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- Danenberg, Rosa
(författare)
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Main streets as resilient public spaces : Zooming in on ground floors in Stockholm
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This research focuses on how main streets and ground floors can be adaptable and resilient public spaces. Main streets are vital components of the urban fabric of cities worldwide, serving dual roles as both links and places. They have played a major role in Western cities since the turn of the twentieth century; however, their significance as places has diminished over the years due to modernist planning. Contemporary planning approaches have struggled to address the link and place dimensions simultaneously (von Schönfeld and Bertolini 2017; Carmona, de Magalhães, and Hammond 2008a; Carmona et al. 2003). Main streets are pivotal nodes for socializing, commerce, and mobility. Their character is largely determined by the spatial features and functions of continuous ground-floor spaces, and the small businesses inhabiting those who create comfortable and sociable sidewalks (Jacobs 1961; Mehta 2011). Yet, spatial, social, and economic shifts driven by processes of privatization, globalization, and digitalization have transformed the main street character. Despite generally being considered to be adaptable and resilient places, main streets require dedicated planning, design, and management support in order to contribute cities being sustainable (Kickert and Talen 2022; Carmona 2015; Jones, Roberts, and Morris 2007; Zukin, Kasinitz, and Chen 2016). The research presented in this thesis aimed to provide an in-depth examination of how ground floors change from a socio-spatial perspective and how they are adaptable and resilient, in order to understand how planning, design, and management can support the future existence of main streets. The question that guided the research presented in this thesis was: What role do ground floors play in the creation of adaptable and resilient main streets, and how can planning, design, and management support this process?The research presented in this thesis reveals a reciprocal relationship between the spatial features of main streets and their ground floors and socio-economic dynamics, which are fundamental components of adaptable and resilient public spaces. To study main streets, ground-floor change was examined using Google Street View, focusing on three main streets in Stockholm between 2009 and 2018. This analysis showed a substantial transformation, with almost half of the ground floors changing during the studied period. This supports the idea that main streets are dynamic ecosystems capable of adapting to shifting socio-economic conditions, indicating their resilience. However, it also became apparent that small, local, and independent businesses accounted for two thirds of the ground floors in 2009 but just ten years later they occupied closer to half of the ground-floor spaces, and that chain stores appeared in the places of the independent stories that disappeared. The store categories that increased in number included ‘food and drink services’ and ‘personal beauty services’, while the ‘retail product store’ category showed a decrease. When investigating the spatial aspect of this transformation, it became evident that small ground-floor spaces are where change occurs. Small spaces undergo more frequent changes and are more adaptable to new functions. Interestingly, chain stores have downscaled to fit into these small spaces, intensifying competition with small, local, and independent businesses that are already in vulnerable positions. The research also investigated the privatization of property ownership in Stockholm and the impact of the Pandemic on ground-floor changes. Between 1990 and 2010, privatization occurred in the form of large-scale tenure conversions to cooperative housing associations (CHAs), especially in already-attractive inner-city areas of Stockholm (Andersson and Magnusson Turner 2014; Blomé 2012; Magnusson 2005). A fourth street was studied alongside the first three, and property data from Datscha was added to the database. It was found that CHAs emerged as the dominant type of property owner on the four main streets, such that almost half of ground-floor tenants were renting from CHAs in 2018. Research indicates that the large-scale conversion to CHAs has sped up and reinforced the gentrification process (Hedin et al. 2012; Andersson and Magnusson Turner 2014; Magnusson Turner and Andersson 2008; Magnusson 2005; Blomé 2012), and that in the later stages of gentrification, retail gentrification caters to the lifestyles and consumer preferences of new and affluent residents (Mermet 2017; Sakızlıoğlu and Lees 2020; Zukin 201). Retail gentrification involves new retail capitalizing on the value of storefronts as part of a process that leads to the closure of small, local, and independent retailers, who are integral to the vitality of main streets. Employing Kosta’s retail gentrification index and Zukin et al.’s (2009) retail-capital categorization, this research infers that patterns of retail gentrification are evident on Stockholm’s main streets, as demonstrated by the increasing prevalence of the ‘food and drink services’ category and chain stores. Further examination of the property owners responsible for these changes reveals an increase in retail gentrification under CHAs. The shift towards privatization via CHAs has enabled residents to serve as board members who oversee ground-floor tenancy management. This unique aspect of CHAs allows residents to be involved in their immediate living environment. The Pandemic shed light on how this plays out in practice, as it posed various challenges for small-business owners. One of these challenges was the reluctance of CHAs to apply for and pay half of government-subsidized rent reductions on behalf of their tenants, which were intended to mitigate the economic impact of the Pandemic and social-distancing practices. This reluctance stemmed from what the small-business owners perceived to be short-term economic considerations. This approach seemed to prioritize the allure of new retail capital over the preservation of small, local, and independent retailers who had contributed to neighborhoods’ unique characters. Retail planning and public-space management approaches to main streets and ground floors shed light on the need for curation. The research presented in this thesis suggests that the responsibility for main streets and ground floors as adaptable and resilient public spaces should be borne by polycentric governance structures where public and private interests can be balanced.
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| 2. |
- Eneqvist, Erica, 1982-
(författare)
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Experimental Governance : Capacity and legitimacy in local governments
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Contemporary planning and governance of cities involves practices of experiments and trials in urban experiments, collaborative platforms, and urban development projects with high ambitions for sustainability and innovative solutions. These practices of experimental governance can be seen as new policy instruments that include actors from all sectors of society in collective problem-solving. The introduction of experimental governance establishes a new logic of public administration that results in multiple opportunities and challenges. Previous research has emphasised the importance of organisational development beyond a focus on single experimental projects and institutional designs to support experimentation. This thesis aims to examine the municipalities’ organisational capacity for experimental governance and the opportunities to ensure legitimacy.The thesis involves a case study of the City of Stockholm and its innovative practices in general and experimental governance practices in particular. The focus is on the municipal organisation and how it has developed over the past decade, rather than single experiments, collaborations, and projects. Using a qualitative research approach, empirical data was collected by shadowing City of Stockholm staff members, while also conducting semi-structured interviews, participatory observations, and document studies. The thesis comprises four research articles: three using the City of Stockholm as an empirical case of a municipality engaged in experimental governance, and one that develops theoretical insights using examples from Stockholm. The first article provides a discussion of municipal innovation approaches and their influence of institutional logics. The second article is about municipal functions related to experiments, and how these functions challenge the local government. The third article examines the work of experiments and partnerships in policy and practice from a legitimacy perspective. The fourth article explores the institutional capacity for translating innovation actions from high-profile urban development projects into regular processes of the municipality.The results provide new knowledge about public actors and urban experimentation, while also providing practical insights that are relevant to stakeholders who engage in urban experiments. Specifically, the thesis reveals the challenges that municipalities face in embracing experiments while also ensuring and developing procedures for legitimacy. It also highlights the tensions of introducing new logics and roles for public authorities in a changing governance environment. The findings point towards the need for a more nuanced understanding of practices of experimental governance, and the development of permanent organisational structures and cultures to support and steer these practices. There is also a need for organisational procedures to ensure legitimacy, related to both input in terms of transparency, accountability and equality, and output in terms of results and effectiveness, with a capacity to implement the results. By meeting these needs, municipalities can harness the opportunities of experimental governance to serve the public good.
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| 3. |
- Xu, Miao
(författare)
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Developer-led new eco-cities in China - identification, assessment and solution of environmental issues in planning
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the course of China’s rapid urbanization and in the context of the country’s legalization of “ecological civilization”, “ecology” has become a basic requirement of the Chinese government for all new city construction. With the policy guidance of Chinese ministries being to support eco-cities, new eco-cities are flourishing in China. However, there is also growing concern about the environmental problems that have been revealed in China’s new eco-cities. In particular, new eco-cities led by private enterprises have been affected by environmental issues due to their own resource constraints, which have even led to engineering accidents and economic losses. The thesis selects the research question to be “how environmental issues are identified and assessed in the initial stage of planning and how stakeholders collaborate in addressing environmental impacts in new eco-cities managed by developers”. The thesis takes the following approach: Identifying problems in practice – Finding gaps in theory – Defining a research aim – Setting a theoretical framework – Conducting empirical research – Solving the problem. By comparing the practice of already completed new eco-cities with that of China’s new eco-cities, the environmental challenges faced by China’s new eco-cities when led by private companies are identified. The thesis then reviews a large number of theoretical and practical studies related to such environmental challenges faced by China’s new eco-cities. Decision theory and social capital theory are used as the theoretical framework to propose an ideal model to guide the actions of China’s new eco-cities led by private companies in addressing environmental problems in the initial stages of planning. A specially developed Ecological Safety Assessment Form (ESAF) is applied to identify and assess the environmental issues of the new eco-cities. The ideal model is modified by comparing the actions of stakeholders in addressing environmental problems in practice with the ideal model in theory. The research aims to develop a working approach that can help private companies building new eco-cities in China to identify, assess and address environmental problems in the initial stages of planning, as well as to assist stakeholders in achieving collaboration in addressing these problems. The ambition is that this approach can be applied in practice. The empirical study takes the new eco-cities of the developer company China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) as the research objects. Field interviews and participant observations are used to address the environmental problems previously and currently faced by new cities. The ESAF was summarized and developed by document study. A transdisciplinary participatory action research (TPAR) approach was used to test the application of the ESAF in CFLD’s new cities and collaboration of various stakeholders in addressing environmental problems. The findings of the study are then discussed. The main delineations and limitations of the thesis are systematically reviewed. Directions and focal points of future research work are also proposed. Keywords: new eco-cities, deision theory, social capital theory, PPP, environmental problems, initial planning stages, collaboration
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| 4. |
- Jonsson, Anna-Paula, 1982-
(författare)
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Sustainable tourism development : Social sustainability, planning and strategic development for better cities
- 2022
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main goal of this thesis has been to contribute towards improved understanding of how cities can influence tourism development. A great deal of earlier tourism studies has been concerned with aspects of social sustainability. This has naturally concentrated on potential as well as real anomalies and conflicts related to urban tourism. Inherent in many of such contributions is a dichotomy consisting of residents and social sustainability on the one hand, and negative impacts of tourism development (e.g. overtourism) on the other. Research and practice have over time gravitated towards an increased focus on how urban tourism development contributes to desired social impact. This has led to new perspectives in both policy contexts and tourism research. Perspectives for how to manage tourism to mitigate negative impact are therefore being complemented by new, more strategic, questions about how tourism can contribute towards urban development goals. Such questions, together with evidence that tourism development and urban development are mutually constitutive processes, motivate integrating policies that influence tourism into processes of urban planning. The research in this thesis has sought to contribute towards this emerging space by studying the intersections of tourism development and urban development and planning. The research questions that have emerged from this goal relate to the decision and policy making that take place in processes of urban planning when they intersect (necessarily or potentially) with tourism development. The thesis comprises one cover essay and two research articles. The first article is based on a single case-study of a new urban development in one of the most visited places of Stockholm. The other article is a comparative case-study of Vienna and Amsterdam that studies policy development and practices for sustainable tourism developments. Data was collected primarily through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from municipalities, academia and Destination Management Organizations in respective city. Results suggest that there are important variations in how different stages of tourism development and corresponding impact influence policy making and vice-versa. The cases studied suggest that strategic choices for sustainable tourism development are available up to a certain point. If negative impact on factors related to social sustainability are excessive, policy making aimed at influencing tourism development becomes constrained mainly to mitigating impact. Given the intersection of planning theory and tourism studies in this thesis, it can be considered a cross-disciplinary research project. Similarly, the results can hopefully contribute to a development of the understanding of how planning theory and tourism studies intersect in theories of both schools of thought.
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