In the beginning of the 1990s the responsibility for the compulsory schools shifted from the government to the local authorities, a freedom of choice was introduced, and several municipalities brought in a school voucher system. With these changes, the educational system in Sweden went from being one of the world’s most government dominated and unified, to one with a high level of freedom of choice. The overall aim for this study is to explore the interplay between the school choice policy in the compulsory school and the process of integration and segregation on a school level. The aim is also specifically to study to what degree the pupils’ choice of school reflect the schools’ composition, with regards to ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds between 1992 and 2004.The thesis is based on three different kinds of materials; registry data from SCB (Statistics Sweden), the municipality’s data surrounding the school applications, and interviews with civil servants, politicians, and head teachers. In conclusion, the study shows that a divide has emerged between different schools, the make-up of pupils is becoming more homogenous, and the school as a meeting place between different ethnic groups is affected in a negative way. The study also shows that the school choices have an influence on this segregation between the schools. However, there are a small number of exceptions. In certain schools, the ethnic mix of pupils is relatively fair.

Energianvändningen inom bostadssektorn har stadigt ökat och verkar inte minska trots energieffektiva apparater. Genom att bygga lågenergibostäder försöker bostadsbolagen minska energianvändningen, vilket också sker, men endast vad gäller uppvärmning och varmvatten. Syfte med avhandlingen är att öka kunskapen kring hushållens energianvändning i passivhus med fokus på hushållens aktiviteter. Intervjustudier har utförts med hushåll och bostadsbolag för att utröna hur de materiella förutsättningarna påverkar vardagsaktiviteter i hushållen. Utifrån tidsgeografiska begrepp analyseras några vardagliga hushållsprojekt: mathållning, klädvård och rekreation. Begreppet energiordning används för att påvisa hur aktiviteters genomförande påverkas av resurser, restriktioner och möjligheter av olika slag, inklusive elektricitet. Eftersom varje hushåll är unikt kommer också energiordningarna i hushållen att se olika ut vilket påverkar värmekomforten i bostaden. Passivhuskonceptet som sådant påverkar inte aktiviteterna i nämnvärd grad, men hushållen bevarar gärna den värme som uppstår i och med olika aktiviteter genom att öppna dörrar och ugnsluckor för att sprida värmen i bostaden. En slutsats från studien är att eftersom alla hushåll har unika energiordningar behöver också de materiella  resurserna anpassas så att olika handlingsalternativ blir möjliga. Genom att ta del av hushållens erfarenheter av olika energiordningar kan bostadsbolagen få tillgång till nya idéer och anpassa de materiella förutsättningarna till hushållens behov så att energieffektivt boende också inbegriper hushållens aktiviteter. / Energy use in the residential sector has gradually increased and does not seem to be decreasing in spite of energy efficient appliances. By building low energy homes, housing companies are trying to reduce energy use, and to some extent they are succeeding, although the reductions are confined to heating and hot water. The aim of the thesis is to increase knowledge about household energy use in passive houses focusing on household activities. Interviews were conducted with households and public housing companies to investigate how material conditions, such as the flats and the appliances, affect daily activities in the home. Based on time-geographic concepts, a few everyday household projects are analyzed: cooking, care of clothing and recreation. The concept of energy orders is used to show that the realization of activities is influenced by various kinds of resources, including electricity, and the constraints and opportunities related to them. Since each household is unique, the energy orders also look different, which has an influence on the thermal comfort in the home. The passive house concept as such does not affect household activities in a profound way, but the households try to preserve and spread the spill heat generated in various activities by opening doors to rooms and doors of appliances such as the oven to distribute the heat throughout the flat. One conclusion from the thesis is that, because all households have unique energy orders, material resources also need to be adapted so that activities can be performed in a variety of ways. By taking advantage of household experiences, housing companies may gain access to new ideas and improve functionality so that material conditions suit household needs. By taking advantage of household experiences, housing companies may gain access to new ideas and improve functionality so that material conditions in energy efficient housing are designed to suit a broad range of household needs.

<p>This study develops a model for understanding spatial change and the construction of space as a meeting-place, and then employs it in order to show an otherwise little-known picture of (sub-)urban Russia and its transformation from Soviet times to today. The model is based on time-geographic ideas of time-space as a limited resource in which forces of various kinds struggle for access and form space in interaction with each other. Drawing on cultural semiotics and the concepts of lifeworld and system, the study highlights the social side of these space-forming forces. Based on a long-term fieldwork (participant observation) in Ligovo/Uritsk, a high-rise residential district developed around 1970 and situated on the outskirts of Sankt-Peterburg (St Petersburg), the empirical material concerns processes of urban identity, spatial representations and local politics. The study explicates three codes used to form the image of the city that all relate to its pre-Revolutionary history, two textual strategies of juxtaposition in creating the genius loci of a place, and a discussion of what I call Soviet "stiff landscape" in relation to Soviet mental and ordinary maps of the urban landscape. Moreover, the study shows that the newly implemented self-governing municipalities have not realised their potential as political actors in forming local space, which raises questions on the democratisation of urban space. Finally, the study argues that the model that guides the research is a tool that facilitates the application of the world-view of time-geography and the epistemology of the landscape of courses in concrete research. The study ends with an attempt to generalise spatial change in four types.</p>

<p> In the history of scientific visualization techniques there is a lack of social science practices and methodologies. The advent of modern computer graphics brought the use of visualizations into a whole new era, but even though the tools by which such modern visualizations are created become easier to access and use, the lack of social science researchers harvesting the benefits of such tools still remain. This ease of use, increase in power and accessibility plus the ever growing need within the natural sciences to augment the human senses has further complicated the relationship between scientific methodologies, validity, reliability and the use of visualization techniques. This relationship must be explored, demystified and understood in order to fully grasp the impact of visualization practices when incorporated into any given scientific method. Within the social sciences there is one example of a tradition that has since its conception carried within it a graphical notion and a visualization practice. Time geography, a theory/method from the field of human/cultural geography has at its core a set of visualization techniques that encapsulate the very framework of time geographical analysis. Since it has been an integral part of the method trough out its history, it provides the perfect example for the study of the relationship between graphical visualization techniques and methodological development. The essay uses time geography as a case to construct and try out a set of scientific and methodological perspectives on the use of modern visualization techniques in social science practices. It is not an attempt to critically deconstruct this relationship within time geography, rather it points to a possible approach to the study of visualization techniques and their impact/role in the development of social science practices.</p> / <p>Den vetenskapliga visualiserings historia visar en tydlig brist på exempel från samhällsvetenskapliga praktiker och metoder. Den moderna datorgrafikens utveckling har tagit den vetenskapliga visualiseringen till nya nivåer, men trots att verktygen för skapandet av moderna datorgrafiska visualiseringar blivit lättare att hantera och förfoga över lyser de samhällsvetenskapliga exemplen på adopterandet av dessa verktyg fortfarande med sin frånvaro. Vertygens ökande grad av användarvänlighet och kraft, samt de naturvetenskapliga traditionernas ständigt växande behov att gå bortom de mänskliga sinnenas begränsningar har gjort relationen mellan visualiseringstekniker och vetenskapliga metoder, dess reliabilitet och validitet ytterligare komplicerad. För atttill fullo förstå hur inkorporerandet av visuella praktiker och modeller påverkar en metods utveckling i övrigt måste denna relation utforskas och analyseras. Inom samhällsvetenskapen finns en tradition som sedan sin tillkomst burit med sig ett visuellt språk och en visualiseringspraktik. Tidsgeografin, en delvis kulturgeografisk tradition har i själva sitt kärnspråk en serie viusaliseringsmodeller vilka är central del av metodens analysverktyg. Tidsgeografin erbjuder därmed ett utmärkt exempel för studier av relationen mellan vetenskapliga visualiseringspraktiker och metodologisk utveckling. Uppsatsen använder tidsgeografins metod och historia som en fallstudie i ett försök att konstruera och pröva ett antal vetenskapsteoretiska och metodologiska perspektiv på användandet av vetenskaplig visualisering inom samhällsvetenskapen. Uppsatsen är inte ett försök att kritiskt dekonstruera tidsgeografin, snarare visar den på en möjlig väg att närma sig studiet av moderna visualiseringsteknikers påverkan/roll i samhällsvetenskaplig metodutveckling.</p>

<p>This thesis begins by making two observations. First, that the regional economic landscapes in which we all live our daily lives, and which provide the basis for employment and prosperity, are constantly changing. Second, that one of the most popular strategies currently pursued by regions and nations for coping with such change, relies heavily on innovation within a few high-tech industries, biotech being one prominent example. The thesis is an investigation into the potential – and limits – of biotech-based development policies for creating renewal and economic growth at the local, regional or national scales. How does it really work when a team of biotech researchers develops a new invention? How can a small Swedish town manage to attract large foreign direct investments and stay competitive in the global biotech landscape? How is the performance of biotech knowledge workers affected by the places they live in, go to, leave, and make up? What impact can a biotech firm have on the local economic landscape in which it is located? These are the kind of questions that are studied in the four papers that make up this thesis. The thesis develops a conceptual framework within which we can better understand the extent to which mono-territorial actors, like regional and national policymakers, can influence high-tech sectors like biotech; sectors that are polycentric in nature and only partly take place in, or pass through, regional and national territories.</p>

This study develops a model for understanding spatial change and the construction of space as a meeting-place, and then employs it in order to show an otherwise little-known picture of (sub-)urban Russia and its transformation from Soviet times to today. The model is based on time-geographic ideas of time-space as a limited resource in which forces of various kinds struggle for access and form space in interaction with each other. Drawing on cultural semiotics and the concepts of lifeworld and system, the study highlights the social side of these space-forming forces. Based on a long-term fieldwork (participant observation) in Ligovo/Uritsk, a high-rise residential district developed around 1970 and situated on the outskirts of Sankt-Peterburg (St Petersburg), the empirical material concerns processes of urban identity, spatial representations and local politics. The study explicates three codes used to form the image of the city that all relate to its pre-Revolutionary history, two textual strategies of juxtaposition in creating the genius loci of a place, and a discussion of what I call Soviet "stiff landscape" in relation to Soviet mental and ordinary maps of the urban landscape. Moreover, the study shows that the newly implemented self-governing municipalities have not realised their potential as political actors in forming local space, which raises questions on the democratisation of urban space. Finally, the study argues that the model that guides the research is a tool that facilitates the application of the world-view of time-geography and the epistemology of the landscape of courses in concrete research. The study ends with an attempt to generalise spatial change in four types.

This thesis begins by making two observations. First, that the regional economic landscapes in which we all live our daily lives, and which provide the basis for employment and prosperity, are constantly changing. Second, that one of the most popular strategies currently pursued by regions and nations for coping with such change, relies heavily on innovation within a few high-tech industries, biotech being one prominent example. The thesis is an investigation into the potential – and limits – of biotech-based development policies for creating renewal and economic growth at the local, regional or national scales. How does it really work when a team of biotech researchers develops a new invention? How can a small Swedish town manage to attract large foreign direct investments and stay competitive in the global biotech landscape? How is the performance of biotech knowledge workers affected by the places they live in, go to, leave, and make up? What impact can a biotech firm have on the local economic landscape in which it is located? These are the kind of questions that are studied in the four papers that make up this thesis. The thesis develops a conceptual framework within which we can better understand the extent to which mono-territorial actors, like regional and national policymakers, can influence high-tech sectors like biotech; sectors that are polycentric in nature and only partly take place in, or pass through, regional and national territories.

In the history of scientific visualization techniques there is a lack of social science practices and methodologies. The advent of modern computer graphics brought the use of visualizations into a whole new era, but even though the tools by which such modern visualizations are created become easier to access and use, the lack of social science researchers harvesting the benefits of such tools still remain. This ease of use, increase in power and accessibility plus the ever growing need within the natural sciences to augment the human senses has further complicated the relationship between scientific methodologies, validity, reliability and the use of visualization techniques. This relationship must be explored, demystified and understood in order to fully grasp the impact of visualization practices when incorporated into any given scientific method. Within the social sciences there is one example of a tradition that has since its conception carried within it a graphical notion and a visualization practice. Time geography, a theory/method from the field of human/cultural geography has at its core a set of visualization techniques that encapsulate the very framework of time geographical analysis. Since it has been an integral part of the method trough out its history, it provides the perfect example for the study of the relationship between graphical visualization techniques and methodological development. The essay uses time geography as a case to construct and try out a set of scientific and methodological perspectives on the use of modern visualization techniques in social science practices. It is not an attempt to critically deconstruct this relationship within time geography, rather it points to a possible approach to the study of visualization techniques and their impact/role in the development of social science practices. / Den vetenskapliga visualiserings historia visar en tydlig brist på exempel från samhällsvetenskapliga praktiker och metoder. Den moderna datorgrafikens utveckling har tagit den vetenskapliga visualiseringen till nya nivåer, men trots att verktygen för skapandet av moderna datorgrafiska visualiseringar blivit lättare att hantera och förfoga över lyser de samhällsvetenskapliga exemplen på adopterandet av dessa verktyg fortfarande med sin frånvaro. Vertygens ökande grad av användarvänlighet och kraft, samt de naturvetenskapliga traditionernas ständigt växande behov att gå bortom de mänskliga sinnenas begränsningar har gjort relationen mellan visualiseringstekniker och vetenskapliga metoder, dess reliabilitet och validitet ytterligare komplicerad. För atttill fullo förstå hur inkorporerandet av visuella praktiker och modeller påverkar en metods utveckling i övrigt måste denna relation utforskas och analyseras. Inom samhällsvetenskapen finns en tradition som sedan sin tillkomst burit med sig ett visuellt språk och en visualiseringspraktik. Tidsgeografin, en delvis kulturgeografisk tradition har i själva sitt kärnspråk en serie viusaliseringsmodeller vilka är central del av metodens analysverktyg. Tidsgeografin erbjuder därmed ett utmärkt exempel för studier av relationen mellan vetenskapliga visualiseringspraktiker och metodologisk utveckling. Uppsatsen använder tidsgeografins metod och historia som en fallstudie i ett försök att konstruera och pröva ett antal vetenskapsteoretiska och metodologiska perspektiv på användandet av vetenskaplig visualisering inom samhällsvetenskapen. Uppsatsen är inte ett försök att kritiskt dekonstruera tidsgeografin, snarare visar den på en möjlig väg att närma sig studiet av moderna visualiseringsteknikers påverkan/roll i samhällsvetenskaplig metodutveckling.

The main objektive of my thesis is a knowledge of social environment of prague district Karlín, one of the most dynamic part of inner Prague, which is undergoing a transformation of a physical, funcional and social structure. The concept of social environment is used in this work, whereby the social environment is consisted of a social structure and a social climate of a locality. By an analyse of the social, physical and funcional structure and a research of daily rhythms it tries to identify main pacemakers, to deeply learn about proceses and key moments during the day, which structurated the locality, and to capture social groups of users of the locality. The research is focused on three selected basic administrative units: 'Karlín - západ', 'Rohanský ostrov' and 'Za Invalidovnou'. Each of these localities has its own daily rhythm, which is structurated by the resident population and the temporarily present population,and different social environments, which influence each other, are dependent on each other and create the whole character of the prague district Karlín.The work tries to deepen and criticaly evaluate a current metodology. Keywords Karlín, Prague, social environment, social climate, social structure, daily rhythm, pacemaker, locality, mobility, time geography.

This study investigates how people's perceived sense of safety affects their use of and feeling of safety when they are in a park. The chosen location for the case study research is Karlstad City Garden. Currently, Karlstad City Garden is underutilized and was described as unsafe in a survey conducted by the municipality of Karlstad in 2018 (Karlstad kommun 2019). The purpose of this study is to examine visitors' perceived feelings of safety when they are in Karlstad City Garden. The study will focus on four factors; lighting, lack of people, maintenance, and visibility to provide what effect they have on people when they visit a public place. Previous research, including the municipality's safety survey, identified these four factors as significant contributors to visitors' feelings of safety. This study aims to gain a better understanding of why visitors perceive themselves as safe or unsafe in the park and how these four factors influence their perceived sense of safety. To investigate visitors' experiences of the park, a questionnaire was distributed through social media, and QR codes were distributed in the park to reach a diverse range of respondents. Additionally, observations were conducted as part of the study, primarily to complement the questionnaire and strengthen the findings. The study findings revealed that the time of day and the four factors mentioned above influenced visitors' perceived sense of safety in the park. During the day, more people were present, which made visitors feel safer. In the evening, the park was largely empty, and there were few visitors. The feelings of safety during this time could be attributed to the low population in the park, inadequate lighting in most areas, and reduced visibility during the evening. The poor visibility and lighting could be a result of insufficient maintenance, particularly in the densely vegetated southern part of the park. As a result, many people may have avoided visiting the park in the evening due to feeling unsafe.