The influence of urban design on the safety and security of public spaces has been studied across various disciplines, as the environment shapes human behavior. Feminist theories take this further by asserting that not only do urban elements influence our behavior, but sociocultural characteristics also condition our perception of safety, thus limiting how we use urban spaces. Urban planning is not neutral, and neglecting the needs of the most vulnerable groups in the design process perpetuates societal injustices in the spaces we inhabit. This thesis aims to identify (un)safe areas in Umeå, Sweden, using an intersectional and feminist perspective, incorporating diverse analyses into a GIS workflow. Through a mixed-methods approach that combines GIS analyses with safety perception surveys, the research explores the meanings of urban safety in Sweden's diverse society, assesses concerns overlooked by feminist urban design principles, and examines how Umeå's urban morphology and social context influence perceptions of (un)safety. The findings from surveys and GIS analyses highlight disparities in safety perceptions, influenced by factors such as gender, familiarity with the area, and access to amenities. Significant contrasts are observed between the local population and newcomers, especially regarding definitions of urban safety and prioritized elements. Low-density residential neighbourhoods, lacking everyday facilities and dependent on cars, hinder the development of support networks and accessibility for various groups. In contrast, high-density areas with a wide variety of facilities have greater demographic diversity and better access to support networks. However, safety perceptions in these areas are dichotomous: some feel protected, while others view these urban centers as impersonal and more prone to violence. Incorporating safety perception into urban safety studies is crucial for addressing the real issues of the territory, influenced not only by physical urban design features but also by sociocultural conditions, reputation, or site history. Other factors, such as climate and snow, need further study, as in cold climates like Umeå, they drastically affect urban safety for much of the year. The study underscores the need for integrated urban safety strategies that combine community engagement, inclusive designs, and accurate data analysis to create safer urban environments. Including the population in decision-making for their neighborhoods and raising awareness to create neighborhood identities based on a safe perception is indispensable for developing urban practices with an intersectional perspective.

This comparative study of two urban areas—Kolda, Senegal and the Historic Anacostia Neighborhood in Washington, D.C.—explores how landscape infrastructure can decrease the scalar disconnect between the global water crisis and local water use practices. By looking at one city in the Global North and one in the Global South with similar risk of water stress, I am able to compare cultural aesthetics and engage two different levels of infrastructural build out (World Resources Institute, Water Risk Atlas). The design approach draws inspiration from Lawrence Halprin's notion of "experiential equivalents," and proposes a suite of site scale water sources and seeps (Halprin, Ghirardelli Plaza). Unlike Halprin, whose designs primarily use, interpret, and express natural elements, cultural interactions with water as well as natural systems drive the designs in Kolda and Anacostia. Thus, the speculative designs I am presenting weave the experiences of sourcing water, filtering water, and water seeps into the existing urban and cultural fabric. By taking a systemic and episodic approach to public landscape development, not only will these infrastructural landscapes serve the community but the aesthetic experience of the designs also becomes part of daily life. Perhaps as Elizabeth Meyer theorizes in "Beyond 'Sustaining Beauty'", these designed landscapes "can contribute to…]a new ethos of a sustainable perception and living." Furthermore, this project presents a kit of parts for community-based development, suggesting the ability to extend the landscape infrastructure systems in Kolda and Anacostia and providing the tools for other communities. / Master of Landscape Architecture / In certain places the water supply is threatened by the build out of hard infrastructure designed to separate municipal water flows from the local water system. As globalization and urbanization increase these engineered solutions to water access are spreading to different cultures and climates. This study of two urban areas—Kolda, Senegal and the Historic Anacostia Neighborhood in Washington, D.C.—compares the application of landscape infrastructure in a city in a city in sub-Saharan Africa with one in the Eastern United States. Although Anacostia has abundant water resources and Senegal is in a semi-arid region, the World Resources Institute has determined that they have a similar risk of water stress. The goal of this research is to design culturally appropriate means of integrating landscape-based water infrastructure within the existing urban fabric in order to give residents and visitors a better understanding of the local water cycle. The application of such practices in cities across the world could improve the public understanding of global water issues. The result of this study is a set of tools that cities can use to increase the presence of water in their cities, supporting cultural activities and the local ecosystem, and examples of how to use that kit of parts in Kolda, Senegal and the Historic Anacostia Neighborhood.

"The main role of the art of building is to make our life pleasant and happy, an invaluable vita beata"-Marco Frascari. Vita Beata-the blessed life, the good life-this is why we design and ultimately build. Designers too often forget this important reality and unwittingly design places which may serve the financial expediency of their clients, or their own intellectual hubris, but entirely miss this highest aim of architecture. Such an epicurean design position demands that the highest priority be placed on architectural relationships and conditions which serve people in their endeavor to be reconciled and at peace with their surroundings. This thesis examines three such relationships: the relationship of the house with neighboring houses, the relationship of the house with its site, and the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces. Houses built under today's urban (or suburban) sprawl paradigm often create dysfunction and disharmony in these critical relationships and subtly alienate and harass people in their daily efforts to fulfill their most fundamental human desires. Several precedents from master architects are considered which actively address these important relationships, with very positive results. A small, multi-unit, residential project is proposed with respect to these relationships and in response to the harmful practices of urban sprawl. Our culture desperately needs relevant proposals from architects which address the blight of urban sprawl. Too often, architectural ideas are limited in their relevance because they are conceived in utopian notions that disregard, or naively overlook, important contextual factors and relationships. / Master of Architecture

This research was to develop a real-time, modifiable, tangible interactive tabletop system for participatory urban design. The targeting user group was those stakeholders in urban design charrettes. Previous system solutions overlooked the importance of the modifiable tangible medium in the situation of reaching spatial-temporal consensus. These design issues impeded communication between the stakeholders and the professionals. Users of these systems had difficulties expressing ideas to professionals during the collaborative design process. Literature in evolving technology in the smart city context, collaborative urban design, embodied interaction, and depth-sensing was referred to guide the system design. Based on the review, this research identified the pivotal role of a shapeable and tangible medium in the system. The prototype system unified the modifiable, realistic model with its digital equivalent in urban analytics in real-time. By integrating tangible interaction, depth-sensing, and large touch screen tabletop, an intuitive, immersive decision-making interface for non-professional stakeholders could be created. During the system implementation, system elements centering ‘tangible interoperability’ were documented along the system pipeline. A heuristic evaluation, a method of usability inspection, was conducted to assess and to guide the future system design. The result was promising and inspiring. In the end, challenges and directions of system design were discussed. The contribution of this research included: discovering direction, centering tangibility, implementing a prototype, and documenting elements in each stage along the system pipeline of designing a modifiable tangible interactive tabletop system for the urban design charrette.

Städer och samhällen har under det senaste seklet utvecklats och exploaterats längre norrut men med en avsaknad av ett tydligt arkitektoniskt formspråk anpassat för ett arktiskt och subarktiskt klimat. Somliga forskare hävdar att städer och byggnader i dessa klimat till stor del baseras på universella arkitektoniska och urbana principer, som egentligen är bättre lämpade i tempererade klimat. Syftet med detta ar-bete är att undersöka, identifiera, sammanställa ochvisualisera relevant forskning, kunskap och praktisk kännedom gällande arkitektonisk gestaltning i ett arktiskt och subarktiskt klimat. Att identifiera bidragandefaktorer till komfortabla och attraktiva bostäder och stadsrum med kvalitéer som reducerar uppkomsten av väderrelaterade obehag. För att således, genom ett konceptuellt gestaltningsförslag, kunna visualisera och belysa det arkitektoniska formspråket som är bäst lämpat för det arktiska och subarktiska klimatet. Inledningsvis genomförs en litteraturstudie där till- gänglig forskning studeras med avseende att tydlig-göra vad som definierar arktisk och subarktisk arki- tektur samt klimatanpassat bostadsbyggande. Vidareidentifieras avgörande klimatfaktorer och arkitekto- niska kvaliteter som kan främja ett tydligt formspråk och komfortabla miljöer i dessa krävande klimat. Efter litteraturstudien upprättas en syntes som tillsammans med metoder ur Problem Seeking och Design: pro- cess och metod sammanställer de identifierade kvali- teterna till konkreta principer och strategier. Syntesen resulterade i följande tre klimatfaktorer att ta hänsyn till: Sol, Vind och Snö. Vidare resulterade syntes i följande nio byggnadsrelaterade faktorer: Volymer, Tak, Fasad, Entré, Markplan, Innergårdar samt mer urbana delar som: Gator, Vegetation och Aktiviteter. För att applicera dessa identifierade principer ochstrategier valdes ett tillämpningsområde med klimat- förutsättningar likt de som studerats. Tillämpningsområdet blev två kvarter i Kirunas nya stadsdel, nordväst om nya centrum. En platsanalys genomfördes med hjälp av välkända analysmetoder där information tillhandahållits genom Kirunas utvecklingsplan, fördjupande översiktsplan samt det vinnande täv- lingsbidraget för den nya stadsdelen, Kiruna 4-ever. Det konceptuella gestaltningsförslaget, som är arbetets resultat, baseras på den upprättade synte- sen tillsammans med resultatet av de analyser som genomförts med avseende på tillämpningsområdet. Gestaltningsförslaget utgör två bostadskvarter i linjer med Kirunas utvecklingsplan gällande utformning ochfunktion samt det identifierade arkitektoniska principerna. En höggradig funktionsblandning, levande och inbjudande gatumiljöer, attraktiva stråk, torg och parker samt en tydlig närhet till naturen är några av de kvaliteter som framgår i förslaget. Tillsammans med de väl avvägda och anpassade kombinationerna av designprinciper för arktisk och subarktisk arkitektur. Då gestaltningsförslaget är utformat på en övergripande konceptuell nivå, där fokus legat på attapplicera de identifierade principerna, anses detinte vara en fullständig produkt. Fortsatt arbete med och utveckling av det termiska klimatet samt interiöra faktorerna föreslås, som inte nödvändigtvis bör påverka den förslagna exteriöra utformningen. Det sammanställda och identifierade principernapresenteras på sida 47 i rapporten. Medan gestaltningsförslaget i sin helhet presenteras på sida 85. / Cities and communities have moved and developed further north over the last century, but with a lack of a clear architectural design adapted to the arctic and sub-arctic climate. Some researchers argue that cities and buildings in these climates are largely based on universal architectural and urban principles, which are actually better suited in temperate climates. The purpose of this work is to investigate, identify, compile and visualize relevant research, knowledge and practical knowledge regarding architectural design in an arctic and sub-arctic climate. To identify contributing factors to comfortable and attractive homes and urban spaces with qualities that reduce the occurrence of weatherrelated discomfort. In order to, through a conceptual design proposal, be able to visualize and illuminate the architectural design that is best suited to the arctic and sub-arctic climate. Initially, a literature study is conducted in which available research is studied with regard to clarifywhat defines arctic and sub-arctic architecture and climateadapted housing construction. Furthermore, crucial climate factors and architectural qualities are identified that can promote a clear design languageand comfortable environments in these demanding climates. After the literature study, a synthesis is established which together with methods like Problem Seeking and Design: process and method compilethe identified qualities to concrete principles and strategies. The synthesis resulted in the following three climate factors to take into account: Sun, Wind and Snow. Furthermore, synthesis resulted in the fol- lowing nine building-related factors: Volumes, Roofs, Facade, Entrance, Ground plan, courtyards and urban factors such as: Streets, Vegetation and Activities. In order to apply these identified principles andstrategies, an application area with climate conditions similar to those studied was chosen. The application area became two blocks in Kiruna's new city plan, northwest of new center. A site ana- lysis was carried out using well known analysis methods where the necessary information was provided through Kiruna's development plan, indepth overview plan and the winning competition contribution for the new city plan, Kiruna 4-ever. The conceptual design proposal, which is the result of the work, is based on the established synthesis together with the result of the analyzes carried outwith respect to the field of application. The designproposal constitutes two residential blocks in lines with Kiruna's development plan regarding design andfunction and the identified architectural principles. A high quality functional mix, vibrant and inviting street environments, attractive streets, squares and parks as well as a clear connection to nature are some of the qualities that appear in the proposal. Along with the well-balanced and adapted combinations of design principles for arctic and sub-arctic architecture. Since the design proposal is designed on an overall conceptual level, where the focus has beenon applying the identified principles, it is not considered a complete product. Continued work on and development of the thermal climate and interior factors is proposed, which should not ne- cessarily affect the proposed exterior design.The crucial and identified principles are presented on page 47 of the report. While the design proposal as a whole is presented on page 85.

Espaces publics ? Quel projet – de ville et de société - sous-tend les aménagements ? Quelles sont les visions des aménageurs ? Quelles sont les normes et les valeurs qu’ils défendent à travers leurs projets ? Que représente pour eux l’espace public ? Quelle définition en donnent-ils ?Ces questions trouvent une résonnance particulière à Dresde et à Chemnitz : elles sont ces dernières années toutes deux l’objet d’un programme de création et de transformation de leurs espaces publics centraux. Ces deux terrains ne sont pas intéressants pour l’étude de l’imaginaire planificateur qu’en raison de l’importance du programme mené (pas moins de six nouveaux espaces chacune) mais aussi en raison de l’histoire particulière des deux villes. Dresde et Chemnitz ont vu leur centre-ville presque entièrement détruit sous les bombardements alliés en 1945 et seulement partiellement reconstruit sous la RDA selon des principes urbanistiques tout à fait nouveaux. Le choix auquel les planificateurs sont confrontés depuis la chute du régime socialiste et la Réunification est celui du modèle à suivre pour finir de reconstruire le centre-ville toujours inachevé. L’absence quasi-totale de patrimoine à conserver ne rend pas nécessaire le travail de négociation avec les conservateurs du patrimoine, habituellement au cœur de tous les projets contemporains en Europe. Dresde et Chemnitz présentent donc des cas d’étude particulièrement passionnants car les acteurs de la planification jouissent d’une très grande liberté d’action qui leur permet de mettre en œuvre sans entrave juridique leur conception actuelle de l’aménagement des espaces publics. Il serait donc possible ici mieux qu’ailleurs de lire l’imaginaire planificateur contemporain. / Which are the representations that guide the planning actors along their public spaces conception? Which project, -of city, of society- underlies the urban planning? Which are the visions of the planners? Which norms, which values do they want to defend through their project? What is for them the meaning of public space? What is their own definition?These questions are finding a particular echo in Dresden and Chemnitz: these two cities have been the subject for a few years of a creation and transformation program of their central public spaces. These two fields are interesting for the study of the planner’s imagination not only due to the importance of the program led (not less than six new public spaces in each city) but also due to specific history of both cities. The center of Dresden and Chemnitz has been almost completely destroyed by the allied bombardments in 1945 and it has been only partially rebuilt under the GDR according to completely new urbanistic principles. Since the fall of the Socialist Regime and the Reunification, the question of the planners is which model is to be followed to achieve the reconstruction of the still unfinished city center.The almost complete lack of architectural heritage to protect does not make it necessary to negotiate with the architectural heritage officers who are in Europe at the heart of all contemporary projects. In that respect, Dresden and Chemnitz are particularly entrancing, because the planning actors enjoy a very large liberty to implement without any legal obstruction their conception of the urban planning. It would be possible here than better anywhere else to read the contemporary planning imagination.

Designing winter cities after the conditions of the winter weather entails unique challenges that require urban planning that is adapted to the specific conditions. One challenge is enabling transportation and accessibility despite heavy snowfall and slippery road surfaces. Understanding these challenges that may arise during the planning and designing of winter cities is crucial for achieving sustainable urban development. As the population increases and climate changes become increasingly unpredictable, winter cities must be planned to optimize land use and create comfortable living spaces. This is essential for preserving important values of nature and cultural values, as well as creating livable environments regardless of the climate. The purpose of this study is to compile and map the challenges of designing winter cities and identify strategies and solutions for sustainable urban planning in cold climates. Through a literature review as a method, a thematization of research and studies in the subject area was compiled and conducted. The thematization resulted in three main themes: Urban design and layout, Operations and maintenance, and Transportation and street space. Thus, the results consist of these themes and associated subheading for each theme. The study shows that winter cities must actively consider multiple aspects, including the need for microclimates, efficient snow clearing, prioritization of soft mobility, and innovative alternatives such as winter trails. Weighing different interests against and considering both practical and aesthetic aspects is crucial in the planning process. The study also highlights the importance of managing conflicts between different modes of transportation and the potential role of winter trails in promoting sustainable mobility. The study suggests exploring alternative solutions for winter trails and how snow management can be made more efficient through further research. This way, urban planners can create sustainable and inviting winter cities for both residents and visitors / Utformningen av vinterstäder efter vinterförhållanden medför unika utmaningar som kräver en stadsplanering som är väl anpassad till de specifika förutsättningarna. En utmaning är att möjliggöra transport och tillgänglighet trots stora snömängder och halt underlag. Förståelsen kring utmaningar som kan uppkomma vid planering och utformning av vinterstäder är avgörande för att uppnå en hållbar stadsutveckling. I takt med att befolkningen ökar och klimatförändringar blir alltmer oförutsägbara måste vinterstäder planeras för effektivisering av markanvändning och behaglig livsmiljö. Detta är viktigt för att bevara värdefulla natur-och kulturvärden, men även för att skapa miljöer som går att bo på oavsett klimat. Syftet med denna studie är att sammanställa och kartlägga utmaningarna med att utforma vinterstäder och identifiera möjliga strategier och lösningar för hållbar stadsplanering i kallt klimat. Genom en litteraturöversikt som metod sammanställdes och utfördes en tematisering av forskning och studier inom ämnesområdet. Tematiseringen mynnade ut i tre huvudteman; Urban design och utformning, Drift och underhåll och Transport och gaturum. Således utgörs resultatet av dessa teman samt tillhörande underrubriker för respektive tema. Studien visar att vinterstäder aktivt måste beakta flera aspekter, bland annat behovet av mikroklimat, effektiv snöröjning, prioritering av mjuk mobilitet samt nytänkande alternativ såsom vinterleder. Att väga olika intressen mot varandra och samtidigt beakta både praktiska och estetiska aspekter är avgörande i planeringsprocessen. Studien framhäver också vikten av att hantera konflikter mellan olika transportmedel samt rollen som vinterleder skulle kunna spela för att främja hållbar mobilitet. Studien föreslår att man utforskar alternativa lösningar för vinterleder samt hur snöhanteringen skulle kunna effektiviseras, detta genom vidare forskning. På så sätt kan stadsplanerare skapa hållbara och inbjudande vinterstäder för både boende och besökare.

Sustainable development is today a matter of course in national and municipal strategic management and is based on three dimensions; social sustainability, environmental sustainability and economic sustainability. In recent years, the concept has developed and there is now more focus on all dimensions of sustainability. Where previously the focus was mainly on the development of environmental technology to meet environmental targets, government authorities are now increasingly focusing on social and cultural perspectives. However, social sustainability is difficult to measure in parallel to new measuring methods being in demand as well as a need for national governance and regulation. According to the Swedish Plan- och Bygglagen (PBL), municipalities are obliged to carry out environmental impact assessments where an assessment is made of the impact an urban development project will have. However, there is no legal requirement for corresponding social impact analysis or to analyze sustainability from a more holistic perspective. It is up to each individual municipality to work for sustainable urban and community planning and development using local targets, goals and guidelines.     In traditional urban planning processes it is during the consultation phase that the voice of the citizen is captured, where the focus is on creating input for decisions and enabling transparency and allowing for their influence. Despite this, many citizens are not aware of their influential possibilities, and where the value and result of citizen participation will depend on the availability and competence of resources engaged in the excercise. Critics argue that the voice of the citizen is often captured too late in the process, making it difficult to integrate new insights and manage different opinions. A change to the process is called for to challenge existing power structures and create a more inclusive and fair urban planning, but its feasibility is in question.      Placemaking is a method used in urban planning that claims to promote social sustainability in urban planning. The method focuses, among other things, on improving and maximizing values in public places through early activation of the place, temporary design, iterative citizen participation and collaboration between stakeholders.     The purpose of this study is to investigate whether, through the method of placemaking with early activation, temporary design and iterative citizen participation in the design of new city districts, sustainability can be increased from a holistic perspective while affirming the residents’ right to the city. The study also aims to map key factors that the design process should include when designing new city districts.      The study takes a qualitative approach and is based on the method of triangulation where analysis of objects and questions are studied from more than one perspective. The study is based on case studies consisting of document research, interviews and observations. The research and analysis of documents has been used to summarize Malmö municipality’s standard procedure for urban design processes, researching theory and to gauge the current level of knowledge on the subject of sustainability. These are supplemented with qualitative interviews and observations providing empirical data from the field and serves to examine the subject from a different point of view, creating a more comprehensive picture of the subject. The study’s results argue that when designing new city districts there can be great benefits from using the placemaking method to increase all three dimensions of sustainability. The results from interviews, case study subjects and own observations also show that placemaking is used to an ever greater extent in the design of urban environments and that there are currently good examples of successful urban development projects that have adopted the method and that can pave the way for the method’s use in more courageous municipalities and among private actors. The aim of the study is to highlight the advantages of the placemaking method when designing new city districts. The study’s discussion therefore presents an example of a project and communication plan that can be used when applying placemaking with its various components as a method in an urban development project. A finding while working on the study is that more research is still needed on the subject to give the method more impact at both local and national level, as measurable goals for how to achieve social sustainability have not yet been agreed upon while the method’s tools can be further developed, but the study aims to urge that more dare to be brave and invest in a holistic approach to sustainability and attack all three dimensions in future urban development projects already now. / Hållbar utveckling är idag en självklarhet i nationell och kommunal strategisk styrning och bygger på tre dimensioner; social hållbarhet, miljömässig hållbarhet och ekonomisk hållbarhet. De senaste åren har begreppet utvecklats och det fokuseras nu mer på alla dimensioner av hållbarhet. Där man förut fokuserat främst på utveckling av miljöteknik fokuserar man nu på regeringsnivå allt mer på sociala och kulturella perspektiv. Den sociala hållbarheten är dock svår att mäta och samtidigt som nya mätmetoder efterfrågas uttalas också ett behov av nationell styrning och reglering. Enligt Plan- och bygglagen (PBL) är kommuner skyldiga att utföra miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar där en bedömning görs av vilken påverkan på miljön som en plans genomförande kan få. Däremot finns inget lagligt krav på motsvarande sociala konsekvensanalyser eller att analysera hållbarhet i ett mer holistiskt perspektiv. Där är det upp till varje enskild kommun att arbeta för hållbar stads- och samhällsplanering genom lokala mål och riktlinjer.  Samrådsfasen i traditionella planprocesser är den vanliga formen av medborgarinflytande, där fokus ligger på att skapa beslutsunderlag och möjliggöra insyn och påverkan. Trots detta är många medborgare inte medvetna om sina påverkningsmöjligheter, och ökat medborgarinflytande kan vara beroende av tillgängliga resurser. Kritiker hävdar att medborgarinflytande ofta kommer för sent i processen, vilket försvårar integrering av nya insikter och hantering av åsikter. En förändring av processen efterfrågas för att utmana befintliga maktstrukturer och skapa en mer inkluderande och rättvis stadsplanering, men dess genomförbarhet är ifrågasatt.  Placemaking är en metod inom stadsplanering som påstås främja social hållbarhet inom stadsplanering. Metoden fokuserar bland annat på att förbättra och maximera värden på offentliga platser genom tidig aktivering av platsen, temporär gestaltning, iterativt medborgardeltagande och samarbete mellan intressenter.  Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om man genom metoden placemaking med tidig platsaktivering, temporär gestaltning och iterativt medborgardeltagande vid gestaltning av nya stadsdelar kan öka hållbarheten samtidigt som invånarnas rätt till staden bejakas. Studien syftar också till att kartlägga nyckelfaktorer som gestaltningsprocessen bör innehålla vid gestaltning av nya stadsdelar.  Studien är av kvalitativ ansats och utgår från metoden triangulering där analysobjekt och frågeställningar studeras från mer än en synvinkel. Studien utgår från fallstudier bestående av dokumentstudier, intervjuer och observationer. Dokumentstudier har använts för att sammanställa Malmö stads standardförfarande vid gestaltningsprocesser, teoridelen samt kunskapsläget kring hållbarhet. Dessa kompletteras med kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer för sammanställning av mer praktisk information inom området och analys av våra fallstudieobjekt för att undersöka ämnet från olika synvinklar och att skapa en bättre helhet.  Studien visar resultat som argumenterar för att man vid gestaltning av nya stadsdelar kan ha stora fördelar av att använda sig av metoden placemaking för att öka alla tre dimensioner av hållbarheten. Resultaten från intervjuer, fallstudieobjekt och egna observationer visar också på att placemaking används i allt större utsträckning vid gestaltning av urbana miljöer och att det i dagsläget nu finns bra exempel av lyckade stadsutvecklingsprojekt som anammat metoden och som kan bana väg för metodens användning i fler modiga kommuner och bland privata aktörer. Studien har som avsikt att lyfta metoden placemaking vid just gestaltning av nya stadsdelar. I studiens diskussion presenteras därför ett exempel på en projekt- och kommunikationsplan som kan användas vid tillämpning av placemaking med dess olika beståndsdelar som metod i ett stadsutvecklingsprojekt.  Det framgår i studien att det fortfarande behövs mer forskning i ämnet för att ge metoden mer genomslagskraft på både lokal- och nationell nivå bland annat då man ännu inte landat i mätbara mål för hur man uppnår social hållbarhet och metodens verktyg kan utvecklas, men studien vill ändå uppmana att fler vågar vara modiga och satsa på ett holistiskt förhållningssätt till hållbarhet och angripa alla tre dimensioner i framtida stadsutvecklingsprojekt redan nu.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Jason Brody / BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Civic spaces are important nodes of community life. Especially in an urban context, civic spaces provide a necessary place that people can gather for events, meet others, and experience openness in an otherwise crowded environment. However, not all civic spaces are successful in providing these opportunities to city dwellers. Washington Square in Kansas City, Missouri is one such civic space that is currently underused and unsuccessful. Traditional methods of analyzing public spaces can be supplemented by a social media-based methodology of analysis. Analyzing social media posts submitted within the geographic boundaries of a civic space offers rich insights into the public perception and usage of these places. The application of a social media-based methodology to Washington Square results in the development of solutions for addressing this space’s dilemmas and Kansas City’s goals for the area. METHODS: Instagram and Twitter posts are collected within the geographic boundaries of Washington Square and three other civic spaces—which have been identified as exhibiting characteristics of Kansas City’s goals for Washington Square. Using thematic coding, geographic analysis, and textual analysis, these posts are analyzed to discover how people are using and perceiving these civic spaces. This data is synthesized to create solutions for the redevelopment of Washington Square. FINDINGS & CONCLUSION: This research demonstrates that a social media-based analysis can effectively inform planners and designers of the ways in which people use and perceive civic spaces. The application of this methodology to Washington Square has led to the creation of nine solutions. These solutions aim to improve Washington Square’s functionality, its identity, and its interaction with the surrounding urban environment.

I uppsatsen undersöks det komplexa området offentliga rum. Det är de fysiska ramarna i förhållande till hur de påverkar människan som studeras i arbetet. Det finns inga universallösningar för hur offentliga rum ska utformas. Denna studie eftersträvar att mer konkret urskilja vad det är som gör vissa offentliga rum mer attraktiva och välanvända än andra. Arbetet består av en fallstudie där elva offentliga rum i Malmö och Göteborg inventeras, analyseras och observeras. I arbetet genomförs även en litteraturstudie och intervjuer med praktiker som arbetar med offentliga miljöer. I resultatet har det framgått att det finns ett flertal olika aspekter som har betydelse för upplevelsen och användningen av offentliga rum. Det har även framgått att det finns andra förutsättningar än rummets utformning som påverkar hur olika platser upplevs och används. De aspekter som berör utformningen av offentliga rum har ställts mot varandra vilket har gjort att vissa av dem har framträtt som mer betydande än andra vad gäller användningen och upplevelsen av offentliga rum. Bland annat diskuteras, sittplatser, vattenelement, kanter samt rummets form och storlek. / In this thesis we analyse the complexity of public space and focus on how physical aspects affect the way people experience and use them. There are no universal answers to the question of how public places should be designed. This study aims to identify specific principles that determine why some public spaces are more attractive and well-attended compared to others. The thesis is based on a case study where eleven public spaces in Malmö and Göteborg were inventoried, analysed and observed. Interviews with professionals who work with public spaces on a daily basis and a literature study were also included. The results show that there are many different aspects that are important to take into account when a public place is designed. However, there are also aspects mentioned in this thesis that suggests that the design has no or little impact on how people use or experience public spaces. Overall, we conclude that there are certain aspects and elements that are more significant than others regarding how people utilize and experience a public place. Seating areas, water elements, scale and edges are some of the elements discussed in the thesis.