Stockholm is a city of bridges. But we rarely pay attention to what happens below them. Many of these spaces are centrally located in the city, yet perceived as peripheral due to their uncertain programmatic status and rough physical appearance, also referred to as loose space. Some are integrated in the urban fabric; others are more inaccessible and thus become forgotten spots detached from the rapid development of the rest of the city. The space below the bridges of Skanstull is an example of the latter. After many years of being in the shadow of the city, giving space for outdoor parties, graffiti painters and more recently urban farming, it is now being under pressure of a large scale redevelopment project. But do these spaces carry meaning that is neglected in the common notion of public space? How can we as planners use our tools in order to encourage the existence of a larger diversity of forms, spaces and uses?

Skateboarding and parkour are categorized as urban sports, which are a type of lifestyle sports that are primarily practiced within urban environments. Compared to regular sports, these sports have a focuson personal enjoyment and freedom to set your own goals. Sport and physical activity are an important factor in both physical health and the development of mental and social skills, but not all sports have the same needs, nor are they treated equally. To gain a better understanding for how the practitioners of urban sports view themselves and what their needs are in relation to sport, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted, where 6 participants were asked about factors relating to aspects of the sport, relationship to the spaces they occupy and how other practitioners and non-practitioners interacted with them to better understand the relationship between these practitioners and the spaces they occupy. The results of this study were then presented in relation to the theory of loose spaces to explain why these spaces are important to the practitioners, and how their needs for both space and sport can be met from a municipal perspective. The findings show that the participants have common themes between them, and that space becomes an important factor to the participants because it gives them a sense of reality in their practice. The participants describe that without this sense of reality the practice of urban sports becomes artificial and loses meaning to them.To encourage participation in these sports from a municipal perspective there are two key points, availability of space where practitioners aren’t exposed to bystanders and working with public acceptance of sport as a lifestyle activity that doesn’t have to be delegated to specific sporting arenas.