A map is a context. This project is about contextualization. This process has helped me understand where landscape architecture currently sits as a discipline and offers hints as to where it might go in the future. The function of this mapping is as much about re-shaping an understanding of landscape architecture as it is about understanding landscape urbanism. Like architecture and city planning, landscape architecture is a discipline in constant flux, redefining its role with and relationship to parallel fields of thought and within broader disciplinary contexts. Over the last few decades it has become apparent that landscape architecture has emerged as a discipline strongly capable of reshaping urban space. Ideas regarding landscapes as active, dynamic, operational systems have paralleled the discipline’s growing relevance within an urban context. In this time landscape urbanism has emerged as a reaction to landscape architecture’s role within our changing world. For landscape urbanism to contribute anything of value to the future of urbanism, or to the design disciplines, it needs to be contextualized within the larger framework of which it is part, without this context landscape urbanism has no relevance. Where it has come from must be critically assessed as a way to understand its intentions and potential future. Landscape urbanism may expand architecture’s boundaries to include elements of landscape thinking, but it does not expand the boundaries of landscape design. Its attempt to generate a new approach for urbanism is innovative as architecture, in its effort to expand the discipline’s understanding of site, but as a design discipline, or a strategic approach to thinking, landscape urbanism is not innovative.

A map is a context. This project is about contextualization. This process has helped me understand where landscape architecture currently sits as a discipline and offers hints as to where it might go in the future. The function of this mapping is as much about re-shaping an understanding of landscape architecture as it is about understanding landscape urbanism. Like architecture and city planning, landscape architecture is a discipline in constant flux, redefining its role with and relationship to parallel fields of thought and within broader disciplinary contexts. Over the last few decades it has become apparent that landscape architecture has emerged as a discipline strongly capable of reshaping urban space. Ideas regarding landscapes as active, dynamic, operational systems have paralleled the discipline’s growing relevance within an urban context. In this time landscape urbanism has emerged as a reaction to landscape architecture’s role within our changing world. For landscape urbanism to contribute anything of value to the future of urbanism, or to the design disciplines, it needs to be contextualized within the larger framework of which it is part, without this context landscape urbanism has no relevance. Where it has come from must be critically assessed as a way to understand its intentions and potential future. Landscape urbanism may expand architecture’s boundaries to include elements of landscape thinking, but it does not expand the boundaries of landscape design. Its attempt to generate a new approach for urbanism is innovative as architecture, in its effort to expand the discipline’s understanding of site, but as a design discipline, or a strategic approach to thinking, landscape urbanism is not innovative.

A class of migrant workers in China that have left their official rural residence in search of work and wealth in the more developed coastal cities have created a new process of urbanization. The ‘floating population’ numbering 150 million has created immense demand for low-cost housing. Village enterprises within the city region of expanding metropolises have self-organized to supply affordable housing. However, economic incentives and ownership constraints on rural land deter long-term considerations and favour rapid development. The building (and destruction) of a country cannot be recklessly left to coincidental solutions of profit opportunities in remnant policies. An understanding of the systemic political, economic and social properties that generate the built fabric of today and of traditional villages can allow us to manipulate the current process of development. The village of Zhangpeng in Dongguan city of the Pearl River Delta region is on the brink of explosive growth. Major infrastructural developments have been constructed and planned on its expropriated lands. Without proper guidance, the status quo process of urbanization will destroy the village overnight. The proposed alternative is to manipulate market-demand through village-led investment in its public space network in order to spur private development of village properties. The method is through strategic and incremental investment on village public space and property and monitoring the catalytic effect of these changes on private redevelopment. Adjustments in land development is made to steer the built fabric into a form between what the village wants it to become and what it has the propensity to be. The aim is to create a system of land development that will preserve, adapt and extend traditional village fabric and its way of life.

Privatization of the public realm is rampant in modern cities. Public space accessibility and usage is often determined by inhabitants’ socio-economic background in the mega cities of the developing world as well. The case of Chennai, a city of 9 million people drawn from different regions in India, is used in this project to understand this phenomenon and evolve an alternate approach to urban public space design and use, in which citizen-led initiatives are encouraged, instead of being ignored, by mainstream urban planning and design processes. Chennai is one of the fastest growing cities in the world today. Conventional planning has failed to direct this growth towards creating sustainable urban environments for all, and has instead encouraged lopsided development that caters only to the affluent sections. This trend has affected public spaces as well, which are now centered on consumption and dependant on heavy investment in real estate and technology. This has a considerable impact on the spectrum of socio-economic groups that are able to access and use them. The project questions the prevalent situation, and focuses on three aspects that have been ignored in recent times. The first (Everyday Urbanism) is explored as a method to revitalize the second (Public Spaces), in order to achieve the third (Sustainable Lifestyles) as a long term goal. This is done using analysis and design in parallel, and results in a proposal for a new design process and through it, scale specific design solutions for Chennai’s public spaces that will create a high quality of life for inhabitants of the heavily populated, demographically diverse and socio-economically fragmented city.

No description available.

Public space, where ordinary situations and everyday life takes place, is a concept that has gone from being ignored to becoming the core of urban development. As the interest of public space is increasing, so does the critique. A critique that in Kista criticizes public space for being neglected, segregated and scary. Nevertheless, Kista is standing before several urban renewal projects aiming to be a place of mixed functions and vibrancy. However, these projects are both time-consuming and complex and will not be able to address the issues within the nearest future. By introducing temporary use of public space, ideals such as placemaking and temporary urbanism may deal with the amount of time being consumed during the planning processes of formulation, approval, adaption and implementation. It is done so by activating space through meanwhile usage. By studying places, functions and actors in Kista, the aim is to develop a method to initiate and implement the concept of temporary use of space, in accordance to the Swedish planning system. Through a literature review, a city’s function is being analyzed, definitions of public space identified and urbans ideals/ theories explored. Furthermore, two urban renewal projects are being studied, where strategic structures of how to develop temporary initiatives is analyzed. From the literature review follows a case study where interviews and observations are being conducted to gain local knowledge and professional expertise. There are both general drivers and specific features found in Kista arguing for temporary use of space, which results in a strategy and a process. The strategy is of a comprehensive approach aiming to initiate the concept of temporary use while the process is about how to implement temporary activities. To initiate and implement temporary use of space several strategic structures are suggested. The study suggests an early implementation within a larger urban renewal project, developed together with a vision and municipal plan and program. The method should be of a top-down structure, led by Kista Science City and developed by the City of Stockholm and real estate developers in Kista. The community should act as co-creators during the development and implementation of temporary activities. Space chosen for temporary used should be done so with care, in relation to knowledge of what attracts people and preconditions in Kista. The structure of the process needs to be dynamic, giving room for changes and improvements.

Despite the overwhelming role food plays in our everyday lives, the both new and old phenomenon of incorporating food systems into master planned communities has largely been overlooked. The in-progress community of Serenbe located just outside of Atlanta, Georgia is breaking this trend. The mixed use 1,000 acre community has already included many food and agriculture elements such as an organic farm, farmers’ market, grocery store, farm-to-table restaurants and edible landscaping - making it an exemplar case of an emerging planning strategy called Agricultural Urbanism. While many are heralding Serenbe for its strides as a community that incorporates agriculture into its design, the problem is that the full impact of this project remains unknown. In utilizing the case study method for landscape architecture developed by Francis (2001), this thesis examines the process, current state and projected outcomes of including Agricultural Urbanism into the Serenbe Community.

The purpose of this study is to understand the short- and long term implications of the Covid-19 virus on the city center and what is done to revitalize it to a more attractive and available place. This case study is done on Umeå city center, where the municipality is going through a massive transformation and plans to increase its population size from 130 000 to 200 000 by 2050. That is a 50% population increase over a 30-year period, this also entails doubling the amount of constructing on a yearly basis. With the municipality focusing on densification of its cities, with a particular focus on the city center since they want to build a dense and vibrant city where everything is within a 5 km distance radius. The case study is done with a qualitative method using semi structural interviews. The observations made from the interview are compared to previous scientific studies, documents and theories made by urban planners and culture geographers. They include Jane Jacobs, Richard Florida and previous work on the correlation between urbanization and spread of infection as well as studies on people’s preferences on where to live, either being in or outside the city perimeter.  To gather empirical information a selection of people in suitable positions were interviewed. The results from the interviews and document shows that the city center has not been affected by the Covid-19 virus on a macro level. There has however been a wide impact on the microgeographic level, where stores and restaurant have been highly affected by the restrictions imposed. People have also seen their daily lives affected which has changed their routines and behavior in consumption and movement. There has been little change in the planning process or vision for the city center expect that there has been a greater emphasis on cooperation between businesses and the municipality.

Denna studie hade till syfte att med en narrativ analysmetod studera interaktionen mellan hiphop-rapparen Petter och Stockholm City. De specifika frågorna som vi ville ha svar på i den här studien var hur Petter beskriver Stockholm som plats och som social struktur, hur hans inställning är till staden, hur detta påverkar individens livsstil och identitet, hur Petter beskriver sin relation till staden och hur detta kan förklaras genom tidigare forskning, vilka konsekvenser som Petter ser Stockholm har för honom och för andra som bor i den staden när det gäller etnicitet och sociospatiala faktorer. Metoden som användes i denna studie var en narrativ analys av 5 raptexter av Petter. Texterna analyserades och indelades i teman i enlighet med det som kallas tematisk analys, som är en form av narrativ analys. Resultaten visar att Petter beskriver Stockholm som en plats han älskar men också kritiserar hårt. Stadens sociala struktur beskrivs ur ett marxistiskt perspektiv. Denna studie visar också att Petter beskriver Stockholm som en plats som har sina fula och vackra sidor. Hans inställning till staden är ett slags hat-kärleksförhållande. Petter identifierar sig mycket med staden och detta sätt att identifiera sig med den lokala storstaden man bor i förklaras i teorin om urbanism, så resultaten backas upp av tidigare forskning. Resultaten visar också att Petter ser Stockholm som en plats som får människor att bete sig på vissa sätt, till exempel att göra människor materialistiska. Resultaten kopplades till teorin om urbanism och diskuterades. En intressant notering är att Petter inte till hundra procent faller i linje med förklaringen av urbanismteorin genom att han inte lägger någon större vikt, om alls, vid etnicitet eller sociospatiala faktorer. Han har mer av ett marxistiskt klassperspektiv, åtminstone i dessa 5 raptextlåtar som analyserades i denna studie. / This study had the purpose of studying, with a narrative analysis method, the interaction between the hiphop-rapper artist Petter and Stockholm City. The specific questions that we wanted answered in this study was how Petter describes Stockholm as a place and as a social structure, how his attitude is towards the city, how this effects the individual`s lifestyle and identity, how Petter describes his relationship with the city and how this can be explained through earlier research, what consequences Petter sees Stockholm has for him and for others who live in that city when it comes to ethnicity and sociospatial factors. The method used in this study was a narrative analysis of 5 rap texts of Petter. The texts were analyzed and divided into themes in accordance with what is called thematic analysis, which is a form of narrative analysis. The results show that Petter describes Stockholm as a place he loves but also heavily criticize. The social structure of the city is described from a Marxist perspective. This study also shows that Petter describes Stockholm as place that has it´s ugly and beautiful sides. His attitude towards the city is a kind of a love-hate relationship. Petter very much identifies with the city and this way of identifying with the local big city you live in is explained in the theory of urbanism, so the results are backed by earlier research. The results also show that Petter sees Stockholm as a place that makes people behave in certain ways, for example making people materialistic. The results were linked to the theory of urbanism and discussed. An interesting note is that Petter don´t onehundred percent fall in line with the explanation provided by the theory of urbanismin that he doesn’t put much emphasis, if at all, on etnicity or sociospatial factors. He has more of a Marxist class perspective, at least in these 5 rap text songs that were analyzed in this study.

No description available.