigate the consequences of the choices made in the process. The project will alsoprovide broader knowledge in the design and development under the current law andpractice.The goal is to present a proposal on how a city near the site where water can bedesigned from a sustainable perspective. How can a residential neighborhood be anenvironmentally sound and sustainable region? New systems and techniques havebeen presented previously in terms of sustainable environments and these are intendedof being used in the project Quarter Water-mirror.The project has been implemented on the computer program ArchiCAD in whichdrawings and visualizations have been carried out. These drawings are included asannexes to the report.For information, calculations and drawings, laws for physical planning and Swedishstandard have been followed.Residential buildings have been designed on a site, which is 2, 5 hectares. This area isexploited to a large extent, have generous space and environmentally friendlyachievements. The sustainable development of the area is supposed to contribute tolong-term management. To create an attractive and interesting environment, a channelhas been incorporated into the field.In the planning has availability, guest/ private parking, infrastructure and in the land,the farm formations, water and solar studies taken into account where the Planningand Building Act has been a starting point.Apartments have been presented with regard to the functioning, transparency andlight. When these factors were crucial in the case of a well-resolved data.The investigations made that refined solutions, including waste disposal, diversion ofwater, etc. existed. These methods will not necessarily be used in Quarter Watermirrorbecause nothing is elucidated. However, these solutions are good practice togive the area a sustainable environment.