Landscape architecture and health

Swedes are living increasingly longer lives, but the number of years lived in good health is decreasing. The present doctoral dissertation is focused on the threat to Swedish public health that is constituted by aches and pain and various types of mental illnesses, of which fatigue reactions, often called ”burnout syndromes,” are increasing most rapidly. Besides the personal suffering involved, the costs of increased ill health constitute a threat to the welfare of Swedish society. According to the Swedish government, good health has become a resource – perhaps even the country’s most important resource for sustainable development. Today, several scientific disciplines consider health to be a positive and holistic state encompassing the individual’s entire life situation: biological, cultural, social and not least environmental aspects. With the Swedish Parliament’s adoption of the public health bill Public Health Objectives, public health work in Sweden is to be based on the idea of finding different societal factors that promote good health on equal terms for the entire population. The present doctoral dissertation focuses on a health factor represented by different types of natural environments. The dissertation is based on two studies of two different types of health-promoting natural environments: Healing gardens – Improvement of ill health Urban green spaces – Maintenance and fortification of good health Healing gardens are gardens that are purposely designed to promote health among a certain group of patients. The dissertation focuses on the type of healing garden that is specially intended for patients suffering from fatigue reactions or burnout syndromes. Interest in healing gardens is spreading rapidly throughout the world. However, both in Sweden and in other countries, ”healing gardens” are being laid out that do not actually possess health-promoting qualities. In order for health to actually be improved, purposeful design based on the patient group’s special needs is required. There is a great need for scientific knowledge concerning how these gardens should be designed. For a long time past in our history, the importance of city greenery for city dwellers’ health and wellbeing has been pointed out. In the present dissertation, urban green spaces – i.e. greenery in the city such as parks, green areas, schoolyards and gardens belonging to a house – are viewed as healthpromoting elements of city planning. Interest in how urban green spaces can maintain and fortify human health is spreading among scientists, architects, politicians and the public. Despite this interest, the problem remains of how urban green spaces should be planned and designed so as to attract the urban population. The dissertation has an applied perspective and is aimed at both scientists and practitioners. It presents findings from two different studies, one on how healing gardens may be designed for people with burnout syndromes and the other on how urban green spaces may be planned from a health-promoting perspective. The overall purpose is, thus, that the dissertation should contribute to the evidence-based design and planning of health-promoting outdoor environments

Decoration, Discrimination and “the Mysteries of Cinema”: Women and Film Exhibition in Sweden from the Introduction of Film to the Mid-1920s

This essay investigates the role of women in Swedish film exhibition from the early days of ambulating film exhibitors, through the formation of a cinema culture with permanent venues, and all the way up to the coming of sound. Although membership and leadership of professional organizations, such as Sveriges Biografägareförbund/Sweden’s National Association of Cinema Owners (founded in 1915) or Svenska Film-och biografmannasällskapet/The Swedish Film and Cinema Society (founded in 1917), as well as contemporary articles in the trade press, reveal that cinema-owners and film exhibitors were male-dominated professions, a large number of women were nevertheless involved in running Swedish cinemas in the silent era. The title of the essay refers to the ways in which–as we shall see–women cinema managers have been described as respectable hostesses, turning their cinemas into tasteful, comfortable venues. However, “discrimination” can also refer to practices of unfair treatment, which have circumscribed women’s agency in different circumstances, and limited their presence in film history textbooks

A risk analysis of moose close to roads

For many decades the increase in traffic volume, expansion of highways and infrastructure has lead to an increase of wildlife vehicle collisions which are unfortunately very common in many countries today. They cause great deal of material damage and even kill humans or wildlife. Measures in the form of warning signs, under- and overpasses and fencing have been implemented for a long time with the help of observation by hunters and collisions sites. However this study focuses on the moose’s perspective and the variables that, both spatially and temporally, could have an effect on why and when moose are close to certain types of roads. By equipping 50 moose (Alces alces) with GPS (global position system) collars and then analyze the positions in GIS (geographic information system) it was possible to create models that could predict where and when moose are closer to roads. The results revealed no evidence that moose are closer to smaller roads, instead an increase of moose close to railroads appeared and also avoidance of larger roads such as major highways, highways and county roads. No evidence was found that moose are close to roads at any specific times during the day, but over the year the moose density close to roads increases for an inland population from December to May and for a coastal population July to November. With more exact information on moose natural movements in a given area authorities can take earlier preventative measures before collisions occur such as seasonal warning signs, growing non-preferred vegetation close to road, higher embankments in certain areas and planning for under- and overpasses at the right location before new roads are being built