I Helsingborg pågår uppförandet av en ny stadsdel vid namn Oceanhamnen som ger plats för centralt belägna bostäder, kommersiella fastigheter och publika ytor i ett område som tidigare utgjorts av hamn- och industrimark. Studien syftar till att undersöka vilka intressen som styr den vattennära stadsutvecklingen i Oceanhamnen när det ännu inte finns några invånare i stadsdelen. Utgångspunkten för studien ligger i den sociala hållbarhetsdimensionen och hur allmänhetens behov beaktas genom intressenter och invånarinvolvering. Studien är utformad som en fallstudie där det empiriska materialet i huvudsak utgörs av flertalet semistrukturerade intervjuer. Materialet kopplas till ett teoretiskt ramverk kring uppkomsten av den rättvisa staden samt relationen mellan en nyliberal urbanisering och en kommunikativ, invånarfokuserad ansats i stadsplaneringen. Studiens slutsatser visar hur marknadens intresse styrt bostadsproduktionen i Oceanhamnen och att väldigt få insatser gjorts för att inhämta allmänhetens synpunkter kring stadsutvecklingen. Vidare har ambitionen om en socialt hållbar stadsdel varit svår att leva upp till, dels utifrån fysiska barriärer som försvårar stadsdels integrering med staden dels genom bostadsbestånd som primärt riktar sig till en välbemedlad målgrupp. / In the city of Helsingborg, a new district called Oceanhamnen is under construction in a former port and industrial area, making room for centrally located housing, commercial properties and public spaces. This master thesis aims to investigate the interests influencing the urban waterfront redevelopment in Oceanhamnen under the condition that there are no residents in the district yet. The study is focusing on social sustainability and how the voices of the public are taken care of through stakeholders and citizen participation. This master thesis is designed as a case study with material mainly consisting of semi-structured interviews. The material is set in a theoretical framework concerning the just city and the relation between a neoliberal urbanism and the communicative turn in urban planning. The conclusions show how commercial interest has dominated housing construction in Oceanhamnen and that very few efforts have been made to obtain the public's views on the urban redevelopment. Furthermore, the city’s ambition for a socially sustainable district has been difficult to meet up to, partly based on physical barriers that make it harder for the area to integrate with the rest of the city and partly through housing that is primarily address a affluent target group.

The city is characterised by unequal living conditions and inequities. Residential segregation – in the sense that people with different socio-economic resources and of various ethnicities live separately from one another – is a major cause of urban inequities. Urban planning has contributed to segregation but also provides the potential for change by facilitating a more just and non-segregated city. Social sustainability and social justice objectives, however, usually conflict with a neoliberal planning mindset, one that shapes both the planning conditions and approach and benefits economic growth. The aim of this thesis is to examine how and for whom Stockholm is being planned in order to thus clarify whether the planning reduces segregation and contributes to creating a more just city. This is done by looking at Stockholm’s overall planning approach, based on the ambitious objective of ‘a world-class Stockholm’, and the present planning of two areas – Järva and Stockholm Royal Seaport. Vision Järva 2030 is a strategy to develop segregated neighbourhoods, while Stockholm Royal Seaport is a new urban development project. The analysis highlights that Stockholm’s planning is in a dialectical state between a socially sustainable approach – with the goal of reducing inequities and segregation – and a neoliberal development logic focusing on competing with other cities to attract investment. The latter, however, predominates, for instance resulting in social strategies taking place on neoliberal terms and so losing their true meaning. The planning focuses primarily on developing the city for a neoliberal subject associated with economic growth. In accordance with this, a lifestyle philosophy based on the city centre’s urban city ideals and middle-class consumption and activity patterns is in evidence in the planning. The overall conclusion is that the planning cannot be deemed to reduce segregation or contribute to the creation of a just city as a result of how and for whom the city is being planned.