Urban densification is claimed to enhance sustainability of cities, with the primary aim of centralizing services and reducing urban land take. Hence, urban densification is expected to reduce car dependencies, facilitate walking, biking and public transport; and protect rural green spaces. However, densification can pose threats to the green spaces and green qualities within urban areas, which is often overlooked in planning. A significant challenge for planners is implementing densification projects while also providing sufficient urban green spaces with green qualities. This paper examines three cases in the Stockholm region, wherein the Stockholm Regional Planning Office has plans to densify, so to reduce social and environmental pressures from the inner Stockholm region. A case study research was conducted with semi-structured interviews, field visits, and literature reviews as the primary means of data collection. This study identified the challenges confronted by municipal planners when incorporating sustainability in planning by enhancing, preserving, or integrating green qualities in the urban densification plans. A few challenges included lack of collaboration, professional barriers, and lack of knowledge on green qualities amongst others. The interviews revealed the use of impact assessment (IA) tools such as EIA and SEA were not being used to their fullest potential when planning for green qualities in the densification plans. This thesis analyzes the findings from the interviews and identifies opportunities to improve IA tools for sustainable planning; thereby developing a framework for using these tools in order to integrate green qualities in the municipal densification projects as well as address the identified challenges.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kth-180282 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Khoshkar, Sara |
| Publisher | KTH, Mark- och vattenteknik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | TRITA-LWR Degree Project, 1651-064X ; 2015:19 |
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