The Spatialities of the Nordic Compact City

The compact city has become the preferred and mainstream model for urban, peri-urban and sometimes even rural planning in the Nordic context. However, the compact city is increasingly contested as a model for sustainability and may be criticized for a functionalistic perspective on social practices and transitions. Besides, the compact city model is part of increasing transnational or global urban policy mobilities including generic models and strategies, and it may be argued that this contributes to the de-contextualisation of urban planning and development. In this chapter we scrutinize the spatialities of the compact city model and examine how the compact city model has played out in the Nordic context – focusing in particular on Oslo. We ask: how is the compact city developed and promoted as a spatial model? We argue that although the compact city has to some extent been promoted in influential policy circles as a universal model, the compact city in Oslo has some distinct features shaped by the Nordic context. In particular, these features can be attributed to welfare state governance centred on the public sector, yet it is also here we find some of the most significant differences between the Nordic countries. In closing, we discuss whether there is such a thing as a Nordic compact city model, and point to some of its political, social and cultural implications. Is there a pathway for a re-contextualized, relational and grounded compact city model?publishedVersio

Diversifying the compact city: A renewed agenda for geographical research

The compact city has become part of the policy orthodoxy in dealing with climate change and other sustainability challenges, and scholars from a diverse set of disciplines have informed this policy through empirical research. In this paper, we argue that attuning research in this field to key perspectives and concepts in human geography and critical urban studies can help ‘diversify’ understandings of compact urbanism in ways that advance social and ecological justice. We show that the compact city has been conceived primarily through the lens of territorially bounded physical urban form, and thereby many of its social, political, and ecological implications are overlooked. Based on this critique, we propose a renewed agenda for compact urbanism that rearticulates it as a strategy for sustainable transformation by bridging socio-material and relational approaches and engaging the human geographical toolbox. Three entry points for this agenda are highlighted: (1) commoning the compact city; (2) metabolism of compact cities; and (3) antagonism in the compact city.publishedVersio

Bank og finans

Last ned gratis Prosjektet er en kvalitativ analyse av banker og finansinstitusjoner og den rolle disse spiller i forhold til boligutbyggere. Intervjuene med mellomledere i bank og finans har fokusert på prosedyrer i vurderingen av lånesøknader, risikovurdering av prosjektene, innflytelse på bygget, og tilslutt nettverksrelaterte forhold. Tilknyttet prosjekt Kapitalsirkulasjonen i et institusjonelt perspekti

Boligbygging i Nydalen

Formålet med prosjektet har vært å se nærmere på private utbyggeres rolle i boligbyggingen i Nydalen. Det er gjort undersøkelser av hvilke typer boliger som bygges og hvilke prosesser som ligger bak den utbyggingen som tar form. Spesielt er det fokusert på de private utbyggernes strategier

Minicities in suburbia – A model for urban sustainability?

In the 1970s it was argued that suburban centres in the US had developed into “minicities”, offering a wide range of possibilities for consumption, cultural events and a sense of the urban. In this article we explore to which extent this description of minicities may be valid in two cases in the suburban hinterland of Oslo. We further discuss whether the “urbanization” of these suburban centres may contribute to a more sustainable urban development, with respect to everyday travel. We conclude that the growth of these minicities may reduce car travel, either because of their excellent public transport connection to the (big) city centre and other nodes in the increasingly decentralized urban region, or because they may serve as a substitute for the city centre. However, an empirical investigation of the role of minicities must be based on a deeper understanding of the social and cultural processes that guide the everyday life of today’s sub­urbanites.In the 1970s it was argued that suburban centres in the US had developed into “minicities”, offering a wide range of possibilities for consumption, cultural events and a sense of the urban. In this article we explore to which extent this description of minicities may be valid in two cases in the suburban hinterland of Oslo. We further discuss whether the “urbanization” of these suburban centres may contribute to a more sustainable urban development, with respect to everyday travel. We conclude that the growth of these minicities may reduce car travel, either because of their excellent public transport connection to the (big) city centre and other nodes in the increasingly decentralized urban region, or because they may serve as a substitute for the city centre. However, an empirical investigation of the role of minicities must be based on a deeper understanding of the social and cultural processes that guide the everyday life of today’s sub­urbanites

Fortellingen om en stedsutvikling - en sosiokulturell prosess

Last ned gratis Den fysiske stedsutviklingen av kommunesenteret Skotterud i Eidskog studeres som en sosial og kulturell prosess for å identifisere vesentlige suksesskriterier. Lokalsamfunnets sosiale kapital var en ressurs som ble bevisst utnyttet, samtidig som den ble fornyet gjennom måtene folk handlet og samhandlet på. Parallelt med den fysiske fornyelsen foregikk det en kulturell ombygging av stedets identitet til en moderne bygdekommune der innovative prosesser gis muligheter

Sandvika i støpeskjeen

I denne rapporten presenteres det en metode for å studere sosiokulturelle sider ved steder og stedsutvikling. Denne metodikken er benyttet i en analyse av arbeidet med en "helhetsplan" for utviklingen av Sandvika i Bærum kommune. Analysen tar utgangspunkt i at stedsutvikling ikke bare kan betraktes som fysiske endringer i et landskap, men vel så mye som en sosial og kulturell prosess. For å få fram dette, er det gjort en studie av ulike aktørers synspunkter og interesser, slik de har kommet til uttrykk enten i arbeidet med denne helhetsplanen, eller på siden av dette arbeidet

Intraurban geographies of car sharing supply and demand in Greater Oslo, Norway

This paper examines urban patterns of car sharing supply and demand at neighbourhood level. By using literature on spatial inequality and unequal mobility access, we provide new insights into the urban geographies of car sharing. We draw on register data of members and vehicles of station-based car sharing for Oslo, Norway, spatially coupled with population composition, urban form and public transport accessibility ratios. We find both the demand and supply of station-based car sharing to be unevenly distributed. Some of the most profound contributors to car sharing demand include middle income levels, middle and higher levels of education, higher shares of the population working in cultural sectors, higher shares of men, higher shares of multifamily housing, and higher strengths of the public transport regime compared to that of the private car. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for sustainable urban mobility, mobility justice and urban and transport planning

Metoder i strategisk byutvikling og stedsprofilering

Last ned gratis Notatet inneholder råd og anbefalinger om strategisk arbeid knyttet til profilering med sikte på å øke kunnskapen om byen. Det fokuseres direkte på profileringsarbeid, differensiering av målgrupper, kommuners selvpresentasjon på nettet og byprofiler i form av nettbaserte kriterier