Abstract Contemporary cities find themselves today in a fierce competition against other cities over company establishment and in -migration. In this competition, the city?s main objective is to become an attractive site of capital accumulation.  As this happens, the pressure on the vulnerable groups in society increases, leading to a social geographic polarization. I have examined how the shift towards neoliberalism has affected a city on the fringe as Kalmar. How is the postindustrial urban space constructed? I found this important to analyze since it put two important questions in the light: For whom, and for which purpose do we build the city today? My questions have been:v  What are Kalmar municipality?s strategies to develop Kalmar?v  What are the results of this strategy in the urban space?v  What are the consequences of this strategy?The research has been a case study of the city of Kalmar with a qualitative deductive approach where David Harvey?s theories about the city in a capitalist system have been the underpinning structure.

The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine the discourses aboutthe future of Malmö City Library expressed by the chief librariansSven Nilsson and Elsebeth Tank. Furthermore, our intention is tostudy the relation between the two. The questions posed in thestudy are: how does chief librarian Sven Nilsson express the futureof Malmö public library between 1989-1997? How does chieflibrarian Elsebeth Tank express the future of Malmö City Librarybetween 2008-2010? How does Sven Nilsson?s and ElsebethTank?s thoughts and visions of the future correlate?Our theoretical and methodical building ground is in the discourseanalytical field, with Ernesto Laclau?s and Chantal Mouffe?stheories about discourse and society, as startingpoint.

This project is about color and light and how it affects the atmosphere in the city. I choseto look closer into the central parts of the city, a place where I often feel a lack of lightand color, especially during the winter season. In the beginning of the project I made ananalysis of how intense colors are used in the city and how we can use color as a tool tocreate effectful spaces. Further into the project I chose to look closer into the effects thatare made by the facades, how the light from the windows affects the room outside when the dark falls. At the end of the project I caught a feeling inspired by the city and applied it into an installation of light..

Rapid urbanization causes competition over land use between green area preservation and urban development in cities and greatly affects ecosystems as well as human well-being. This conflict is significant all around the world as many cities are now replacing existing green areas with new developments. The area around Dag Hammarskjöld's väg in Uppsala is currently experiencing the same conflict, as the need that the city has for new housing represents a threat for the many valuable green areas that are in the site. The purpose of this project was to understand how the need of urban development and the preservation of green areas could be balanced. This understanding would thereafter be used to make a design proposal for the area around Dag Hammarskjöld's väg.

This graduation thesis is about baths and beach like places in city centers. It focuses on recreation and the creation and development of public, social spaces in the city containing water as a visual and useable element. The thesis is divided into three parts; background, inspiration and application. The background examines four factors which we consider important for the occurrence of inner city baths; water, the history of bathing, inner city recreation and social life in public places. A discussion of the (future) importance of inner city baths and beach like places' is then presented. The inspirational part is divided into examples of existing places and examples of types of places. The first is used in an attempt to examine the function and importance of inner city baths and beach like places as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with them. The latter contains a presentation of six categories developed by us to facilitate the planning of inner city baths and beach like places.

In my opinion, the city is a place fit as much for children as for grown-ups. I have noticed, however, that this is not a view shared by everyone. Does not the urban space belong as much to children as to other people? Yes, of course. Today and in the future most people will live and grow to be adults in cities. I would even take it as far as to say that without children, there will be no real city.

The purpose of this study is to highlight how a ring road and an external retail establishment may affect the city commerce. Umeå is the study object with interesting undergoing changes including a new external retail area south of the city and a new transport route that will lead the through traffic around the city.The study is based on a review of previous studies and a qualitative method. Four interviews were conducted with people who have a connection to commerce and/or municipal planning and where considered able to contribute with rich and relevant information. The result shows that the commerce in Umeå will be significantly strengthened in the context of a new external commercial establishment when the city?s overall attractiveness increases.

The Go Down Arts Centre is a proposal for a new building to an existing organisation in Nairobi, Kenya. The proposal relates to the scale of the city by making a statement on a future urban path, and by welcoming the city in to the building. The proposal houses both activities affiliated to Go Down, such as studios and rehersal rooms, as well as opportunities for the visitor to meet and interact with the culture produced at Go Down, both in formal and informal settings. The building is closed to its surroundings, apart from a grand entrance towards the urban path. There, the city passes through the building to an inner courtyard, where the communication to all the rooms and activities takes place.

This is an essay concerning the density of the city. An increasing amount of today?s cities have a shortage of space available for the erection of new buildings and settlements, especially in areas close to the city-centre. New buildings and settlements are therefore often found in the outskirts of the city, resulting in long distances between work and living for many people. These long distances are a waste of limited resources and are inconsistent with the vision of the sustainable city.The challenge for the future is to insert new buildings and settlements in the existing city-structure and in this way reduce the distances between different city-functions.The density of the city can be increased in two different ways; by inserting new buildings between existing ones or by extension existing buildings, for example by an additional floor.

The city contains a great multitude of people of different ages and different lifestyles and the urban environment should be planned and designed for everyone to take part in the social life of the city. The main reason among people for heading towards the city centre is to make purchases or to run errands, but also the social aspects are very important. A socially active city is worth striving for as an empty city can lead to unsecurity, fear and hostility between people. This paper discusses mainly the possibilities to encourage people to do physical activities on public places in the city. In Sweden the lifestyle of people in general has changed to the worse in aspects of health over the last decades which has led to the fact that many people in Sweden today suffer from obesity.

Fairtrade is a certification of products that has grown from the criticism of conventional trade. By increasing the focus on the producers? economic and social conditions, poverty can be fought and the producers? voice in the marketplace can be strengthened. Fairtrade City is a certification for municipalities who wish to engage in ethical consumption. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the Fairtrade City concept and how this can be a tool for working towards sustainable development. To be more concise, we want to answer the following questions: Why does Örebro municipality work with the Fairtrade City certification and how can Fairtrade City be used as tool for working towards sustainable development? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews and e-mail interviews with members of the steering committee for Örebro Fairtrade City and on literature studies. We have in our thesis identified Örebro Fairtrade City as a result of 1) that Örebro municipality through Fairtrade City wants to change their surrounding environment by engaging in ethical trade 2) that the surrounding environment effects Örebro municipality through isomorphism regarding its way to deal with sustainable development 3) that the municipality through its work with ethical trade becomes legitimized by their surrounding environment.

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the relation between the spatial and individual structures in Paul Austers City of Glass. The interpretative discussion is focused on the novels metafictive aspects. The analyses consists that Quinn, the main character, is linked to the city environment because of his function as detective, flânuer and author. According to Baudelaire, Benjamin and Berman the two last positions are fundamental in the literary citystructure, as well as in the formation of individuality and modernity..

This bachelor essay aims to illuminate different images and ideas about Bellevue industrial area.The area is situated in a district in Gothenburg, called Gamlestaden, where Bellevue industrialarea is a former industrial area, today mostly used by minor occupations. The district is facing amajor transformation, based on a detailed master plan. One aim is to create a district with mixedfunctions; like residences, businesses, offices, services and cultural activities all together. Thisessay is based mainly from a user perspective, but it also has the perspective from the ideas andvisions by the City Planning Office.The material is mainly based on interviews with seven informants, representing different kinds ofoccupations in the area. One interview is also made with a city planner.

The report by Boverket (2004), Hållbara städer och tätorter i Sverige - ett förslag till strategi says that large and somewhat intact green areas are better than severalsmall. Linking rural natural areas with the city's green areas, improves the opportunities for recreation and biodiversity (Boverket 2004). To create this, there isneed for a green structure in the city and its surroundings. But how to create this structure and what are the problems with the green areas in the city today? Thescenario that more and more people choose to settle in urban areas is a trend which not appears to decline, and at the same time our green spaces in cities and ruralareas decreases (Boverket 2007).

The purpose of the thesis is to investigate and analyze how three different actors linked to the urban transformation in the city of Kiruna, in this case LKAB, the Municipality of Kiruna and the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten, believe that the identity of a historical monument that is marked cultural heritage is affected by future relocation. The second part of the study is to investigate the impact the building might have on the city in the future. This study is based on the relocation of Hjalmar Lundbohmsgården.The study is based on a qualitative approach in which five informants from the three actors were interviewed. The interviews have been analyzed through thematic analysis, where a combination of theoretical thematic analysis and empirical thematic analysis was used. The result shows that the new location of Hjalmar Lundbohmsgården is preferred to be in a suitable context close to other cultural buildings. All informants agree that accessibility is a fundamental element in, which a synergistic effect is an increase in visitor numbers.