[Foreword to the printed proceedings]

The Space Syntax symposia are by now recognised as an established tradition in international architectural research, a tradition that combines high scientific rigour with high relevance for architectural practice. It will be the primary aim of the organisers of the Stockholm symposium to carry on this tradition.

Still, each symposium has its own flavour due to continuous changes in the global society, but also due to the local context of each symposium. We believe that contemporary Stockholm presents a situation in architecture and urban design of great international relevance. Stockholm is often described as a successful city in these fields, but it is a success to a high degree relying on a top-down approach to architectural and urban development. From a local horizon it is becoming obvious how Stockholm needs to learn from the kind of bottom-up urban processes often prevalent in cities less often described as successful.

To a large degree it is the study of such self-organising and emergent processes in buildings and cities that is at the heart of Space Syntax research. Since this implies an exploration of the field of the possible in architectural and urban design, one here also finds the reason for the high relevance of Space Syntax for architectural practice. We hope that this tension between top-down and bottom-up approaches in architecture and urban design will be a lasting memory of the Stockholm symposium.