The town square is an important public space and is often described as the city´s living room. By creating a lively city center a sense of security is developed among the citizens which makes them wanting to use the town square regardless the time of the day. One important meeting point in Gävle is the centrally located Stortorget, sited between Drottninggatan and Nygatan. The town square went through an extensive renovation followed by both positive and negative reactions among the City´s inhabitants.  The aim with the study was to investigate the main walking paths and meeting points as a planning support to Gävle Municipality in their work with a new city plan. By studying the pedestrian movement patterns at Stortorget, Nygatan and Drottninggatan, the main walking paths and meeting points during all hours of the day was obtained.

This thesis is about Fristadstorget in the city of Eskilstuna and how the square flow together with the user orientation could be improved. This work focuses on how public spaces best satisfy users through architecture, cognition and information interpretation. I've looked at people's movement patterns in Fristadstorget, with the help of observation from strategic locations. While I also integrated the city?s surrounding and taking in information from already existing buildings around the square.

The purpose with this thesis was to describe the importance of the creative industries for a town. We thought that towns could design a strategy to attract creative industries and creative people to establish their business in the town. During the study some important topics, such as a town brand, a town image and a town identity has been identified as factors that can influence and attract people and creative industries. Towns can use these topics in their marketing of the town. The method that we used was a case study: we conducted interviews to collect information about the chosen case study, the town of Skellefteå.

The aim of this study is to investigate how non-profit engagement influence voting in school election, but also how the school has influenced the pupils to vote and if there are any differences between a big and a small town.The methods which have been used for this study are quantitative and qualitative, both questionnaires and interviews. To be able to see differences between a big and a small town the study was carried out in one school from each category of town.By examine the empirical material and analyse it with theories which are used for this study we have come to the conclusion that there are no obvious differences between pupils in the big town and the small town. Pupils in both schools were pretty engaged in associations, though had the pupils from the small town some higher level of engagement. Moreover, both schools had a high participation for the election. The result of the study showed that there were no noticeable tendencies on if the pupils choose to vote depending on engagement in associations.Furthermore, both schools were very engaged in the school election indeed.

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.

In this paper I have tried to find out the reason the medieval town of Vä was created. I have studied several different areas in witch all, in one way or another, have had an effect on the making of Vä. This areas includes topography, iron production, mill handling, religious effects, royal affliction and also if the name Vä could tell something about Väs history as a religious cult. I have also looked at two other places not far from Vä, the medieval harbour town Åhus and the big village of Fjälkinge. By comparing these three places I tried to find out what Vä had that the other places did not, which made Vä turn in to a town.

The purpose with this thesis is to understand the relationship between a square?s design and its function as a public meeting place, were Sundstorget in the city of Helsingborg is used as a study object. The architect Jan Gehl developed a theory of people?s outdoor activities in his book Livet mellem husene (1996). He divides the activities in three categories; 1) necessary activities, 2) optional activities and 3) social activities, which are differently affected by the place?s design.

This essay deals with the weak and unstable urbanization process of the town Falkenberg. The aim has been to explore how a new town could be established just a kilometre away from the town (Old) Falkenberg and what kind of meaning the town had in relationship to the towns Halmstad and Varberg. This was made through the study of the political situation in Denmark and Sweden during the 15th century and through a comparison of the town churches. The archaeological material of Falkenberg is very small and thus I had to trust the available historical literature about the town.Not much of the oldest history of the town is known, but a conflict between the landed aristocratic family Thott and the king Kristian I in Denmark has been interpreted as a reason to the establishing of the town. In conclusion the survey showed that the king probably established New Falkenberg in purpose to limit the trading possibilities of Thott and to, at the same time, increase his own power in the district.

This essay wants to give the reader a glimpse of a planner?s situation in the development of different commercial establishments in a town. What they are influenced and directed by and also how these commercial establishments in the town borders effects the commerce and the life in the town center. This essay doesn?t declare to bring up all possible aspects concerning the planner?s role regarding these commercial establishments in the town borders.

The out-of-town retail establishments are part of the dramatic structural changes in the retailing of food and groceries. There are however strong indications suggesting these establishments result in negative externalities concerning areas such as pollution and urban environment. The purpose of this study is to describe and, from an economic perspective, analyse the Swedish political regulations and planning policies concerning the out-of-town supermarkets. The analysis establishes that the current regulations regarding out-of-town retailing do not, due to the occurrence of market failures, produce an optimal situation. It might therefore be necessary to change the planning policies in a more restrictive direction.

Abstract Squares, these public rooms have always fascinated me. I find them interesting because of their variety in shapes, functions, design etc. Stortorget in Lund is one of Sweden?s oldest squares, this essay is dedicated to this particular square. Of all the possible ways that you could approach Stortorget in Lund I have decided to do it from an urban design point of view.

This project is about Jönsaplan in Landskrona. Jönsaplan is situated at the center of Landskrona in a part called Södra centrum which the municipality is developing, mainly by building new residential buildings. Today, Jönsaplan is not a functioning square. This is due to a ferry terminal and its many fences that block the way for people. In this project, I have assumed that the ferry terminal will be moved somewhere else so that Jönsaplan can be a real square. By studying The Concise Townscape by Gordon Cullen and Byens uttrykksformer by Thomas Thiis - Evensen and three reference places, Daniaparken, Raoul Wallenbergs torg and Norr Mälarstrand, I came up with a number of guidelines for my design proposal for Jönsaplan.

This is a master thesis on how to develop the central area of Norra Fäladen, a suburban housing area in the town of Lund, Sweden. The area is discussed on the basis of literature studies, analysis, and place descriptions, which leads on to a proposal. The starting point for the proposal is to create a more lively local centre and to make the area pleasanter for the visitor. A large part of the thesis is devoted to giving a background about local centres and to describe and analyse the area. Fäladstorget has an important role as a central place for supply and services and as a local meeting place for the inhabitants of Norra Fäladen.

We are daily using the public space to move throughout the city. The public space is an important part of our city and it?s where a lot of social activities occur and a lot of different events take place. The outdoor environment in the city should offer the residents nice and varying places for staying. In this essay I will try to understand how the physical environment works and how people moves and behave in the public space.

This is a final project which makes up 20 credits at the Landscapearchitecture programme at SLU in Alnarp. The thesis is design based. My final project is comprised two parts; of a competition entry for ? A New Square in the Centre of Täby? as well as a theoretical study that derives from the competition proposal. The competiton itself was announced on March 1st 2007 with the final hand-in date on May 28th 2007. The program of the competition asked for a flexible urban square that offers a diverse range of activities that can be used during both night and day, all year around. I became interested in the term ?mutlifunctionality? and I went on to use the subject as a base for my design approach.