Globalization and industrial agriculture have enabled consumers in Sweden and other countries in the Western world to enjoy foodstuffs from many parts of the world at very affordable monetary prices, but at the same time involving a lot of external costs in the form of environmental degradation, and a high dependency on foreign agricultural ecosystems as well as on oil and other non-renewable inputs, thus degrading sustainability and resilience in the food system. Accelerated climate change and the upcoming peak oil crisis call for a reorientation and a transition to a more locally-based system. The prospects for a re-localized food system have been investigated in a case study of Uppsala Municipality, Sweden. The results consist of a study of the current primary food production in Uppsala, also including an allotment garden survey, a study of how much additional food may be produced on idle land, and an analysis of opportunities and challenges for a re-localized food system in Uppsala. The allotment garden survey revealed that c. ten percent of the total area of plots containing cottage houses was used for food production, while the figure for plots without cottages was several times higher, c. 65 percent. The total estimated yield for allotment gardens in Uppsala Municipality was about 90 tons of vegetables and 48 tons of fruits and berries. Quantitative calculations on the yield produced by local farmers, horticulturists and leisure gardeners were made for the five categories grain, dairy products, eggs, meat, and vegetables, fruits and berries, together constituting about 85 percent of the total Swedish food consumption. The estimated balance of supply and demand differed a lot between food categories, ranging from 400 percent for grain to 20 percent for meat as well as for vegetables, fruits and berries. Due to empirical uncertainty, the latter figure should be interpreted with caution. For eggs and dairy products the balance of supply and demand was 67 percent and 50 percent respectively. A quantitative estimation for idle land showed that the greatest potential for an increased food production is within leisure gardening, which could be increased by 3.5 to 6 times. A transition to full self-sufficiency would, however, require drastically altered consumer habits towards seasonal vegetables and fruits and less beef in favor of vegetarian proteins. The qualitative analysis of possibilities and obstacles concluded that the greatest assets for a re-localized food production were the large production capacity within rural agriculture, the abundance of mostly unutilized private garden land, the increased interest for urban agriculture among the population, positive attitudes among consumers towards local food, and a relatively high general awareness of climate change and the need for a more sustainable society. Among the challenges were found lacking economic viability and access to suitable farmland, the centralized food industry, an imbalanced agricultural output, unsustainable consumer habits, the tendency among Swedish municipal planners to support exploitation of fertile soil, and a low awareness among both the population and decision makers regarding peak oil and social resilience generally. / Globaliseringen och det industriella jordbruket har möjliggjort för konsumenter i Sverige och andra västländer att få tillgång till matvaror till låga priser och från många olika delar av världen. Samtidigt har detta medfört ett högt pris i form av miljöförsämringar och ett stort beroende av utländsk jordbruksproduktion, samt av olja och andra råvaror som inte är förnybara. Resultatet har blivit ett livsmedelssystem med urholkad hållbarhet och ökad sårbarhet. Accelererande klimatförändringar och den kommande krisen i samband med oljetoppen manar till nyorientering och en övergång till ett mer lokalbaserat system. Denna fallstudie av Uppsala kommun har undersökt utsikterna att återknyta matproduktionen till lokala system. Resultaten omfattar både en studie av den nuvarande matproduktionen i Uppsala, vilken även inkluderade en enkätundersökning av kolonilotter, en studie av potentialen att öka matproduktionen på mark som idag inte används aktivt för det ändamålet, samt en analys av möjligheter och utmaningar för en lokal matproduktion i Uppsala. Enkätundersökningen visade att på kolonilotter med stugor användes ca tio procent av den totala ytan för matproduktion, medan motsvarande siffra för kolonilotter utan stugor var flera gånger högre, ca 65 procent. Den totala skörden för alla kommunala kolonilotter i Uppsala uppskattades till 90 ton grönsaker och 48 ton frukt och bär. För den totala matproduktionen från jordbruket, trädgårdsnäringen och fritidsodlingen gjordes beräkningar för fem olika kategorier: Spannmål, mejeriprodukter, ägg, kött samt grönsaker, frukt och bär, som tillsammans utgör ca 85 procent av den totala svenska matkonsumtionen. Den uppskattade försörjningsbalansen varierade starkt mellan olika kategorier, från 400 procent för spannmål till 20 procent för kött samt för grönsaker, frukt och bär. Osäkerheten kring det vetenskapliga underlaget gällande fritidsodlingen är dock stort, vilket gör att siffrorna för grönsaker, frukt och bär bör tolkas försiktigt. För ägg och mejeriprodukter var försörjningsbalansen 67 procent respektive 50 procent. Studien av obrukad mark visade att den största potentialen för en ökad matproduktion finns inom fritidsodlingen, som beräknades skulle kunna öka med 3.5 till 6 gånger. En övergång till full självförsörjning skulle dock kräva drastiska förändringar i konsumtionsvanorna mot säsongsbetonade grönsaker och frukt samt mindre nötkött till förmån för mer vegetabiliskt protein. Analysen av möjligheter och utmaningar för en återgång till en mer lokal matproduktion pekade på att de största fördelarna är den stora produktionskapaciteten inom jordbruket, den stora sammanlagda arealen privat trädgårdsmark som till stor del är outnyttjad för matproduktion, det ökande intresset för stadsodling bland befolkningen, positiva attityder till lokal mat bland konsumenter, och en relativt hög medvetenhet kring klimatförändringar och behovet av ett mer hållbart samhälle. Bland de viktigaste utmaningarna fanns den bristande ekonomiska lönsamheten inom yrkesodlingen, den centraliserade livsmedelsindustrin, obalansen inom jordbruksproduktionen, med överskott på spannmål och underskott på andra livsmedelsråvaror, ohållbara konsumtionsvanor, tendenser hos svenska kommunala tjänstemän att stödja exploatering av bördig mark, samt den låga graden av medvetenhet hos både befolkningen och beslutsfattarna kring oljetoppen och samhällets sårbarhet generellt.

The purpose of this study is to find potential areas suitable for energy production using renewable sources. For this aim, accurate assessments are necessary. The assessments include geographical suitability, closeness of infrastructure and observing local and regional framework concerning the use of renewable sources together with environmental protection. In addition, economical factor is considered in such an assessment. In this study, the Photovoltaic (PV) production potential for Germany is considered. An accurate and complete data set is necessary in order to achieve reliable results. In addition, a powerful database management and strong analysis tools are required. Geographical Information System (GIS) is a tool for finding suitable sites for the photovoltaic production.Using GIS, energy generation planners are able to visualize solar densities throughout the considered area. In addition, they can find the optimal and most economical sites by the combination of solar potential with the information about land. In this study, data sources consist of meteorological and geographical conditions. Furthermore, all analyses have been performed using Arc GIS Desktop. This study demonstrates the possible places for photovoltaic plants and indicates suitable candidates according to weights and factors in multi criteria analysis. The solar radiation data is from year 1995 to 2005. Land cover data is according to Corine 2000 and the more detailed Raumordnungskataster (Rok) for Weser-Ems. Numerical results are reliable from a comparison point of view. This study demonstrates the sensitivity of the defined criteria with respect to electricity production. In particular, this study is useful to see the capabilities of GIS for site selection regarding photovoltaic plants.The purpose of this study is to find potential areas suitable for energy production using renewable sources. For this aim, accurate assessments are necessary. The assessments include geographical suitability, closeness of infrastructure and observing local and regional framework concerning the use of renewable sources together with environmental protection. In addition, economical factor is considered in such an assessment. In this study, the Photovoltaic (PV) production potential for Germany is considered. An accurate and complete data set is necessary in order to achieve reliable results. In addition, a powerful database management and strong analysis tools are required. Geographical Information System (GIS) is a tool for finding suitable sites for the photovoltaic production.Using GIS, energy generation planners are able to visualize solar densities throughout the considered area. In addition, they can find the optimal and most economical sites by the combination of solar potential with the information about land. In this study, data sources consist of meteorological and geographical conditions. Furthermore, all analyses have been performed using Arc GIS Desktop. This study demonstrates the possible places for photovoltaic plants and indicates suitable candidates according to weights and factors in multi criteria analysis. The solar radiation data is from year 1995 to 2005. Land cover data is according to Corine 2000 and the more detailed Raumordnungskataster (Rok) for Weser-Ems. Numerical results are reliable from a comparison point of view. This study demonstrates the sensitivity of the defined criteria with respect to electricity production. In particular, this study is useful to see the capabilities of GIS for site selection regarding photovoltaic plants.

Sölvesborg är en stad under expansion, dit lockas folk av en lantlig idyll nära havet. Sölvesborgs kommun har som mål att öka invånarantalet från 16 000 till 20 000 fram till år 2020. Kommunen äger fastigheten Hydro vilken är centralt belägen i Sölvesborg i anslutning till tågstationen. Idag används fastigheten Hydro till en parkeringsyta och kommunen vill att fastigheten ska planeras om för att bli en ny central knytpunkt i Sölvesborg som binder ihop tågstationen och förlänger centrumstråket. Detta examensarbete leder till färdiga förslagshandlingar för fastigheten. Koncept och handlingar tas fram utefter analyser som gjorts kring hur staden är uppbyggd och vilka intressen som finns. Detta resulteras i en byggnad som har en större kommersiell del i markplan och plan 2 till plan 11 är tillägnade med fyra stycken lägenheter per plan. Ledordet för arkitekturen har varit att försöka skapa ett nytt landmärke för Sölvesborg, föra in den moderna arkitekturen i en större skala i ett gammalt småskaligt samhälle på ett naturligt sätt. / Sölvesborg is a city under expansion, people are attracted by a rural idyll close to the sea and the municipality's goal is to increase the population from 16,000 to 20,000 until year 2020. The municipality owns the property Hydro which is located in the central parts of Sölvesborg adjacent to the train station. Today the property Hydro is used as a parking space, the municipality is interested to change the property. They want to make it to a new central hub in Sölvesborg, connecting the railway station and extend the center strip. Our work is to create concept drawings for the property Hydro, These concept drawings are based on analyzes regarding the context of the city and the city’s citizens. This has resulted in a building that has a larger commercial area in the ground floor and above the ground floor are ten floors with four apartments on each floor. The guiding principle for the design has been to try to create a new landmark for Sölvesborg, bringing in the modern architecture on a larger scale in the old small scale society in a natural way.

<p>Land use change constitutes a primary driving force in shaping social-ecological systems world wide, and its effects reach far beyond the directly impacted areas. Graph based landscape ecological tools have become established as a promising way to efficiently explore and analyze the complex, spatial systems dynamics of ecological networks in physical landscapes. However, little attention has been paid to making these approaches operational within ecological assessments, physical planning, and design. This thesis presents a network based, landscape-ecological tool that can be implemented for effective use by practitioners within physical planning and design, and ecological assessments related to these activities. The tool is based on an ecological profile system, a common generalized network model of the ecological infrastructure, graph theoretic metrics, and a spatially explicit, geographically defined representation, deployable in a GIS. Graph theoretic metrics and analysis techniques are able to capture the spatio-temporal dynamics of complex systems, and the generalized network model places the graph theoretic toolbox in a geographically defined landscape. This provides completely new insights for physical planning, and environmental assessment activities. The design of the model is based on the experience gained through seven real-world cases, commissioned by different governmental organizations within Stockholm County. A participatory approach was used in these case studies, involving stakeholders of different backgrounds, in which the tool proved to be flexible and effective in the communication and negotiation of indicators, targets, and impacts. In addition to successful impact predictions for alternative planning scenarios, the tool was able to highlight critical ecological structures within the landscape, both from a system-centric, and a site-centric perspective. In already being deployed and used in planning, assessments, inventories, and monitoring by several of the involved organizations, the tool has proved to effectively meet some of the challenges of application in a multidisciplinary landscape.</p>

Land use change constitutes a primary driving force in shaping social-ecological systems world wide, and its effects reach far beyond the directly impacted areas. Graph based landscape ecological tools have become established as a promising way to efficiently explore and analyze the complex, spatial systems dynamics of ecological networks in physical landscapes. However, little attention has been paid to making these approaches operational within ecological assessments, physical planning, and design. This thesis presents a network based, landscape-ecological tool that can be implemented for effective use by practitioners within physical planning and design, and ecological assessments related to these activities. The tool is based on an ecological profile system, a common generalized network model of the ecological infrastructure, graph theoretic metrics, and a spatially explicit, geographically defined representation, deployable in a GIS. Graph theoretic metrics and analysis techniques are able to capture the spatio-temporal dynamics of complex systems, and the generalized network model places the graph theoretic toolbox in a geographically defined landscape. This provides completely new insights for physical planning, and environmental assessment activities. The design of the model is based on the experience gained through seven real-world cases, commissioned by different governmental organizations within Stockholm County. A participatory approach was used in these case studies, involving stakeholders of different backgrounds, in which the tool proved to be flexible and effective in the communication and negotiation of indicators, targets, and impacts. In addition to successful impact predictions for alternative planning scenarios, the tool was able to highlight critical ecological structures within the landscape, both from a system-centric, and a site-centric perspective. In already being deployed and used in planning, assessments, inventories, and monitoring by several of the involved organizations, the tool has proved to effectively meet some of the challenges of application in a multidisciplinary landscape.