Background
Our cities and urban areas are shaped by current policies for energy and climate transition. Building denser and taller in central parts of the city and around public transport hubs aims to encourage the shift to environmentally friendly transportation modes and travel practices. These changes significantly impact the public and semi-public spaces in the city. They affect how these spaces are designed and who has access to them. Some urban spaces are designed with certain social groups in mind, while other groups are less welcome. Some neighborhoods have many public spaces, such as parks, squares, and playgrounds, while others have few. Hovinbyen and Nydalen in Oslo are examples of newer neighborhoods where residents and media have frequently discussed whether there are sufficient green spaces and public meeting places.
In new development and densification projects, private developers and contractors often handle much of the design of outdoor areas within their projects. Even though they must align with publicly approved plans, this can lead to fragmented urban planning, making it more challenging to allocate and secure public spaces accessible to all city residents. When building housing, developers must bear much of the cost of creating quality outdoor areas, and this expense must be covered by the revenue from home sales. As a result, in some areas with low willingness to pay, it may not be profitable to invest heavily in common areas, leading to increased disparities between different parts of the city. Additionally, many outdoor spaces are owned by private entities, which can impose restrictions on what activities can take place there, even if the spaces are perceived as common areas.
About the Project
This project focuses on these urban spaces, examining whether they are socially inclusive, democratic, and thus truly public. We investigate existing public and semi-public spaces, how they are designed, how they facilitate various social practices, who they include and exclude, and to what extent they contribute to a sense of place. Furthermore, we aim to contribute to new theories, models, and methods for developing socially inclusive public urban spaces, considering the relationship between spaces in a neighborhood and their role in building place-based social capital. The question is how to achieve urban development that is socially sustainable and not just compact and energy-smart.
We have chosen to focus on urban development in areas undergoing transformation, such as Fjordbyen and Hovinbyen in Oslo. However, we also examine efforts to create inclusive urban spaces in smaller cities and towns, such as Sandvika, Lillestrøm, and Jessheim.
Collaboration
In addition to researchers, the project involves participants from a-lab architects, Viken County Municipality, Oslo Municipality (Agency for Urban Environment), Bærum Municipality, Lillestrøm Municipality, and Tromsø Municipality.
Publications
- Results and Recommendations 05/2021: "The Urban Floor – How Does It Influence the Work of Designing Attractive and Inclusive Urban Spaces?". (in Norwegian)
- Article in the journal Plan (2/2023) by Per Gunnar Røe: "The Social Implications of Compact Urban Development". (in Norwegian)
Master Theses:
- Hannah Waaler Koppang: "Planning the Spaces of the Dead: A Discursive Look at the Critical Imaginative Potential of Urban Cemeteries" (2023)
- Milla Skjeklesæther Bjerkestrand: "The Future of Urban Spaces in Compact City's Transformation Areas – A Study of Planning, Design, and Use of Urban Spaces in Løren, Oslo" (2022) (in Norwegian)
- Marie Elverud Skålnes: "Green Justice and Access to Urban Green Spaces – A Spatial Quantitative Study of Accessibility to Green Spaces by Socioeconomic Status in Oslo, Norway" (2022) (in Norwegian)