The connection between clusters of innovation and economic growth has been in the interest ofresearchers and policy makers for decades. Economic distribution has been proven highlyconcentrated, and clusters are frequently studied for their dynamics to be understood. However, thereis less qualitative research focusing on agglomeration, and proximity, the distance between twoobjects, is often treated as a stable factor. Here lies the contribution of this thesis. By studying the lifescience cluster Hagastaden in Stockholm, Sweden, this case study sheds light on how dynamics ofproximity affect innovation and the importance of the communicative aspect of proximity. The Covid19 pandemic has forced many companies to work remotely and it created a unique opportunity tostudy the importance of place for innovation when the physical presence in it decreased. Throughqualitative interviews and thematic analysis, the author reveals that proximity might not be stable but,on the contrary, created. The result confirms earlier research regarding the positive effect oninnovation by being proximate but also adds to it by highlighting the aspect of communication ininnovative processes. The result implies that earlier studies on the location of analytical knowledgeclusters might need further research to be fully understood, as the result of the Hagastaden casecontradicts these to some extent by pointing to the urban environment as a factor of location choice.The results also call for further qualitative research in trying to understand the dynamics of clustercreation in general and planned clusters in particular, which could give important insights for researchand policy.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the open-air museum of Skansen in Stockholm as venue for celebration of Persian Fire Festival is assessed by the festival's visitors. The study is based on a delimited part of a larger online survey with 280 completed questionnaires including both close-ended and open-ended questions, and a qualitative thematic analysis method has been used in this paper. The results show a high level of appreciation of the Skansen venue that gives the visitors positive emotions, meanings, place attachment, place identity and a sense of place. Contributing factors have been the high status of the venue that has given the visitors pride and dignity; security and safety of the venue; size of the venue; and the natural beauty of the venue. The most important disadvantage factor has been the lack of accessibility combined with lack of sufficient public transport. The results have implications for the Swedish society, for the policy makers in Stockholm city and for both the host and the organiser of the festival and gives rise to new debates on immigrants' socio-cultural integration into Swedish society. This paper gives a contribution to existing literature on festival venue and its impact on the visitor's overall assessment of the festival.

Stockholms stad befinner sig nu i en kraftig utbyggnadsfas. Tidigare översiktsplaner pekar ut ett flertal stadsutvecklingsområden där en omfattande nybyggnation har ägt rum sedan millennieskiftet. Generellt kan utvecklingen i dessa områden förstås inom ett bredare teoretiskt ramverk gällande tredje vågens gentrifiering och nybyggnadsgentrifiering.

Syftet med denna studie är att granska förekomsten av gentrifieringsprocesser i äldre bebyggelse som angränsar till stadsutvecklingsområdena, för att på så vis få en bättre förståelse kring gentrifieringens spridningseffekt. Med hjälp av befintlig kommunal statistik kartläggs inkomstutveckling och flyttaktivitet i sex äldre bostadsområden på basområdesnivå under åren 2004-2016.

Resultaten visar att en inkomstmässig gentrifieringsprocess i varierande utsträckning förekommer i samtliga studerade basområden, vilket ger stöd till teorin om positiv spridningseffekt. Samtidigt är dem slutsatser som kan dras begränsade då det är svårt att isolera den lokala utvecklingen från en mer generell ekonomisk trend i Stockholms stad, utan att även beakta variabler som generationsväxling, konjunkturläge och förändring i sysselsättningsgrad.

This thesis aims to understand how the second-generation Afro-Swedes experience everyday racism in public spaces as racialized and gendered bodies. The three key dimensions of study are to recognize (1) blackness in public space, (2) experiences of everyday racism in public space, and (3) coping strategies to everyday racism. These three dimensions are gathered from six participants’ narratives done through semi-structured interviews. The thesis reveals that public spaces are based on lived experiences. The second-generation Afro-Swedes are likely to suffer from emotional damage while exposed to racism and discrimination acts in public spaces. The collective notion amongst the select group is that feeling unsafe and unwelcomed in predominantly white spaces hinders their mobility patterns. The internal individualization of the concept of blackness is additional; however, there are similarities in how the Swedish society misses the individual aspect of their identity and groups black people as a collective. The thesis further concludes that everyday racism is a product of structural racism and is thus the aspect society should focus on the most. More research needs to be done regarding second-generation Afro-Swedes and black people in Sweden about spatial processes of race and the interconnection with gender, focusing on the embodiment of space rather than segregation. 

Planning for the housing situation of an ageing population is one of the challenges of many countries. To increase our understanding of the needs of the ageing population, a nationwide survey stratified on age and municipality type was conducted. Research questions referred to the current housing situation and plans. The aim was to investigate how preferences, location, and/or the type of housing preferred changes with age and if they are housing market dependent. Results of 10-year cohorts show that the most marked change is between the cohort 75-84years old and the oldest cohort 85+. There is a gradual change over time of moves from large to small housing, from owner-occupation to rented housing. Respondents in the major cities and in the rural or tourism-dependent municipalities are less inclined to move compared to those from other types of municipalities. The study predicts a shortage of rented apartments.

The increasing proportion of elderly in European populations has prompted debate about where and how they will reside. Our main hypothesis is that when moving in this phase of life the most common move would be one from a suburban location in owner occupation to a more central location. This would be in line with the belief that older people, when they retire or when the children have moved out, want to take part in the culture of city living, such as concerts, theatres and museums in addition to enjoying a more convenient type of housing. This, we argue, is the assumed residential pattern during the third age and a possible part of a mobility cycle as described by Rossi (1955). The aim of this study was to examine the local geographical mobility and tenure of older people. The analysis was made using a register database, Geoswede, comprising the total Swedish population. Moves of the cohorts born in the 1920s, 1930s and the 1940s were followed between 2001 and 2006. Using five distances to the municipal population core a centralized mobility pattern could be observed. The two older cohorts made such moves, whereas the majority of the youngest cohort moved to peripheral destinations. From analysis of three case municipalities, it was shown that movers from owner occupation in the cohort born in the 1940s moved within owner occupation to a greater extent and made short distance moves. Such increased knowledge will have an impact on planning issues.

One hypothesis is that, in Sweden, the elderly today are more willing to change residence to accommodate for changing lifestyles and poorer health than in earlier generations. If so, the elderly will change their type of tenure from owner occupation to tenant co-operative or rental housing, which includes more services for residents. The aim of this study is to discover if elderly people move to apartments after leaving single-family housing that they own. Mobility patterns of those born in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s are analysed to identify characteristics of stayers and movers, and to determine to what extent the elderly move to rental and tenant cooperative apartments. The analysis is cross-sectional using a register database comprising the Swedish population. Moves were followed between 2001 and 2006. The majority remained in their current dwelling but almost one-quarter moved. Of those, a smaller number moved from owner-occupied housing to a tenant co-operative or rental apartment.

A number of smaller municipalities have decreasing population rates. Generally, the young move out, increasing the proportion of older people. To increase our understanding of the living conditions of an ageing population in small municipalities, a postal survey was conducted in three small, semi-rural municipalities in southern Sweden. In the survey the respondents answered questions about their living situation and their housing plans. The aim of this study was to investigate the housing situation and housing plans of the very old in semi-rural areas and research questions analysed for this study concerned the current housing situation and plans for future housing. A total of 1386 surveys were sent out in March 2014, to all inhabitants aged 80 years or more, residing in the ordinary housing market in the three municipalities, the response rate was 60%. The results show that most of the respondents were firmly rooted in the area as most of them had lived in the municipality for more than 20 years and 60% had lived in their current dwelling for more than 20 years. Ageing in place was the dominating plan, although one quarter of the respondents answered that they did not know what would happen in the future. Those who planned to move wanted to move to housing that required less maintenance and to a more central location. Residential mobility is at play also in old age as 27% of the respondents had moved at some point during the last 10 years, i.e., after the age of 70.

Many municipalities in Sweden have decreasing population rates combined with an increasing proportion of older people. Such a demographic shift will influence the way life is led as the foundation for service provision and social activities becomes undermined. This leads us to question the extent to which shrinking municipalities can be considered socially sustainable. The aim of the paper was to investigate older people's participation in the local community and to study the perceived changes in the local community as reported by older people and how these are experienced. A postal survey was sent out to all inhabitants aged 80 years and older living in their own household in three small, semi-rural municipalities in southern Sweden, in total 1386. The response rate was 60%. Thus, focus was on the experiences of the oldest individuals. The research questions analysed for this study concerned the ageing population's social networks, community involvement, car dependence and service provision. The results are used to discuss the social sustainability of the societies in which these people have lived for a long time.

This thesis contributes to the current debates on large-scale land acquisition ongoing in the Sub-Saharan African by focusing on a local government-driven LSLA in Ghana. The study examines the gendered implications of life, especially for women aspects, of the 8,000 acres of landlands acquired for an airport upgrade to international status from the political and feminist political ecology conceptual framework. De empirische onderzoeken richten zich op de ervaringen en concerns van de lokale stakeholders van de Nyoglo Village in het noordelijke deel van Ghana over hun verlies van landbouwlanden naar het luchthavenproject en zijn implicatie op gendered levensverwachtingen. In dit onderzoek heeft de studie gebruik gemaakt van kwalitatieve gegevens die door de interviews zijn gefocust, focusgroep discussie en participant observatie en mapping. Undersøkelsen viser at selv om staten driver dette LSLA, viser den overtagelsesproces likviditet i forhold til udenlandsk investor-driven LSLA i den lovlige lov om landobjekt. På den del af kønsrelaterede livslihoodimplikation forbundet med LSLA, the study shows "double-dispossession "for the women. The study concludes by recommending an adherence to the land acquisition laws and a critical understanding of the heterogeneity in local communities by investors of LSLA projects for a win-win outcome.

This study explored the shift in land use from livestock farming to game farming in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, from a social-ecological regime shift perspective. A regime shift can be defined as a large, persistent change in the structure and function of the intertwined social and ecological components of a landscape. This research focused on the Amakhala game reserve as a case study to understand how the shift affected the provision of ecosystem services and human wellbeing. We used remote sensing techniques to quantify changes in vegetation and found evidence of vegetation recovery following the shift. We then conducted interviews with both landowners and farmworkers and used participatory mapping to understand their perceptions of the main drivers and social-ecological impacts of the shift in land use. Social narratives revealed stark differences in different stakeholders' perceptions, highlighting that the change in land use had varied implications for, and were perceived differently by, different stakeholders. Farmworkers emphasized changes in social structures that weakened community bonds and erased valued connections to the land. At the same time, they increased employment of women, skills development, and increased wages as benefits of the new game farming regime. Landowners, on the other hand, indicated financial gains from the land use change. The transition therefore resulted in trade-offs that surfaced as social, economic, and cultural losses and gains. These changes, especially in social relationships and community structures, have implications for resilience and possible future pathways of development in the region.

Naturen är en viktig resurs för människan som vi, genom alla tider, varit beroende av. I takt med att utvecklingen har gått framåt har även naturens roll ändrats. Naturens resurser utsätts för extrema prövningar och konkurrensen om yta är idag stor. Stockholmsregionen är ett tydligt exempel på detta och nya svårlösta intressekonflikter dyker ständigt upp. Regionplaneringen inom Stockholm har varierat sedan den påbörjades under 1950-talet med nya utmaningar som en naturlig följd. Även synen på naturen har förändrats inom regionplaneringen och en miljöetisk analys blir därför intressant. Det går att konstatera att naturen ofta anses ha ett instrumentellt värde för oss människor som är svårt att ge avkall på. Trots en medvetenhet om vikten av att bevara och förbättra förutsättningarna för välfungerande ekosystem och biologisk mångfald är det just naturens egenvärde som ofta utgör en del i konflikter. I Stockholms regionplaner har ett varierande fokus legat på miljöetiska frågor. Idag är hållbar utveckling ett betydande begrepp inom samhällsplanering och får således stort utrymme i regionplaneringen. Målet om en hållbar utveckling är dock oerhört svårt att nå så länge bristande kunskap förhindrar korrekta avvägningar mellan bevarande och exploatering.    

The article examines how street vendors in Abuja, Nigeria are experiencing and responding to the attempts to restrict their access to public space. Modernist planning and the increasing trend in the privatization of public space is limiting the amount and types of public spaces available to street vendors. Drawing largely on primary research, the article reports that street vendors are responding by adopting a range of spatial, relational and temporal tactics. Specifically, it cites the Ready-to-Run tactic, relocating to relatively more secure sites, informal relations and networks and operating at certain times of the day. Access to the street and mobility are key factors that shape the types of tactics adopted. Vendors prioritize proximity to the street in order to maximize access to potential customers. The highly mobile vendors are more likely to adopt spatial and temporal tactics, while the less mobile tend to rely on informal relations and networks. Furthermore, in the absence of formal organizing, individual agency is more prevalent. Where collective agency exists, it is often a response to an immediate challenge. Gender and age influence the experiences of vendors and the tactics adopted. The Abuja case is a notable example of the link between modernist planning, particularly the master plan approach and socio-spatial exclusion. As a city built from scratch, the plan laid the foundation for socio-spatial exclusion by planning the poor out of the city. The plan remains at the centre of contemporary urban politics, notably the relations between the state and informal workers.

The article examines the criminalization of street vendors in Abuja, Nigeria. It draws on the debate on informality, legality and rights, to highlight the tensions surrounding the law as a mode of regulation. As documented, ideology provides the rationale for the criminalization of street vending. The activity is deemed inimical to the modernist ideals of a clean and functioning city. Enforcement of the law is accompanied by the harassment of vendors. However, vendors remain on the streets by circumventing the law. The article highlights the shortcomings of a simplistic approach to the governance of informality. It cannot be legislated away.

The article provides insights into how a Private Sector Partnership (PSP) between government and local firms in Lagos, Nigeria, became enmeshed in local politics. Drawing largely on primary data, it reports that aided by a discourse which positioned the PSP as the embodiment of local interests, the partnership was deployed by politicians to generate political capital. Furthermore, Mega Infrastructure Projects (MIP s) paved the way for the government to intervene in the partnership. The hiring of a foreign firm by the government was seen by local firms as an attempt to marginalise them and by politicians as a challenge to entrenched local powers. Local firms fought back by creating strategic alliances and networks with politicians. Hence, the PSP was turned into a site of resistance politics. Ultimately, the saga led to the unravelling of the partnership. At the broadest level, the article highlights how globally circulating neoliberal urban visions are grounded within specific cities.

This doctoral dissertation examines how the symbolic character of a relocated capital city influences and intersects with local conditions to shape the governance structure and relations in service delivery. The focus is on Abuja, the new capital city of Nigeria, and the sector studied is solid waste management. Abuja was planned to avoid the numerous problems facing other Nigerian cities. Contrary to the intention of government and planners, the city now houses the fastest growing slum in the country. There are various possible explanations for these outcomes but this study pays particular attention to the conception of Abuja as a symbol of national unity.

The ‘good governance’ agenda is often promoted by the World Bank and donors as a way of handling the numerous challenges facing African governments, including service delivery. A major expectation of the agenda is that local governments manage the urban development process in conjunction with an array of institutions ranging from the private sector to community groups and households. An underlying notion is that of a minimalist national state. This is not the case in Abuja, where governance is conducted at higher levels and the municipal council remains largely invisible. This is manifested in solid waste management, where the municipal council has no jurisdiction over the sector. In addition, community groups and households play very minimal roles in the governance of services. Drawing on the concept of space and place, the study concludes that the types of institutions found and their roles and relations are shaped by the national function of the city and the local power relations.

The study draws on primary and secondary data. Interviews were conducted with state officials, community leaders, households and interest groups, such as the private sector. Secondary data were obtained from government documents, studies and newspaper reports.

The paper examines the tensions that accompany slum upgrading in the era of world-class city construction. The focus is a slum upgrading project in Lagos, Nigeria. The paper observes the intertwining of modernist and neoliberal ideologies in world-class city construction and in slum upgrading projects. The entanglement centres on a number of shared interests; the prioritization of infrastructure and notions about urban space, participation and citizenship. As documented, the project and by extension world-class city construction fails to acknowledge the livelihoods of the poor and is undermined by protests. Historical legacies and systemic failings of governance present additional obstacles. The paper seeks to broaden the scope of world-class city research by acknowledging the local context, but at the same time recognizing the global links. Along these lines, the paper suggests that slum upgrading provides an opportunity to examine how the local is inserted into the global.

In today’s globalized world, mega infrastructure projects have emerged as one of the most popular strategies for attracting private capital and repositioning cities on the competitive landscape. The Lagos Megacity Project (LMCP) was launched to address a longstanding infrastructure crisis and to reinvent Lagos as a modern megacity. Using the LMCP as a case study, the paper examined the challenges facing the funding of mega infrastructure projects. Special attention is given to how capital is mobilized, the kinds of alliances or networks found and what gets prioritized. The paper observed that the alliance formed between the federal, Lagos and Ogun state governments to mobilize public funds quickly unraveled largely due to disputes traceable to the apportioning of fiscal and political responsibilities and the distribution of functions between the different tiers of government. Under the LMCP, disputes emerged between the federal government and the Lagos State Government (LSG) over who was responsible for what. A history of opposition politics and a highly politicized resource allocation system further made cooperation between the two particularly difficult. Furthermore, the LMCP signalled a renewed drive by the LSG to attract private investments through public–private partnership. The paper noted a host of problems but crucially there is a preference for elite projects, a practice that is reinforcing socio-spatial exclusion and confirms the persistent inequalities that accompany neoliberal and modernist projects. At the broadest level, the paper points to how modernist projects are fractured or undermined by specific ideologies and practices.

The scope of the problem of waste management in African cities continues to change across space and time in line with changing socio-economic, political and environmental conditions. Crucially, the failure of the formal systems has paved the way for the informal sector. The overall aim of the book is to capture the dynamism and complexity of Informal Sector Solid Waste Management (ISSWM). The main argument is that while the poverty reduction potential of ISSWM remains valid and is acknowledged; there are broader issues to consider.

Effective natural resource management (NRM) often depends on collaboration through formal and informal relationships. Social network analysis (SNA) provides a framework for studying social relationships; however, a deeper understanding of the nature of these relationships is often missing. By integrating multiple analytical methods (including SNA, evidence ratings, and perception matrices), we were able to investigate the nature of relationships in NRM social networks across five service types (e.g., technical advice, on-ground support) in our case study region, Daly catchment Australia. Only one service type was rated as highly associated with free choice in establishing relationships: technical advice/knowledge. Beneficial characteristics of NRM organizations, such as collaborative and transparent, were associated with the presence of freely chosen relationships between organizations. Our results suggest a need to improve our understanding of organizational roles and characteristics, in particular for use in applied NRM contexts, such as network weaving or disseminating information.

Due to the rapid urbanization and globalization, urban social life is getting more complex thanever. Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, is the residence of about 180 nationalities thatmakes it one of the prominent multicultural cities in Europe. Moreover, sustainable developmentis one of the main goals of the Swedish government. In this circumstance, it is the challenge tomake a socially cohesive society to ensure its social and economic development. This study isaimed to have an inner look at social cohesiveness between Bangladeshi community and otherethnic groups including native Swedish in Stockholm from a qualitative research approach. Asocial cohesion framework has been formulated by analyzing various literatures for the purposeof this study. This social cohesion framework comprises of social, cultural, political andeconomic indicators to understand the different dimensions of social cohesion in Stockholm.This framework is used during preparation of the questionnaire for conducting the qualitativesurvey that includes twelve in-depth interviews. Empirical result reveals that Bangladeshicommunity has a weak sense of belonging and a lack of common identity to the mainstreamsociety, rather they have stronger attachment to other Bangladeshi immigrants in Stockholm.Although lack of social cohesiveness has been found between Bangladeshi immigrants and otherresidents in Stockholm, but many threats to social cohesion (for example; racial conflict) areabsent in Stockholm. Therefore, it is a reachable challenge to make this society cohesive for thebetterment of the country by initiating proper measures.

Despite receiving relatively little traction in climate change discussions among scholars and policymakers in the early 1990s, the term ‘climate resilience’ is now moving rapidly into prominent policy arenas and academic fora. However, how useful is the term in enabling normative aspirations to reduce net losses to climate change impacts? In this chapter, we first take stock of this seemingly rapid rise in the use of the term by presenting an overview of the progress and ongoing discussions on ‘climate resilience.’ This chapter illustrates these trends based on evidence of the terms’ growth and evolution over the years in two realms: within academia and in public policy. In both cases, we find an increasing trend in the way ‘climate resilience’ is conceptualized and used in academia and in public policy, yet these trends present different challenges and consequences for each case. Taking a problem-oriented approach, we conclude that despite the term’s popularity and growth, a critical review of its measurable effectiveness and pragmatic utility is still needed. Evaluating the terms utility in application is particularly important in light of recent conceptualizations of the climate resilience imperative as ‘transformation’ in a changing climate. We recommend some possible avenues for further research to address this deficit.

How can a posthumanist conceptualization of landscape, one that embraces temporality and practice, help us to better understand contemporary settler colonialism? This thesis explores this proposition through its analyses of the desire of the Israeli state to ‘settle’ the Naqab. The Naqab, an area located in the south of modern-day Israel and within its borders, is continuously narrated as under threat of being lost to the Palestinian Bedouins. In contrast to the breadth of scholarly attention given to the occupied Palestinian Territories, there is a relative paucity of studies focusing on the Naqab and on the Palestinian citizens of Israel living therein. Inspired by the concept of taskscape and, more broadly, by a posthumanist political ecology approach, in this thesis I seek to remedy the determinist undertones quite often found in settler colonial studies.

The thesis’ empirical data draw from qualitative methods and field research in the Naqab, undertaken during multiple field visits between the 2018 and 2021. The thesis comprises a comprehensive summary (kappa) and three research papers. In Paper 1, I show how a schism between the Jewish National Fund and the civil society green movement surfaced amid land conflicts between the state and Bedouin villagers east of Beersheva. I argue that this schism offers insights into how nature is negotiated in relation to environmentalism and Zionist ideology.  Further, I discuss how these negotiations point to an emerging new self-image of a post-settlement state that has abandoned pioneering, and replaced it with a planted forest (and natural) landscape as an emblem for Zionist nature. In Paper 2, I focus my attention on a network of Jewish villages in the Naqab. Based on a discourse analysis of YouTube videos produced by two Zionist organizations, I show how the narrative of Jewish relocation to the Naqab encompasses a modern re-enactment of the pioneering ideal, one mediated by a new neoliberal ethos of Israel as a ‘start-up nation’ and the Naqab as a new Israeli tech-hub. Finally, in Paper 3, I trace the cultural and political context of forest grazing in the Naqab. I argue that while the state uses afforestation as a proxy for territorialization, the irony is that it is the Bedouins who are largely responsible for everyday management of these forest areas, as grazing is a cost-effective method for keeping shrubs and other undergrowth low. I argue that in trying to accommodate grazing in the forest, policy makers struggle to juggle Bedouin land claims via continuous use and cultural connection to the land. Throughout the papers I affirm the performance of Israeli settler colonialism through the making of the natural environment. I assert that the tendency towards forest and grazing regulation, also articulated in planning policy, represents a move beyond the ‘era of pioneering’ towards a more formal type of society.  I conclude by contending that the multiple spaces and temporalities presented in the paper’s case studies are indicative of contradictory narratives in the portrayal of the Naqab is and thus assemble as a necessity of the settlement ambition.

The Naqab is a region in south Israel, which until 1948 was mainly inhabited by Palestinian Bedouin tribes. A small part of this community continues to take their sheep and goats to seasonal grazing, a practice that carries deep and significant cultural importance but has been all but abolished by various post-1948 laws. Following a turn in forest management, grazing has become sought after as cost-effective pruning. However, mobile herds are now hard to come by as the practice has been obstructed among the Bedouins and as mobile herding is commonly thought of as an Arab cultural practice. Forests, on the other hand, have long represented the Israeli nation both as identity and territorial claim. Current regulation does not fit the new demand, making new regulation necessary. Reading Tim Ingold’s concept of ‘taskscape’ as a posthumanist approach, I explore how grazing is regulated in the Naqab in relation to both the state-Bedouin conflict and to the wider settlement-colonial enterprise in Israel/Palestine. I suggest that taskscape is a concept that can hold the complexity of natural resources, cultural identity and conflict while simultaneously countering the colonial idea of ‘empty space’ which tends to inform both state-pastoralists conflicts and grazing regulations, thereby offering a new lens through which to understand the ongoing settler-colonial project

This paper explores how nature is negotiated and mobilized in the settler-colonial state. I present a case study of a schism between the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the civil society green movement in Israel, that has recently surfaced in the context of state-led afforestation on the historical land of Arab Bedouins in the Naqab. The study is based on interviews with activists from the Bedouin community and representatives from JNF and other concerned actors coupled with close-reading of media coverage and published reports. I argue that this schism offers insights into how nature is negotiated in relation to environmentalism and the Zionist ideology and I argue that this negotiations points to an emerging new self-image of a post-settlement state that has left pioneering behind, symbolized by the replacement of the planted forest landscape by the natural landscape as the emblem for Zionist nature. 

Within the recognized borders of Israel, in the shadow of the West Bank settlement enterprise, a new frontier is in the making. Central planning has designated the space as a burgeoning metropolitan region, and, in a parallel process, a network of Jewish-only settlements has been established. This study asks how the settlement push is narrated to the Israeli public, and thereby adds the Naqab to previous studies exploring the link between colonial settlement and suburbia, and more specifically with the community-settlement model. It analyzes audiovisual material produced by two Zionist organizations and finds that the new frontier is narrated as a space for reenactment of the mythic pioneer trope, and that this ideal is mediated in relation to the new neoliberal ethos of Israel as the “start-up nation.” The study moreover expands on the interplay of geographic scales, thus adding an important contribution to scholarly understanding of contemporary settler-colonialism. 

The Palestinian region is changing rapidly, with both economic and cultural consequences. One way of approaching this very political process is thru the concept of landscape. By viewing the region as a multiprocessual, dynamic landscape the analysis allows for a holistic read where historical and contemporary projections, interpretations and notions of power are fused. This thesis draws on the scholarly fields of humanistic landscape research and aerial image interpretation as well as theories of orientalism and power. A case study of two regions of the West Bank is performed; interviews and observations provide localized knowledge that is then used in open-access image interpretation. By performing image interpretations this thesis explores the power embedded in mapping and the possible inclinations the development towards open-access geospatial analytic tools could have on the functions of power in the Palestinian landscape. By investigating the spatial configuration of the Palestinian landscape and tracing its roots this thesis finds four major themes that are particularly pivotal in the processual change of the Palestinian landscape: the Israeli/Palestinian time-space, the blurring of the conflict, the dynamics of the frontier region and the orientalist gaze. 

Främjande av hållbar mobilitet och hållbara transportmedel har under de senaste åren varit ett mål för många länder och städer runt om i världen.  I dagsläget är transporter och transportsystem i bl.a. Stockholm Stad inte hållbara och bidrar till miljöproblem därför finns det ett eftersträvan att fler ska välja cykel som ett transportmedel. Cykel är ett billigt transportmedel i jämförelse med andra och den ger inga upphov till utsläpp. Men främjandet av cykling gynnar inte endast miljön, det bidrar också till ett mer jämställt samhälle. Forskning visar att det finns en potential för att andelen resor med cykel ska öka, trots det är andelen resor med cykel fortfarande mycket färre än med andra transportslag. En faktor som hindrar människor att cykla kan vara den upplevda otryggheten. För att främjandet av de hållbara transportmedel, sådana som cykel ska bli framgångsrik är det viktigt att undersöka var och i vilka situationer som cyklisterna upplever otrygghet, samt vilka åtgärder behövs för att minska otryggheten. Dessa frågor besvaras huvudsakligen med hjälp av enkätundersökning, observation och kompletterande intervjuer. Resultatet för denna studie visar att cyklisterna upplever otrygghet främst på grund av bristande infrastruktur men också brist på hänsyn och samspel bland trafikanter. Det visar sig även att för att minska otryggheten krävs mer än att bara förbättra samt bygga ut cykelinfrastrukturen. Åtgärderna måste även ge förutsättningar för förändring i beteendet bland de olika trafikantgrupper. 

Avsikten med denna uppsats är att med en kritisk diskursanalys undersöka hur kunskap om kulturarvet och kulturhistoriska värden konstrueras i Stockholms byggda miljö. Akademisk litteratur inom kulturarvsforskningen beskriver en situation där det uppstått ett glapp mellan teori och praktik inom kulturarvssektorn som vidgats sedan postmodernismens och konstruktionismens framväxt i början på 1970-talet. Den utövande kulturarvsvården och värderingsprocessen är i stor utsträckning styrd av värdeorienterade klassificeringssystem där utgångspunkten är att finna och tolka olika värdetyper i ett objekt. Detta traditionella förhållningssätt är en del av ”den auktoriserade kulturarvsdiskursen”; ett begrepp inom kulturarvsforskningen som menar att kulturarvssektorn premierar traditionella värden genom expertutpekanden vilket leder till en reproduktion av kanoniserade objekt med vissa ideologiska förtecken. Sedan år 1974 finns det i Sverige nationella kulturpolitiska mål fastslagna och sedan år 2012 finns det fyra nationella kulturmiljömål som landets kulturmiljövårdande institutioner ska sträva. Målens tankegods förmedlar en ambition om att göra kulturmiljöer och kunskap tillgängligt för att främja demokratisering av kulturarvet. I Stockholms kommun är det Stadsmuseet som ansvarar för utpekandet och klassificeringen av kulturhistoriskt värdefulla byggnader och miljöer. Syftet med undersökningen är att bidra med en djupare förståelse för hur kunskapen om kulturhistoriska värden i Stockholms byggda kulturmiljö produceras och legitimeras. Resultat och analys visar att diskurserna i Stadsmuseets översiktsdokument sedan klassificeringens introduktion under tidigt 1980-tal har förändrats av ideologiska, politiska och ekonomiska element. Museets och kommunens samtida översiktsdokument har en anknytning till kunskapsläget inom kulturarvsforskningen genom att argumentera för relativa, pluralistiska värden. Men den traditionella värdesynen och expertdiskursen i värderingsprocessen har lett till en värdering och klassificering som reproducerar en traditionell förståelse av det byggda kulturarvet. En universell metod i kombination med intern praxis används för att identifiera vilka kulturhistoriska värden som finns, utan att precisera vilka egenskaper som upprätthåller dessa värden. Det ger klassificeringen en svag anknytning till kulturarvsforskning, regeringens kulturpolitiska mål och den egna institutionens värdesyn i samtida översiktsdokument.

Sweden is known world-wide for its achievements in the field of sustainable urban development. Due to this global recognition Swedish stories and policies of sustainable urban development are being spread across various spatial and institutional contexts. Focusing on SymbioCity and its approach as examples for such stories, this thesis seeks to elaborate on the de-politicization of urban environments through sustainable urban development policies. In doing so, this thesis synthesises urban political ecology and policy mobility literature to form a theoretical framework to investigate the mobilization and legitimization of such environments. Drawing on findings provided by methods of text analysis and interviews, it is illustrated that Swedish stories of sustainable urban development construct a de-politicized spatiality supported by capital, desires of influence and “the planner”. The thesis concludes by arguing that planning research needs to critically address the process of de-politicization and support the articulation of a political Ecotopia. 

This paper develops an analytical framework from which to understand the mobilisation of post-political urban environments across spatial and institutional contexts. Our analysis of two closely related cases from a Swedish context reveals the potential benefits of combining studies on urban political ecology and policy mobility. By utilising Actor-Network Theory (ANT) we illustrate how post-political environments that are shaped by mobile and mutating policies of sustainable urban development are stabilised through distinct discursive strategies, capital investments and the desire for increased influence within global frames of action and contribute to the creation of, what we call, selective geographies.

In the last decade the Hong Kong government has shown an interest in promoting large scale cultural development projects including Art Basel Hong Kong, the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) as well as M+ The Museum of Arts and Visual Culture, all presenting Hong Kong as a cultural hub. The development of those projects can be seen as a way for the city to diversify its economy through creative industries (CI) and urban entrepreneurship (Raco and Gilliam, 2012), making the place more appealing for international workers and global tourism. However, ongoing grassroots political movements such as the 2014 Umbrella Movement suggest that the Beijing government is keen to intervene with Hong Kong’s affairs. As a result, its cultural identity is being challenged. In this paper we argue that the study of the yet conceptual M+ museum contribute with accruing capital of cultural identity when compared to likewise huge museum projects in mainland China. We will further argue that the Hong Kong museum will represent an original that other museums in the world may wish to copy.

This study aims to develop an understanding of how circular economy should be implemented to result in sustainable development and to analyze the potential of one particular implementation to result in sustainable development. “The sustainable development way of implementing circular economy” is presented by understanding circular economy with system thinking and considering the factors affecting the implementation of circular economy. Interviews and text-analysis are conducted to analyze the character and potential of ReTuna, a reused items mall in Eskilstuna, to result in sustainable development. Results show circular economy should be implemented as a way of reasoning that can result in a systemic transformation of the economic system to result in eco-centric sustainability. Implementations that do not explicitly derive from a an understanding of circular economy as a new way of reasoning are despite this valuable due to a system’s character of interconnectedness. ReTuna is implemented as a set of practices and an organizational structure but it also demonstrates an honorable effort to change people’s perception of the human-nature relationship. It is concluded that way of implementation has to reflect and be synchronized with the aspiration behind implementing circular economy. ReTuna has potential to result in sustainability but does not yet.

Utifrån tvärvetenskapliga perspektiv och metoder, hämtade från etnologin och kulturgeografin, och med en empirisk utgångspunkt i tre kulturmiljöer som förvaltas av Statens fastighetsverk (SFV) i Sverige, analyserar artikeln historiebruk i form av kulturarvsproduktion och föreslår ett applicerbart normkritiskt samt i förlängningen normkreativt angreppssätt för att möjliggöra alternativa, varierade och mer inkluderande historieskildringar kring kulturmiljöer. Genom att utveckla och integrera dessa synsätt och verktyg vill artikeln argumentera för att man får tillgång till nya berättelser om platsen; berättelser som går utöver den traditionella, „normala“ historien om staten, enskilda byggnaders materiella utformning och den sociokulturella och ekonomiska eliten. En långsiktig effekt blir att det möjliggör ökad mångfald och inkludering både i fråga om förmedling och representation av platser som komplexa rumsliga och sociokulturella helheter.

The essay sets out to map a part of the Swedish representation of China in travelogues, using postcolonial theory. Two sources were used, Dagens Nyheter and Vagabond. These were in turn examined to explain how the discourse and semiotics in the travelogues depicting China were constructed and have changed over the past two decades. The results show that the discourse has changed from a negatively portrayal based on anti-chinese discourse of China with parallels to its communist history, to a recent more exotic presentation revolving around romantic rurality, modernity, and Chinas dynastic history. The semiotic analysis in turn confirms the later representation as well as a postcolonial exoticism and otherness in the representation of China.

Denna uppsats behandlar hur konstnärer agerar som planerande aktörer under konstruerandet av Nya tunnelbanan i Stockholm. Syftet med studien är att finna hur policys, regler och nätverk påverkar konstnärernas planeringsprocess samt avgöra vilka idéer och ideologier som påverkar och formar dessa ramverk. Intervjuer med konstnärer som vunnit rollen som konstnärlig kompetens av Nya tunnelbanan och idé och ideologianalys av SLL och RS utlåtanden pekar på att konstnärerna har konstnärlig frihet men begränsas processuellt av styrande organ.  Projektets storlek synliggör hur mål från projektets början successivt anpassas. Jag har funnit att planeringsformatet beror av traditionell Svensk planering men uppenbart påverkas av policyplanering och neoliberalistiska synsätt. Denna uppsats redogör hur dessa idéer påverkar den faktiska planeringsprocessen.

Denna uppsats  behandlar hur konstnärer agerar som planerande aktörer under konstruerandet av Nya tunnelbanan i Stockholm. Syftet med studien är att finna hur policys, regler och nätverk påverkar konstnärernas planeringsprocess samt avgöra vilka idéer och ideologier som påverkar och formar dessa ramverk. Intervjuer med konstnärer som vunnit rollen som konstnärlig kompetens av Nya tunnelbanan och idé och ideologianalys av SLL och RS utlåtanden pekar på att konstnärerna har konstnärlig frihet men styrs gällande processuellt av styrande organ.  Projektets storlek synliggör hur mål från projektets början successivt anpassas. Jag har funnit att planeringsformatet beror av traditionell Svenska planering men uppenbart påverkas av policyplanering och neoliberalistiska synsätt. Denna uppsats redogör hur dessa idéer påverkar den faktiska planeringsprocessen. 

This essay handles municipal cultural planning practices in suburban areas and compares Sollentuna and Huddinge municipality in the Stockholm Region. Citizens' accessibility to culture serves as an important catalyst in regional growth strategies. Sollentuna and Huddinge municipality are two municipalities within the region of Stockholm, yet are not integrated with the City of Stockholms cultural core. In this essay I aim to analyze disparities in how these municipalities conceive, manage, and implement cultural policies. 

This research focuses on the often-overlooked domain of 'general culture' (allmänkultur) which is entirely voluntary for municipalities to administer and is thus driven solely by local policies. Through the lens of intermediary cultural actors involved in municipal planning, the study investigates prevalent narratives shaping cultural practices and collaborations with local community groups. Furthermore, narratives articulated by planners and cultural actors can uncover the challenges and aspirations unique to each municipality. The study underscores the importance of understanding local contexts and dynamics in shaping cultural planning practices, challenging conventional urban-rural dichotomies in land-use management.

Key findings reveal differing approaches in cultural planning between Huddinge and Sollentuna municipalities, despite sharing similar overarching goals. While both municipalities prioritize accessibility and support for local cultural activities, their strategies differ. Huddinge emphasizes governance strategies and collaborative partnerships with community organizations, whereas Sollentuna focuses on placemaking initiatives and fostering a cultural cluster with cross-boundary appeal. 

In conclusion, this research advocates for a nuanced understanding of municipal cultural planning, emphasizing qualitative assessments over quantitative metrics to capture the social impact and significance of cultural investments. By examining suburban municipalities, the study contributes to expanding perspectives on Swedish municipal cultural planning, highlighting the role of intermediary cultural actors in shaping local cultural policy.

Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka och försöka förstå inverkansfaktorer och maktrelationer bakom planeringen av ett större infrastrukturprojekt. Studiens fokus ligger på det stora vägprojektet Förbifart Stockholm, som bland annat syftar till att avlasta befintligt vägnät och bidra till att bättre knyta samman Stockholms norra och södra kärnor. Den reella politiken och planeringen behöver inte alltid vara densamma som den formella, vilket i uppsatsen klargörs genom bland annat uttalanden i media, remissvar och intervjuer med involverade aktörer och politiker. Maktbegreppet kan förstås och synliggöras på flera olika sätt och därför studeras och används flera olika resonemang och teorier kring maktbegreppet. I fallet med Förbifart Stockholm kan till exempel det diskursiva maktbegreppet synliggöras, vilket Foucault har utvecklat och skrivit om, men även Bachrach & Baratzs teori om icke-beslut, Flyvbjergs resonemang om Realpolitik och Realrationalitet samt den konventionella planeringsmodellen kan synliggöras i samband med studien av Förbifart Stockholm.

Latent driver sleepiness may in some cases be masked by for example social interaction, stress and physical activity. This short-term modulation of sleepiness may also result from environmental factors, such as when driving in stimulating environments. The aim of this study is to compare two road environments and investigate how they affect driver sleepiness. Thirty young male drivers participated in a driving simulator experiment where they drove two scenarios: a rural environment with winding roads and low traffic density, and a suburban road with higher traffic density and a more built-up roadside environment. The driving task was essentially the same in both scenarios, i.e. to stay on the road, without much interaction with other road users. A 2 x 2 design, with the conditions rural versus suburban, and daytime (full sleep) versus night-time (sleep deprived), was used. The results show that there were only minor effects of the road environment on subjective and physiological indicators of sleepiness. In contrast, there was an increase in subjective sleepiness, longer blink durations and increased EEG alpha content, both due to time on task and to night-time driving. The two road environments differed both in terms of the demand on driver action and of visual load, and the results indicate that action demand is the more important of the two factors. The notion that driver fatigue should be countered in a more stimulating visual environment such as in the city is thus more likely due to increased task demand rather than to a richer visual scenery. This should be investigated in further studies.

Sverige har, i likhet med många länder, länge strävat efter ett bostadspolitiskt mål om social blandning. Det finns en etablerad idé om att en hög grad blandning av upplåtelseformer främjar detta mål. Denna studie har haft som syfte att kvantitativt undersöka om det föreligger ett sådant samband, med särskilt fokus på de demografiska aspekterna då dessa är underforskade. Med hjälp av entropiindex mättes graden av blandning för upplåtelseformer och den demografiska blandningen. Det empiriska resultatet indikerar att det finns en relativ blandning av upplåtelseformer i Stockholm stad, där vissa områden är mer blandade än andra. Trots detta kunde regressionsanalysen inte påvisa några starka samband mellan blandade upplåtelseformer och demografisk blandning. Uppsatsens empiriska resultat ifrågasätter effektiviteten i de befintliga bostadspolitiska strategierna för att uppnå önskad social blandning.

Skärholmen riskerar att bli ett utsatt område då kriminaliteten och otryggheten ökar i området. Stockholms stad gör satsningar för att utveckla Skärholmen, men barn och yngre generationer påverkas av otryggheten och kriminaliteten som omfattar området vilket kan ha gjort föräldrar oroliga för deras framtid. Uppsatsens syfte är att få kunskap om hur Skärholmens risk att bli utsatt kan påverka barn och framtida generationer enligt föräldrar i området. För att kunna undersöka forskningsfrågorna kring föräldrarnas uppfattade oro kring barns uppväxt i Skärholmen så valdes en kvalitativ studie i form av intervjuer. Fallstudien består av intervjuer med åtta föräldrar och teorin som används för att analysera resultaten var komplexitetsteorin som tar upp begrepp såsom street-level perspektiv och nätverk. Resultaten visar att föräldrar känner oro kring Skärholmens utveckling och tror att förändring kan vara essentiellt för barns uppväxt i området. Satsningar från kommunen utförs i Skärholmen och föräldrar anser att åtgärder behövs.