Idag byggs urbana, rekreativa grönområden ofta bort till följd av förtätning, samtidigt som städernas kyrkogårdar lämnas orörda. Studien syftar till att i en svensk kontext, undersöka möjligheterna att planera för att urbana kyrkogårdar även ska fungera som rekreationsområde, utan att platsens spirituella dimension går förlorad. Studien har en abduktiv ansats, där kvalitativa intervjuer med planerare samt en representant från Svenska kyrkan utförts. Vidare har platskänsla använts som verktyg för att tolka materialet. Slutsatsen är att det idag finns olika intressenter, tillika platskänslor, att ta hänsyn till vid kyrkogårdsplanering. Några strategier, för att balansera de rekreativa och spirituella värdena, är att låta kyrkogården ha olika funktioner på olika ytor eller tidpunkter. En annan strategi är att anpassa vilken typ av rekreation som platsen uppmanar till. Det finns också möjligheter att utveckla kyrkogårdens spirituella värden som kan betraktas som rekreativa i sig. / Today, urban recreational green areas are gradually removed as a result of densification, while urban cemeteries are left untouched. This study aims to investigate the possibilities for urban cemeteries in Sweden to function as recreational areas, without losing the spiritual dimension. The study takes an abductive approach, where qualitative interviews with planners and representatives from the Church of Sweden were conducted. Furthermore, the concept of ‘sense of place’ has been used as a tool for interpreting the material. The conclusion is that there are many stakeholders, and different senses of place, to take into account in cemetery planning. Strategies for balancing the recreational and spiritual values involve working with different spaces and analyzing how they are used at different times. Adapting what type of recreation that is encouraged, is another approach. Lastly, some planners believe that the cemetery's spiritual values can be considered recreational in itself.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate immigrant youths’ experiences of accessibility of urban greenspaces (UGS) and how these spaces meet the needs and preferences of this user group. The case study takes on an explorative approach based on interviews and participant observations. Environmental justice and sense of place theory constitute the research framework and permeate the study from research design throughout to the conslusions. Environmental justice theory has been applied earlier in studies of accessibility of UGS among different social groups, mostly on issues of environmental bads. However, no previous research has treated these issues in combination with a sense of place framework. This study contributes to the UGS accessibility research by illuminating the subjective experiences of the urban nature in familiar environments. The results from this study depict how factors other than the physical presence of UGS - such as social networks for local knowledge, previous nature images and feelings of familiarity with the surroundings - affect the perception of how well UGS meet one’s need and desiers.

"Vision is regarded as the most noble of the senses, and the loss of eyesight as the ultimate physical loss" -- Juhani Pallasmaa To see or not to see?   As a child growing up in the Dominican Republic, my vision was blurred by a perception strongly held by my elders.  A perception that have been nurtured and carried out for many centuries.  This perception have kept me away from the 'reality', limiting my vision to what existed in the other side of the borderline.   As my eyes were blindfolded, my ears opened to received words that would slowly construct my own imaginary world.  A particular world, in which hearing was dominant over my other senses.  As one would imagine that a world could painful while living in 'darkness', what was actually painful was living with the existence of the unknown, of the invisible In April 2011, I decided to visit the imaginary line that runs along Dominican Republic and Haiti.  My experience was truly remarkable.  At that present moment, I had a very exciting encounter with a new sense of reality.  As I approached to an unfinished construction, I climbed to a metal stair reaching an altitude of nearly twenty feet.  My eyes witnessed what was hidden for nearly thirty years of my existence. Through the wavy transparent mirage caused by the refraction of the blistering sun, I was able to see the neighboring country of Haiti for the first time.  Along the Massacre River, there was an element that immediately captivated by curiosity.  It was  a thin, blue metal gate located right in the middle of a concrete bridge that expanded east and west uniting the border towns of Dajabon and Ounaminthe. To my eyes, this gate was a visible and an invisible boundary -- A line, a remarkably powerful, and fundamental element in Architecture -- which was strongly visible, by dividing and marking its presence demarcating territories.  Yet, was also transparent uniting two cultures during the market days. My thesis unfolds in the quest of what can exist by the emergence of the visible and the invisible -- what I envisioned while standing at the site, a Binational Market along the imaginary line. / Master of Architecture

This thesis has been an odyssey of sorts, into how the creative and playful use of digital tools, such as virtual reality technology, may prompt one's engagement with ‘the lost atmosphere of a Place’ and its history. My point of reference is the novel platform known as Uppsala VR, the property of the Gamla Uppsala museum in Sweden. What exactly has been its nature and purpose? How is it being embedded in the overall museum practice? How do visitors perceive and experience it? What started as a User Experience (UX) survey, yet, in time evolved into an exploration of the Uppsala VR in terms of ‘mediated spectacle’. Eventually, through continuous observations, negotiation, and reflection, an intricate understanding develops about what lies beyond for historical heritage and its representation, and about the role of the users’ imaginative creativity in this process.

Genom affektiva teorier, affektiva metoder och en generell teoretisering kring plats har undersökningen försökt att besvara frågan: Hur kan ett fiktivt verk påverka upplevelsen av en generell plats? Undersökningen har med denna fråga funnit ett samband mellan den generella platsens upplevelse, affektiv påverkan, och erfarenhet. Resultatet som framträder genom undersökningen tydliggör påverkan av generell plats genom fiktiva verk. Resultatet antyder dock att påverkan inte enbart är ett direkt resultat av det fiktiva verket. Utifrån en teori kring Aktiv och passiv affekt fann undersökningen att aktiv provocering av respondenterna främjade upplevelsen av platsen i relation till det fiktiva verket. Dessutom förs diskussioner kring en formulering av ”Parasitiska affekter”, en affekt som använder en nyckelaktör i ett affektivt nätverk för att påverka upplevelsen av plats. Avslutningsvis finner undersökningen att det går att främja upplevelsen av generell plats i relation till det fiktiva verket men att det skulle behöva undersökas över en längre period och med en större urvalsgrupp. / Through affective theory, affective methods and a general theorisation of place the study asks the question: How does a fictitious work affect the experience of general place? The study establishes an, albeit weak, connection between affective theory, experience, fictitious works and their affect unto general place. The result that becomes apparent is that even if a fictitious work has an affect on general place it does so in a barely noticeable manner to the participants themselves. Active provocation has been found to be a more affective force in participants experience of place in connection to a fictive work. Passive affect in turn has been less prevalent in the affect of experience. The fictive works ability to affect has as such been established to a certain degree, however further studies into the subject are recommended to strengthen these results. The study concludes by remarking on so-called ”Parasitic affects” a kind of affect theorised to affect a persons affective network through associative connections to key actors in this network.

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The research field regarding healthier cities and how to promote and enable possibilities for physical activity is considered to be one of the most important research fields in current urban planning research. In academic research, there is a research gap when it comes to how urban characteristics that promote and enable possibilities for physical activity are treated in practice, as well as how municipalities are working with questions regarding creating healthier cities. This is related to the societal challenges of increasingly sedentary lifestyles that are currently considered a global health crisis. In this context, the concept of a healthy city only regards aspects connected to physical activity. The thesis aimed to investigate how the municipality of Flen works to enable and create possibilities for physical activity and how these processes assemble to make the vision of a healthy city. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with planners in the municipality of Flen from different departments and analyzed relevant strategic documents. The challenges identified were perspective congestion, limited spaces, budget, what attracts, and challenges connected to the citizens. The result shows that the municipality of Flen works with seven processes: strategic documents, maintenance, safety, attractive and social environments, available and accessible environments, knowledge and encouragement, and future developments. The studies conclude that the urban characteristics identified and acknowledged in previous research are considered from different perspectives when considered in practice.

This thesis aims to study the perception of local knowledge within Wale Wale Kenya, a small local organization operating in Kibera, Nairobi. The people who run the Kenyan organization have all grown up in Kibera and thus have strong local roots. An analysis of the Kenyan organization however extends beyond the “local” because of its collaboration with its partner organization Wale Wale Sweden. The partner organization contributes among other things with volunteers and interns from Sweden. The main research question guiding the thesis concern show local knowledge is perceived by two development NGOs, Wale Wale Kenya, and its Swedish partner organization Wale Wale Sweden, and how that relates to their sense of place of Kibera. The thesis is a result of qualitative field study at the organization Wale Wale Kenya where semi-structured interviews and observations were made. The findings show that the focus on the local aspect contributes to the creation of representation, understanding and passion within the organization. Furthermore, local knowledge is seen as unique and useful since it is linked to the particular place where it will be used. Local knowledge is also valued for its long-term perspective, a strong anchoring in the local community and that it empowers the members who run the organization. However, exposure to other places, beyond the locality of Kibera through influences by interns andvolunteers, is highly valued. Local knowledge is not seen as bounded to the local place but is also a result of the local interacting with global social processes.

The fast growth of the urban population affects city life by degrading natural and social resources. Urban developments modify resources such as forest, land, and water, but also modify the intimate relationship of people with the landscape. Many times, the damage of those resources is irreversible, and provokes dramatic changes in the natural landscape and the uniqueness of the place is missing. Despite the intense discussion that landscape architects and scientists worldwide hold about social and environmental aspects in urban environments, many questions about how to support natural and cultural landscapes, or why to keep them are not answered in the existing waterfronts and re-developments at the water's edge. For this reason, the recovering of urban waterfronts is an opportunity to promote ecologically healthy environments, address sense of place, support human gatherings, and encourage economic revitalization. This thesis and its research analyzes the components of the natural regional landscape in recovering waterfronts in order to avoid the loss of the uniqueness of a place. A section of beachfront in St. Augustine Beach, Florida that has suffered beach erosion and development pressures was chosen for the study. The result is an alternative proposal to costly dredging and beach reclamation that includes a series of tools, interventions, and landscape modifications of this threatened site. This proposal aims to return the site to a balanced and friendly landscape. Waterfronts in cities are an opportunity to reconnect communities with their cultural and geographic landscape. / Master of Landscape Architecture

This research is an exploration of the local, place-based knowledge surrounding a degraded urban river, the Lower Neponset River and Estuary in southern Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, and its environmental restoration. Through a mixed-methods approach to sociological inquiry that included 18-months of ethnographic interviews and participant observations, Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, archival document research, and critical environmental history, it explores the different ways local citizens interpret the river as a place of historical importance, personal nostalgia, social and family networks, neighborhood legacies, aesthetics, economic security, danger, psychological refuge, ecology, and political power. Using an interpretive analysis of the narrative, visual, and spatial data related to those meanings, it then explores how such different local, place-based interpretations can be used to inform the theory, practice and politics of urban river restoration. The research shows that recognition of the socio-cultural diversity in local citizen interpretations of the Lower Neponset River's restoration is important for environmental managers, planners, and local decision-makers to recognize alongside ecological and economic development "best-practices" (e.g., holistic watershed management, anadromous fish re-introduction, flow and function, ecosystem services, affordable housing quotas, "Smart" growth, etc.). The research recommends that environmental managers, planners, and local politicians and decision-makers give equal consideration to the socio-cultural, political, economic, and ecological factors surrounding urban rivers, and the diversity of meanings that their "restoration" conjures, in order to make strides towards ethical environmental restoration and management practices that are socially, as well as environmentally, sustainable.