How do you build cities that are exciting and nice to live in? What factors in the physical environment is it that make you feel comfortable in some of the places in the city, but in other places not comfortable at all? Why do some cities have a rich public life in their public realm, while the public realm in other cities is abandoned and empty? How do you plan environments that support people?s physical and mental health? These are questions that I put to myself, and that people who are interested in or working with physical planning should ask themselves. That is why I have been studying an authority on the subject, the Danish Professor Jan Gehl, who has been researching and working with peoplefriendly public realms for 50 years. He is best known for his book Life between buildings that has been a text-book in the education of Architects for more than 30 years, and to have initiated Copenhagens most famous pedestrian street, Strøget, to show his theory of how people will use the public realm, if it?s only got the right qualities.

In 1998, 'the Naval Port of Karlskrona' was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and thus, it is equally protected as China?s Great Wall and the Pyramids of Egypt.The essay is a case study of Karlskrona, one of Sweden's most well planned cities, where famous urban planners and Architects such as Erik Dahlberg and Nicodemus Tessin the Elder has been involved.Today, Karlskrona is a rather unknown small town in Sweden's outskirts, where population growth has been a problem. When Karlskrona was founded, in the late 17th century, Sweden was a major power. The Blekinge archipelago was in the middle of the Baltic dominion and Karlskrona represented a midpoint in the kingdom. Therefore, Karlskrona has a small town charm with the history and style of a cosmopolitan city.By initially studying how the town?s character of today is expressed, the history of Karlskrona is explored.

Today, buildings utilize 40 % of the total energy consumption. New energyrestrictions and directives have entered the construction industry. Photovoltaic is asustainable, clean and quiet solution that integrates well in the urban environment buthave not yet reached a breakthrough on the Swedish market. The conditions for solarenergy production are often set in the early planning stages where they rarely arebeing prioritized.This master of engineering project focuses on identifying problems regardingimplementation of photovoltaic in city development projects and giving suggestions topossible improvements in the planning- and construction process. It also givesrecommendations on how the conditions for energy production can be optimized inthe early zoning stage.By conducting simulations with PVsystV5.21, on three ongoing city developmentprojects in Umeå, Malmö and Stockholm and by carry out and analyzing interviewswith city planners, constructors and Architects, some conclusions have been made.Several improvements, both politically, with changes in the subsidization systemand/or instatement of a new law with feed-in tariffs, and within the solar- andconstruction industry itself, with better communication between different parts of theprocess as well as better use of experience, can be made.

In this work a new design for S:t Erik?s square in Uppsala is being proposed. The square is situated in the middle of the city, surrounded by historical buildings. Today the square is a parking lot. The aim of the design proposal is to promote life and activity of pedestrians and cyclists.

Place is on the one hand a commonsense everyday word with diversely connotative meanings, and on the other a contested concept with different interpretations across a broad range of academic disciplines and discourses. This thesis researches theories of place and their implications for the theory and design practice of landscape architecture. Responding to problems of insufficient theoretical grounding and inconsistent use of the concept of place within the discipline presently, it argues the need for a theory of place better articulated in relation to landscape architecture. It seeks to contribute to such theory formation by drawing on ideas from related disciplines ? tracing diverse understandings of place beyond the commonsense meanings of the word and into the deeper reaches of place theory as tools to explain physical, social and spiritual aspects of the environment, and human relationships with it.

An increasing number of peole are resisting the attraction of living around nature and opting instead to spend their lives in cities. Parks and green areas play an important part in our well-being and we become fascinated with the diversity of nature, in which we find a peacefulness that is unique. Amongst other things, being surrounded by nature can reduce high blood presure, lower the production of stress hormones and stimulate the mind and our ability to concentrate. It is therefore vitally important to entice city residents to parks and green areas to improve their physical and mental well-being. Previous research has shown that humans are seeking for certain characteristics in the parks and green areas which they are visiting.

The title Urban furniture for young people reveals that this paper handles two central phenomenon in landscape architecture; the form and content of the urban spaces, respectively the users and their need for an appropriate outdoor environment in the city. In this paper youth is referred to as 15-18 year olds and the paper is based on theories of their physical use of the city?s outdoor environment. Urban furniture refers to equipment and components in the public room which becomes furniture when people takes them in to claim and gives them a meaning and a function that is useful for the moment. The starting point is that the users, in this case youths, defi nes urban furniture as something signifi cantly more than traditional park furniture, bicycle racks and waste baskets. This paper aims to investigate how the city?s furniture can be developed to meet the youths need to see each other, move and make their marks in the public room. The theories about how youths uses the city are presented in the Theory chapter.

Urban densification as a planning strategy is of interest in the planning context of today. It is also seen as a part of the sustainable development. Urban densification as a concept is commonly used in the discussion of a sustainable development. Thus, the question about urban densification is an important challenge in the current planning context. A deeper understanding of the process which urban densification has developed from is necessary, since planners then will be more able to manage this challenge.

Concept - detail - buildingStockholm International Fairs, new main entrance I studied at the KTH School of Architecture from 1995 to 2000. After completing my studies I wanted to work in an office that had a structural way of thinking and that knew the building process; I therefore chose to work for Rosenberg Architects. I have worked on a number of projects, among them several for the Stockholm International Fairs, from the Rica Talk Hotel and Hall AE, to the new main entrance.In the projects we undertook at the School of Architecture we had to identify and draw details that were central to our concepts. I have here identified some key details that we considered to be essential for the concept in a built project; the new main entrance of the Stockholm International Fairs completed in 2013. The entrance has complex logistics with multiple intersecting flows: exhibitors, employees, journalists, VIPs and others.

Today many buildings and it´s nearby surroundings are designed to achieve some kind of environmental goal.The issue concerning energy consumption is currently at focus and it is relevant that we start increase the share of renewable energy. Solar energy is an infinite resource and should therefore be considered when selecting an energy supplier. Uppsala University hospital is facing major restructuring when parts of the existing buildings will be refurbished and a large new building will be constructed. White Architects have developed a study concerning the new building and for some of the existing buildings on the hospital campus. Uppsala County requires tough energy measures and wants the new building to be classified as an eco-building in Whites following work. The classifications will involve high energy source requirements. This work has been conducted to see if solar power can be envisaged as a supplementary energy source for the University hospital and also to investigate the aesthetic impact of solar cells on the new building.

Begreppet landskap kan betyda både utsiktslandskap, så som det används på engelska , och område, region, som är grundbetydelsen i de germanska språken. Torsten Hägerstrand introducerade i början på 1990-talet begreppet förloppslandskap, som vänder sig mot ett statiskt betraktande av landskap och istället tar fasta på landskapets processer. Målet med denna litteraturstudie är att presentera en översikt av förloppslandskapets idéer. Syftet är att med detta som bakgrund föra en diskussion kring förloppslandskapets relevans i dagens planeringssituation. Europeiska landskapskonventionen företräder en landskapssyn där samspelet mellan natur och samhälle betonas, men till skillnad från förloppslandskapet så är fokus inställt på människans upplevelse.

As the contemporary discourse surrounding urbanism is almost exclusively focusing on aspects of density and traditional urban qualities, it entrenches notions of what constitutes a proper city and countryside. But beyond this urban-rural dichotomy is another highly contemporary landscape. A territory usually mentioned as sprawl, peri-urban, wasteland, edge city, etc. Although its existence is due to mobilization, telecommunications, globalization and other phenomena of modern life, it is a landscape without an own name or place in public awareness.This thesis provides a case study of how to map and intervene in such a landscape, specifically along the border between Malmö and Burlöv municipalities in southern Sweden. Its structure is composed of a sequence of three parts:1 Spatial Conditions:Divided up in the sections Network, Fringe and Void.

This thesis has been carried out at the Department of Urban and Rural Development at SLU Ultuna during the spring semester 2009. The topic of the paper is how energy consumption can be influenced through design and if the conditions for good design decreases when solutions based on energy efficiency are used. The report is divided into one literature study and one part where energy efficient solutions are used in a design. The thesis work has its origin in a project called "Energihus i Uppsala." The planned building will be a center for energy research in Uppsala. The project aims to demonstrate to the public what is currently happening in research related to energy.

The purpose of this thesis has been to signify what creates quality for the dwellers. Bycreating a definition of the term we have showed how well the qualitycriteria?s has been fulfilled in the newly built one family house area Pumpkällehagen in Viskafors.The questions the thesis gives answers to is: What is quality for the dwellers inhousebuilding of today? and How well have these quality aspects been carried out in tracthousing areas? These questions have taken us to our main goal: To describe what qualityfor the dwellers is and how well it has been carried out in a certain area.The literature review is describing what was published before the making of this thesis.From four different publications within the concept of quality an analysis template hasbeen enacted. This template has been used for our case study, but is also supposed towork in future analysis of tract housing areas.Interviews was carried out with the areas Architects; Ola Nylander and Mattias Karlsson,as well as the client; Mikael Bengtsson. From these we have gathered their point of viewon the background of the area, as well as their view on the term quality for the dwellers.Our work has brought us to enact nine different quality aspects, which we considercreates quality for the dwellers:? The Non-measurable properties? The rooms relative connections? Sufficient and user-friendly property complements? The property complements connection to the apartment? Location of the apartment and connections to the environment? Opportunities of outdoor activities? Orientation and transportation within the area? The social unity? The cost of the apartment and its form of tenureFrom the case study, using the analysis template, we can state that Pumpkällehagen is avery successfully built area where most of our assessment criteria?s and quality aspectshave been fulfilled.

The aim of this paper is to analyse how the term attractiveness is interpreted in Swedish contemporary urban planning. The focus is to analyse how the term is discursively constructed and by this highlight the conceptions that exist around what makes a city attractive. We want to emphasize the importance of a deeper understanding of how attractiveness is used in urban planning and how the term is a part of the development of our cities. Given the use of attractiveness as a part of visionary goals for Malmö´s and other Swedish cities future development, our intention, therefore, is to enhance the understanding of what the use of attractiveness means in respect of the creation and construction of power relations in time and place. The framework of our analysis is based on the discourse theory approach and used as a way of understanding how urban ideals is discursively constructed.