Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly developing technology which in this project refers to software that given objectives generate content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing their environment. Using literature reviews and semi-structured interviews, the current and future uses, sentiments, regulations, and risks of AI in urban planning and governance are gathered. While current uses are few, the potential capabilities range from highly complex and large-scale, to small-scale and routine tasks. These tasks include smart resource management, predictive analysis, digital personal assistance, intelligent data processing, and visualization and recommendation. The general goal is to better reinvest human time and effort, for instance in providing meaningful citizen interactions. A lack of good governance and regulation of AI could permit profit-driven technology companies to control the discourse, possibly contributing to issues of public trust, lack of transparency and accountability, inequality, and public participation. Organisations and nations including the UN, EU, and Sweden have formulated strategies for AI, and the EU is currently developing the first regulatory framework for AI facilitating the protection of good operation, design, inclusivity, and privacy of the systems. Further research and debate on this topic is needed to ensure that AI is developed, implemented, and used ethically and responsibly. / Artificiell intelligens (AI) är en snabbt utvecklande teknologi som i detta projekt avser programvara som med givna mål genererar innehåll, förutsägelser, rekommendationer eller beslut som påverkar dess omgivning. Genom litteraturöversikter och semistrukturerade intervjuer har de aktuella och framtida användningsområdena, åsikterna, regleringarna och riskerna med AI inom stadsplanering och styrning samlats in. Trots att de nuvarande användningsområdena är få sträcker sig de potentiella förmågorna från mycket komplexa och storskaliga till småskaliga rutinuppgifter. Dessa uppgifter inkluderar smart resurshantering, prediktiv analys, digital personlig assistans, intelligent databehandling samt visualisering och rekommendation. Det övergripande målet är att investera mänsklig tid och ansträngning på ett bättre sätt, exempelvis genom att erbjuda meningsfulla interaktioner med medborgare. En brist på god styrning och reglering av AI skulle kunna tillåta vinstdrivna teknikföretag att kontrollera diskursen, vilket kan leda till problem med allmänhetens förtroende, brist på transparens och ansvar, ojämlikhet och offentlig delaktighet. Organisationer och nationer inklusive FN, EU och Sverige har formulerat strategier för AI, och EU utvecklar för närvarande det första regelverket för AI för att underlätta god drift, utformning, inkludering och integritet hos systemen. Ytterligare forskning och debatt om detta ämne behövs för att säkerställa att AI utvecklas, implementeras och används på ett etiskt och ansvarsfullt sätt

I denna kandidatuppsats har vi undersökt vår frågeställning ifall det är långsiktigt ekonomiskgynnsamt att rusta upp och renovera närområden i miljonprogram med utgångspunkt ifaktorer inom social hållbarhet. Detta har gjorts genom en kvalitativ analys baserad påintervjuer av fastighetsägare och byggbolag samt tidigare studier och teoretiskautgångspunkter. Till dessa valdes viktiga faktorer ut. För att kunna svara på vår frågeställningbehövdes de faktorer som fåtts från teoretiska utgångspunkter, tidigare studier samt intervjuerdelas upp i kategorier. Dessa valdes ut ifrån Östgötamodellen och sattes som grund, mednågra mindre justeringar. Östgötamodellens sista kategori byttes ut från “Kön, ålder och arv”till “Transparens och delaktighet”. De faktorer som inte kunde tilldelas en kategori sattes som“Icke tilldelad”.Efter indelningen i kategorier analyserades likheter och skillnader i fokus och vid jämförelsenmellan teoretiska utgångspunkter, intervjuer och tidigare studier kunde ett glapp mellanfastighetsägare och byggbolagens beslutsfattande organ uppfattas. Detta skulle kunna vara enanledning till varför social hållbarhet inte legat i fokus och inte prioriterats tidigare. Dockskulle detta behöva utvärderas mer för att kunna säkerställas.För att få företagen att satsa på sociala investeringar och upprustning av närområdet kringmiljonprogram, i större utsträckning, behövs långsiktigt ekonomiskt gynnsamhet bevisas.Först då kan det finnas intresse från företagens beslutande organ att även titta på den socialahållbarhetens kategorier vid avgörandet i huruvida ett projekt borde genomföras eller inte.Detta är svårt att visa på idag då många av projekten som skulle kunna generera denna typ avdata i framtiden är i startgropen, och resultat från projekten har helt enkelt inte utvärderats än. / In this bachelor thesis, we have investigated if it is economically beneficial to restore thesurrounding areas in the Million Programme based on factors of social sustainability. Aqualitative analysis has been made based on interviews with property owners, constructioncompanies, previous studies and selected factors of various theoretical concepts. To answerour question, the factors were divided into different categories. The categories were selectedfrom Östgötamodellen, with some minor adjustments. The last category of Östgötamodellen,“Gender, Age and Heritage”, was replaced by “Transparency and Participation”. The factorswithout a particular assigned category were set as “unallocated”After categorising the factors of social sustainability, similarities and differences in focuswere analysed. In the comparison between theoretical concepts, interviews and previousstudies, a gap between property owners and the decisions that are made within theconstruction companies were highlighted. That might be a reason why social sustainabilityhas not been prioritised before. This could merely be a matter of speculations and thereforeneeds to be evaluated further.In order to get companies to invest in social initiatives and restore the surrounding areaswithin the Million Programme; the long-term economic benefits must be proven. If this canbe achieved, there may be a change in how the decisions are made when evaluating whether aproject should be implemented or not. Due to the fact that a lot of the projects are relativelynew and have not been evaluated yet, it is difficult to prove if these projects can generateeconomic benefits in the future.

De svenska städerna har genom tiderna planerats på olika sätt och olika visioner och mål har styrt städernas utformning. Under 1600-talet stod städernas handel i fokus och städerna planerades på ett schematiskt sätt med tullar i flera väderstreck. Städer som var viktiga för landets försvar utformades med befästningar i utkanterna. Under stormaktstiden anlade staten många nya städer, man anlade dem på strategiska lägen för försvar, styrning och administration. Under 1800-talet hade folk tröttnat på att de schematiska städerna brann ner och för att undvika det började man anlägga breda gator som skulle förhindra spridning över gata. Under 1800-talet började också järnvägar anläggas i många städer och stadsbefolkningen ökade. Fler offentliga byggnader byggdes i monumental stil och städerna gjordes representativa – järnvägen var stadens framsida och kvarteren runt järnvägen smyckades extra. Industrierna började på slutet av 1800-talet etablera sig i städerna och stadsbefolkningen ökade ytterligare – miljön blev väldigt dålig till följd. Förutom den dåliga miljön var trångboddhet och bostadsbrist ett stort problem. 1874 infördes en ny byggnadsstadga som kom att bli väldigt viktig. Under 1900-talet började staten ta större ansvar för det sociala och bostadspolitiken fick stort fokus. Staten ville lösa 1800-talets problem och genom en omfattande bostadspolitisk reform lyckades man med det. Lånesubventioner som satte krav på byggnadsutformningen, nya möjligheter att detaljreglera marken och en rationell stadsplanering gjorde att man 1970 hade byggt bort bostadsbristen, trångboddheten och höjt bostadsstandarden för hela den svenska befolkningen. Genom tiden har andra länder inspirerat och påverkat hur de politiska vindarna har blåst, hur stadsplanerarnas visioner har sett ut och hur regleringarna har utformats. Målet har alltid varit att skapa en god stad och lösa problemen som de tidigare idealen skapat. Krig, invandring, utvandring och ekonomiska kriser utom och inom Sverige har också skapat problem som behövt lösas genom politik, stadsplanering och regleringar. / The cities of Sweden have been planned differently during different times in history, following different methods, visions and goals for the cities. During the 17th century the main focus was on trading and therefore the cities were planned on the basis of that, resulting in a simple way with tolls around the city. Cities of great importance for the defence were equipped with fortification on the outskirts. Many cities were founded during this era, not spontaneously, but for defending and were therefore placed in strategic ways. The King had plans of expanding the kingdom and to be able to do so it would require cities for regulating and administrating purposes. During the 19th century people were tired of seeing the schematic cities burning down and to avoid that boulevards were laid to prevent fires from spreading. It was also during this period that railways were laid in many cities. More and more public buildings were built in a monumental style and the cities were made representative – railroads would serve as the front of the city and the neighbourhoods surrounding the railroad would be adorned with lavish designs. Furthermore, industries were established during this time consequently leading to a larger population and also a degraded environment.  During the 20th century the government started taking a larger responsibility for social and housing policies. The government wanted to solve the problems of the previous century and was able to do so after implementing extensive reforms. Subsidized loans implemented by the government putting constraints on building designs, new opportunities of detail control and a rational urban planning made it possible to eradicate most of the problems encountered during the 19th century by the mid-1900s and thereby raising the standard of housing. During the ages other countries have inspired and affected the political situation and also the visions of urban planners resulting in the way regulations have been designed. The goal has always been to create a good city. Wars, immigration, emigration and economic crises within and outside of Sweden have also been causes of issues that have been solved through politics, urban planning and regulations.

Renewing the current thirdspace model is a critical step towards creating a sustainable future for cities. A thirdspace must possess specific qualities that go beyond simply creating conversation and building community. It must foster meaningful dialogue that inspires civic mobilization and drives action toward sustainability. Mobilization is seen as the antithesis to the number one problem in thirdspaces today: capitalist consumerism. In order for a thirdspace to be transformational, it must allow for the creation of strong and resilient networks within communities - both socially and ecologically. This project explores the challenge of renewing the thirdspace model in order to create urban transformation. By first, analyzing the transformation of thirdspaces in the site of Hägerstensåsen, Midsommarkransen, and Telefonplan; identifying the key opportunities and challenges posed by the context towards thirdspaces; and accumulating situated knowledges, we identified 3 key principles of transformation leading us into strategies to be applied in the site. In doing so, we challenge the dominant consumption patterns and lifestyles by proposing a thirdspace future where kinship with nature co-exists with kinship with community through a network of thirdspaces that are spatially designed and programmatically specific to expand from creating conversation and community into creating meaningful dialogue that activates civic mobilization.

The city of Falun has a rich history of mining with the open mine, Stora Stöten, centrally located in the city and nowadays a well-known world heritage tourist attraction. The mine is the main reason that Falun even exists. During its glory days, Falun was one of Sweden’s largest cities, at that time considered to be world-leading in mine engineering and Europe’s main supplier of copper.  A less flattering effect of the mining era was that the city became poisonous and almost unhabitable. Both waters from the mine and from piles of mining waste ended up in rivers and lakes around Falun. Over the years several successful actions have been taken to improve and restore the environment which has decreased the amount of heavy metals leaked into Faluån and lake Tisken. Though, the water is still polluted, and Tisken has in practice for a long period of time worked as a deposit with an increasing amount of poisonous sediments.  This has unfortunately made Falun central waterbodies disabled for human use and made humans no longer have a relationship to the water despite its central location, importance, and potential for the city.  This thesis project seeks to unlock the lost potential of water in Falun by reviving it as a living and interweaved spine in the city in a systematic and schematic approach. The project aims to address the polluted water and sediment challenges while promoting sustainable stormwater and flooding management. A connected green structure linked with a movement network for pedestrians and bicyclists promotes sustainable transport to the spine and existing nodes in the city. The different layers in the project enable new nodes with new potentials for Falun

Med tanke på att mer än hälften av jordens befolkning numera lever i städer och trenden fortsätter stiga, blir det allt viktigare att skapa resilienta städer. Städer som är resilienta är mer motståndskraftiga och mindre känsliga mot störningar. För att rikta fokus mot kommunal planering har inriktning gjorts mot begreppet social-ekologisk resiliens. En stad som är social-ekologiskt resilient kan främja ekosystemtjänster långsiktigt i de störningar urbana miljöer kan utsättas för. Ekosystemtjänster är beroende av biologisk mångfald och för att inte göra avkall på biologisk mångfald är det viktigt att markanvändningen planeras väl. I studiens teoretiska referensram beskrivs därför sex strategier som kan användas inom kommunal planering för att främja social-ekologisk resiliens. Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur kommunalt planeringsarbete ser ut för social-ekologisk resiliens i dagsläget samt vilka likheter och skillnader som finns kopplat till experters utlåtanden och studiens teoretiska referensram. Målet är att redogöra för denna skillnad och hur det skiljer sig för att synliggöra vad som behöver förbättras på kommunal nivå för att främja social-ekologisk resiliens. Metoden för att ta reda på det var i form av kvalitativa intervjuer av experter samt kommunala planerare från tre av Sveriges största kommuner: Stockholm, Göteborg och Uppsala. Till de kommunala intervjuerna gjordes även en kompletterande innehållsanalys av de tre kommunernas översiktsplaner för att ge ytterligare information där den var bristande i resultatet av intervjuerna. En jämförelse gjordes sedan mellan social-ekologisk resiliens enligt experternas utlåtande, teoretiska referensramen och kommunal planering.  Resultatet visar att kunskap om begreppet social-ekologisk resiliens saknas bland de studerade kommunerna. Alla kommuners planering strävar efter att arbeta för vad Folke (2006) definierar som social-ekologisk resiliens utan att göra det medvetet. Det finns kopplingar till begreppet inom dessa kommuners planering, men används inte aktivt att sträva efter i planeringen. Däremot arbetar samtliga av kommunerna indirekt med strategier för social-ekologisk resiliens med prioritering av de kortsiktiga, rekreativa och hälsofrämjande kvaliteterna för människan. Med grund i den bristande kunskapen och den indirekta planeringen för social-ekologisk resiliens dras slutsats i att den viktigaste av strategierna är att bredda deltagandet och främja lärandet för att öka kunskap och förståelse kring varför diverse beslut tas. Tvärsektionellt arbete kan bidra till att rätt kunskap finns när motsägande intressen ställs mot varandra vid beslutsfattande. / Given that more than half of the world's population now lives in cities and the trend continues to rise, it is becoming increasingly important to create resilient cities. Cities that are resilient are more resistant and less sensitive to disturbance. In order to limit the scope of the study to municipal planning, the focus has been centered on the concept of social-ecological resilience. A city that is social-ecological resilient can promote ecosystem services in the long run in the urban environment despite the disruptions that it can be exposed to. Ecosystem services are dependent on biodiversity, and in order not to compromise biodiversity, it is important that land use is well planned. The study's theoretical framework, therefore, describes six strategies that can be used in municipal planning to promote social-ecological resilience. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the theoretical framework and the interpretations of experts differ from the municipal planning and analyze similarities and differences between them. The aim is to account for these differences in order to show what needs to be improved at the municipal level to promote socio-ecological resilience. The methods consisted of qualitative interviews with experts on the subject area and municipal planners from three of Sweden's largest municipalities: Stockholm, Gothenburg and Uppsala. A content analysis was also made on municipal plans to supplement the interviews. Finally, a comparison was made between social-ecological resilience through the experts’ points of view, the theoretical framework and municipal planning. The results show that knowledge of the concept of social-ecological resilience is lacking among the municipalities studied. The planning of all municipalities strives unconsciously to work for what Folke (2006) defines as social-ecological resilience. Although there are links to the concept within municipal planning, it is not used actively towards planning. On the other hand, all municipalities examined in the study indirectly work with strategies for social-ecological resilience, with priority given to the short-term, recreational and health-promoting qualities for humans. The study concludes that the most important of the strategies for social-ecological resilience is to broaden participation and promote learning, in order to spread more knowledge and understanding about why various decisions are made. Internal interaction between departments can also lead to the availability of right knowledge when conflicting interests are set against each other in decision-making.

No description available.

Urban space is a product of power relations and negotiations in society. Who gets represented and monumentalised in it, you? One is being formed and deformed by the environment they are placed into through the way it functions and suggests certain actions in a particular sequence, through the power distribution in its spatial equivalent. Cities, consciously or not, dictate and proclaim “norms” encoded into their visible and invisible fences by those in majority, those in power, systematically failing the misfits. Yet rebellious minorities coming out of oppressive systems refuse to be silenced and “normalised”, their dissent practices carry critical potential, highlighting systematic obstacles, testing response measures and prototyping alternative futures. For my research I define:Social sustainability as constant renewal of the system and social contract, adapting to the newly occurring challenges of the time.Dissent as expressing opinions, demanding conditions and carrying lifestyles, at variance with those hegemonic or officially held. Working in Stockholm’s suburban area of Tensta I concentrate on local postcolonial dissident practices. I want to take a look at how they can inform urban planning, making the system more flexible and adaptable to constant changes. I decode the disciplining choreography of the city and examine roles of such dissent actors as planner, civic educator, warrior and builder. In my design proposal I try toset a new civic urban stage with shifting borders, multilayered visibility, entrance and escape points, with mobilisation, education, commoning and retreat backstage able a) of making global, national and communal politics a local and tangible affair, b) of enhancing and empowering individuals and minorities in their role as civic actors, building peaceful urban voice; and create flexible local ecosystems c) facilitating new grassroots societies prototyping.

This project proposes a new urban aquifer strategy that utilizes stormwater to create a cascading plaza and an improved 'great street' in Washington DC. A system of urban aquifers is developed beneath the surface of the street, perched atop the compacted, impermeable soils below. This set of aquifers prevents stormwater from entering the existing combined sewer and allows trees to draw water from this new groundwater source and develop expansive root systems. On the surface, stormwater flows through interconnected planters where it irrigates and is filtered by vegetation before infiltrating to recharge the aquifer. At Cascade Plaza, sloping topography intersects the aquifer, and the new groundwater seeps out of the plaza steps, turning them into a miniature cascade, by gravity and water pressure alone. It collects in a web of runnels, pools at the lowest point, and overflows in high water, mysteriously disappearing below ground again to fill an underground reservoir. In this unique ecological system, water flows both above and below ground to mitigate excess stormwater and make the street and plaza more beautiful. / Master of Landscape Architecture / This project proposes a new urban aquifer strategy that utilizes stormwater to create a cascading plaza and an improved ‘great street’ in Washington DC. A system of urban aquifers is developed beneath the surface of the street, perched atop the compacted, impermeable soils below. This set of aquifers prevents stormwater from entering the existing combined sewer and allows trees to draw water from this new groundwater source and develop expansive root systems. On the surface, stormwater flows through interconnected planters where it irrigates and is filtered by vegetation before infiltrating to recharge the aquifer. At Cascade Plaza, sloping topography intersects the aquifer, and the new groundwater seeps out of the plaza steps, turning them into a miniature cascade, by gravity and water pressure alone. It collects in a web of runnels, pools at the lowest point, and overflows in high water, mysteriously disappearing below ground again to fill an underground reservoir. In this unique ecological system, water flows both above and below ground to mitigate excess stormwater and make the street and plaza more beautiful.

The “Eastern Seaport Master Plan” is the design of a mixed-use neighborhood in South Boston, a site that has an enormous amount of potential to be the pinnacle of the Boston waterfront. Located in the city’s Seaport District, the master plan addresses the site’s deterioration as industry has declined. By reducing the impact of the necessity of the car through its incorporation into the urban fabric, making use of the road’s infrastructure, creating a clear distinction between the functions of long-term and short-term parking, capitalizing on the opportunity to be the city’s hub for water transit, and designing a street front for the mixed-use city blocks that encourages street life in Boston’s harsh climate, the master plan will create a dynamic urban neighborhood that functions as its own entity but ties back to Boston as part of the city’s call to reclaim the waterfront. / Master of Architecture