Bordering Practices in a Sustainability-Profiled Neighbourhood: Studying Inclusion and Exclusion Through Fluid and Fire Space

Borders are essential in the current planning of cities since new forms of social relations are needed to support more sustainable ways of life. In this article, we present a case study of a sustainability-profiled new neighbourhood, Vallastaden in Sweden. We focus on how sustainability is enacted in different socio-material versions, which often include defusing borders between private and shared spaces. Shared space in Vallastaden includes spaces to facilitate meetings, such as felleshus (built as semi-communal, ground-level buildings, semi-indoor spaces, and greenhouses), winter gardens (built as rooftop, semi-private, semi-indoor, and social spaces), and the shared brook-park Broparken and farm-park Paradiset with rental allotments and communal gardens. Analysing how bordering practices create inclusion and exclusion, we study their consequences for the everyday lives of humans and non-humans in Vallastaden. We conceptualise these dynamics as fluid and fire space in order to make the ontological politics of bordering visible. Our study shows that the borders in the planned shared spaces are dynamic and create both fluid and fire space, depending on their socio-material relations. The research shows that planners need to take these heterogeneous socio-material relations into account when creating borders because, otherwise, they risk creating unfair exclusions

Omsorg för hållbarhetsarbete i företag

Corporate sustainability comes in a variety of shapes and the boundaries defining what can be called sustainability are disputed. This thesis explores the making of sustainability at a medium-sized company in Sweden, in this study called HygieneTech, that actively works with sustainability. Inspired by theories from science and technology studies (STS), the author discusses how different versions of sustainability are created in practices. The study is based on a theoretical approach, actor network theory (ANT), which understands reality as performed rather than observed, and since reality and its objects are enacted differently in diverse situations, reality and objects are considered multiple. Moreover, inspired by Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, “thinking with care” enables the study to tell new stories about how companies work with sustainability. This view of the actors as doing sustainability through care practice in a corporate setting paves the way for a caring analysis, exploring the different versions of sustainability as different matters of care. The enactment of sustainability is studied through participant observation, interviews and document studies. The most frequently enacted versions of sustainability are sustainability as saving resources, sustainability through standards/labels, sustainability as caring for people, and sustainability as a conscious choice. The study shows how some versions of sustainability in one setting can clash, such as when the employees at HygieneTech have to decide between caring for saving resources or caring for labelled products. Even so, in other settings versions of sustainability can be added together and thus enable the employees to care for sustainability both as a marketing device and as a conscious choice. Furthermore, the thesis shows that sustainability is sometimes made absent in relation to other matters of care, such as cleanliness and economy, while in other settings economy and sustainability can be added together. Finally, the thesis shows how sustainability, while enacted in several versions, still can cohere though professional tinkering.Hur företag arbetar med hållbarhetsfrågor kan se väldigt olika ut och många gånger uppstår stridigheter kring vad som får kallas hållbart. Denna avhandling studerar hur hållbarhet iscensätts i ett medelstort företag i Sverige som arbetar aktivt med hållbarhetsfrågor. Företaget är i denna studie anonymiserat och kallas HygieneTech. Genom att använda teorier från studier av teknik och vetenskap (STS) studeras hur olika versioner av hållbarhet skapas i olika praktiker. Studien utgår från ett teoretiskt angreppssätt, aktör-nätverksteori (ANT), som genom en symmetrisk analys studerar såväl materiella som mänskliga aktörer. ANT anser att verkligheten och dess objekt görs snarare än upplevs och eftersom verkligheten iscensätts på olika sätt i olika situationer, är verkligheten och objekten multipla. Genom att studera hållbarhet som omsorgspraktiker, inspirerad av Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, skriv nya typer av historier kring hållarbetsarbete på företag. Att tänka med omsorg (”thinking with care”) ger forskaren möjlighet att istället för att återberätta den traditionellt återkommande historien om företaget som en vinstmaximerande rationell agent, lägga fokus inte bara på rationalitet, utan även affektion. Hur hållbarhet görs i praktiken studeras genom deltagande observationer, intervjuer samt dokumentstudier. Denna avhandling visar på att det finns ett flertal olika versioner av hållbarhet som iscensätts vilka ofta är sammanknutna i varandra. Några av de viktigaste versionerna av hållbarhet i HygieneTech handlar om hållbarhet genom att spara resurser, hållbarhet genom märkningar/standarder, hållbarhet genom omsorg om människor och hållbarhet som ett medvetet val. Vissa av dessa versioner kan adderas samman, men i andra situationer ställs de mot varandra. Studien diskuterar även exempel på när hållbarhet görs osynligt på grund av att andra värden såsom renlighet och ekonomi istället sätts i fokus, samt hur hållbarhet trots sina olika versioner hålls samman

Careful place : Matters of care built into the socially sustainable city district

In Vallastaden, a newly built city district in Sweden, place is carefully crafted to make it into a role model city district of the future. These “careful places” are built with care, but also require physical care, such as cleaning and gardening, as well as administrative care through paperwork and organizing. This article focuses on how thinking with care in the analysis of the planning for and living in Vallastaden can contribute to highlighting the complexities often made invisible in city planning and put what is marginalized at the centre. The article empirically studies how the planning of careful places is done in planning documents and builds on workshops with residents in Vallastaden. In the workshops, inhabitants of Vallastaden are asked to draw their own map of their city district, so called mental maps. These mental maps are discussed with regard to how place in Vallastaden enables care, is cared for, and what troubles they bring. Careful place has the power to create tensions in planning, which is handled by making some matters absent or translated into other matters of care. Likewise, careful place is enacted with multifold practices in the everyday life of the residents in Vallastaden, intertwining self-care, care for the environment as well as a caring space for sharing problems in virtual space. Staying with the troubles of careful place creates awareness of otherwise neglected matters, such as how socio-economic diversity is translated into diversity in housing, and through this approach turn to the ethico-politics of urban planning.Hemmet flyttar u

Working with models: Social and material relations entangled with energy efficiency modelling in Sweden

Modelling the energy use of buildings during the planning process is a well-established practice within the construction industry today. This article studies how these models are handled in practice and the issues that arise around them. This is a case study that follows the planning process of a block of rental buildings in Sweden. With an Actor Network approach this article shows how the complexity of the energy model affects the relationships between the energy consultant and the professionals from the construction company. Since the construction company professionals do not understand the calculations behind the model, they have to trust the energy consultants expertise. Furthermore, the energy modelling practices create tensions when proposed architectural designs are at odds with the energy efficiency goals. Lastly, the article shows how the uncertainties connected to the models calculations provide an arena where personal feelings are allowed to be part of the process. From the perspective of the involved professionals, energy modelling is shown to entangle social and material relations in ways that have not previously been studied in relation to energy efficiency in the process of planning new buildings.Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy Agency [40783-1]</p

Felleshus and Paradiset in Vallastaden : Care for social sustainability in a new neighbourhood

In recent years, the development of new neighbourhoods in Sweden has included social sustainability as an overarching aim. This research project focuses on Vallastaden (development of which began in 2017 and is still ongoing), host of Sweden’s largest built environment exhibition. The research explores how social sustainability was interpreted during the different phases of the project and how the built environment was constructed in relation to defining social sustainability. The results show that the planning process included a wide variety of stakeholders, and that social sustainability was defined broadly, with some versions being foregrounded and others backgrounded. Notably, some elements for residents, such as the socalled “felleshus” – large greenhouses with communal social spaces – and Paradiset – land designed for permaculture and urban gardening – were brought to the fore. Felleshus and Paradiset have been studied in greater detail: How have these communal spaces been developed over the last two years? Specific attention was paid to socio-material relationships. The empirical material shows various tensions between residents, activities, practices and the built environment. To deepen our understanding of the results, theoretical approaches relating to “matters of care” and ethico-political dimensions of care have guided our analyses. With these approaches, the work performed to achieve what was expected from felleshus is acknowledged, as are the effects of the work and relationship-building involved in felleshus and Paradiset. The conclusion is that social sustainability involves many processes, which might take time and evolve in unexpected directions. Openness to these processes must be taken into account when planning and constructing similar neighbourhoods

Beyond barriers – exploring resistance towards BIM through a knowledge infrastructure framework

Building information modelling (BIM) is a digital tool that offers the possibility to collect and share a multitude of data about a building and increase collaboration across professional borders. However, the uptake of BIM in the construction industry has been relatively slow, and previous research has shown how BIM creates tensions in the workplace. In this article, we explore the impact of BIM on socio-technical knowledge practices, to understand how these are enabled or restricted by the use of BIM. Through a qualitative case study in Sweden, this article analyses BIM through a knowledge infrastructure framework to explain the relatively slow uptake of BIM in a new light. The results show that BIM lacks embeddedness in governmental and corporate practices and regulations and that it sometimes leads to the marginalization of some professions through changed organizations and the slow process of changing complex knowledge infrastructures. This suggests that a critical discussion of the role of BIM in relation to professional flexibility, construction project process organization and power over technological development is vital for the future development of the construction sector

Energy services in Swedish industrial firms : A multidisciplinary analysis of an emerging market

The European commission highlight the energy service market as an important means to improve energy efficiency. Both the Energy service directive and the new suggested Energy Efficiency Directive urge member states to facilitate market development for energy services. The industrial sector is estimated to have large energy efficiency potential. The aim of this multidisciplinary report is to investigate the state of the Swedish energy service market 2011, both from the supply side and from the industrial demand side in order to contribute with knowledge to the discussion of energy services as a way to improve industrial energy efficiency. Economic market theory and Socio-technical theory (the theory of economization presented by Caliskan and Callon) is used to analyse different aspects of the emerging market. The results show that the market for industrial energy services in Sweden is more extensive than previous reports have assessed. Our study describes how energy service collaborations can be complex and how calculations and measurements of expected energy savings lead to controversies and power imbalances

How can digital building information modelling (BIM) facilitate climate transition in cities?

Digitalization of the construction industry is considered important in combating climate change through more efficient use of resources and better control of energy calculations. Digital modelling of buildings is argued to make building's energy use more efficient through better energy management. However, research regarding the use of the promising digital tool Building Information Modelling (BIM) has shown that BIM creates unclear roles, division of responsibilities and that cultural barriers between professional groups can be a problem. This paper focuses on how the work with BIM is organized and what conditions are needed to create effective workflows with BIM. The methodology consists of a literature study of digitalization processes in the construction industry and workshops with different professionals. Workshops as a research method provides an exploratory way to understand complex issues, as well as knowledge processes, in relation to digital tools. The co-productive format of the workshops facilitates conversations where different professional groups meet and share experiences of working with BIM. The study shows that several requirements needs to be met to fully make use of the BIM potential. Communication between different professions, knowledge transfer over project boarders, different standards and competence, both within and in relation to the clients, are important components when working with BIM. There is a need for interdisciplinary work practices which are complicated by the project organizational form most used in construction industry. For BIM to be utilized as a tool to combat climate change in cities through effective resource planning, the organizational settings and workflows needs to be interdisciplinary and communication between departments, clients and professions must be standardized while still flexible

Sufficiency, change, and flexibility : Critically examining the energy consumption profiles of solar PV prosumers in Sweden

The number of consumers producing electricity at home, i.e., “prosumers”, is rapidly increasing in many European countries. This article analyses the electricity consumption and energy-saving behaviours of households that own photovoltaic (PV) systems in Sweden. Earlier studies of how home production of electricity affects consumption patterns are few and their results are mixed. We interviewed prosumers in Sweden and collected electricity-consumption data one year before and after they installed PVs. The differences between households were large and no general behavioural change could be detected. The interviews indicated that awareness of the energy system increased among all prosumers, but led to no substantial changes in how or when activities were performed. Most prosumers thought that the benefits of shifting their electricity load to other times were too small. The changes prosumers did make mostly concerned smaller adjustments. Households that increased their consumption justified this by their access to “free” electricity. Automation, i.e., using a timer, was relatively unknown or not used when known

Enacting sustainability through glass : a study of ontological politics in the proclaimed role model neighbourhood of Vallastaden

This article explores how sustainability is made present and visible in the life of residents in a new neighbourhood. Glass is enacted by design professionals and a Swedish municipality to create spaces for residents that fulfil sustainability objectives and put daily life on display. However, some practises developed by residents resist the intended uses of these spaces. Through a detailed case study of the proclaimed new role model neighbourhood of Vallastaden in Linkoping, Sweden, we critically investigate the ontological politics of the residents everyday life, including their social life with neighbours, low-energy living, interactions with local small businesses, recycling habits and mobility habits. By attending to glass, we show how humans, non-humans, materials and technologies become part of everyday practises and help uncover the ontological politics of mundane life.Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council Formas [201800057]</p