Flooding is one of the most destructive natural disasters which have rapidly been growing in frequency and intensity all over the world. In this view, assessment of the resilience of the city against such disturbances is of high necessity in order to significantly mitigate the disaster effects of flooding on the city structures and the human lives. The aim of this paper is to develop a method to assess the resilience of a river city (the city of Gothenburg in Sweden), which is prone to flood Hazard, against such disturbances. By simulating flood inundation with different return periods, in the first step, the areas of impact are determined. To assess the resilience, two different methods are followed. One is a syntactic method grounded in the foreground network in space syntax theory and the other is based on measuring accessibility to the essential amenities in the city. In the first method, similarity and sameness parameters are defined to quantitatively measure the syntactic resilience in the city. In the next step, accessibility to amenities and the minimum distance to amenities before and after each disturbance is measured. The results, in general, show that such disturbances affect the city structure and the resilience of the city differently. For instance, the city is more resilient after flooding ac- cording to accessibility measures. This clearly means that the answer to the question of resilience is mainly dependent on “resilience of what and for what.”

Stockholm is an archipelago of islands connected by water that historically has been an important resource for the city and for the industries, which found an easy access for ships and therefore they settled on strategic positions along the edges.

This thesis investigates the topics of water, industrial heritage and edges in the city of Stockholm: these aspects are strong in their individual identity but they also interact in a powerful and interesting way.

This work intervenes where this pattern is still visible -due to the presence of water and industries- but not accessible because it lacks the third element of connection with the city.

The aim is therefore to investigate strategies that increase and reconnect the potential of these aspects that got disconnected through time.

To obtain accessibility and usability, the edge was transformed and redefined to enhance the experience of walking along it.

An analysis was carried out and a proposal was designed for the site of Lövholmen, which has these characteristics -the water, a strong industrial heritage and proximity to the city- that are now disconnected.

The opening of the edge and possibilities of walking will transform and reconnect the site - and the richness in it- with the city of Stockholm. 

The intention of this project is to create a Sustainable Urban Prototype for the typical Mexican growing city.  Located in the heart of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, The "Centrito Valle" business center has the potential to become an area full of life, that offers a great place to live, work, entertain, socialize, shop and workout. Eight main issues were identified and were tackled by this proposal: 1. Insufficient Parking, 2. Lack of Public Space, 3. Need for Collaborative Planning, 4. Investment Plan, 5. Lack of Incentives 6. Traffic, 7. Obsolete Resource Management, and 8. Landscape Design. A new institution was formed: EBC Eco Business Community, aiming to balance between the social, economic and ecological aspects of society. This institution combines specific strategies between the models of BID: Business Improvement District, and Environmental Governance.  EBC has the intention to organize the currently seven hundred different plot owners, to join and guide their efforts towards an integrated sustainable development.  EBC will propose a set of guidelines and ideas that will help create a sustainable Urban Prototype that could later on be multiplied into other growing cities in Mexico.  The outcome of the proposal clearly shows the possibilities and potential of how this area could be completely transformed.

What is the future scenario of crisis cities? How is the urban planning paradigm going to affect cities facing crisis? This thesis has as its departure point the post-crisis cities and the problems these cities have to confront. Discussions and debates concerning the economic crisis have now conquered the political discussions and policies in Europe. Since many cities worldwide suffer from the cut down policies and austerity measures, most of the urban environments are being under major change.

The main objective of this Master Thesis is to explore the main characteristics of cities in crisis and then transform this backdrop into a strong element through a design proposal for a sustainable future. Encouraged by the idea that individuals and communities can build up their own economy and their own sustainable environment, initiatives and efforts have been taken. Embracing the already existing and implementing new bottom up initiatives, for the creation of a less consuming lifestyle, specific urban tools are developed. This thesis investigates an alternative economic pattern and how this could be implemented in a greek neighborhood, suffering from the consequences of crisis, basically, reversing the notion of what growth actually is.

In this approach, economic degrowth is used as an urban asset rather than being addressed as an urban problem.  The idea is that post-crisis cities, struggling with decline and unemployment, can simply adapt a different socioeconomic and more resilient lifestyle that is not based on consumption and materialism. This thesis is about challenging the current concept of ‘growth’, more in terms of quality rather than quantity. 

This project seeks new forms of housing production that answer to the disappearance of the welfare state and provides structures for self-organization. It stretches the limits of the housing policies and explores new flexible design solutions. It addresses social and economical adaptability where both the city and the dwellers have responsibility for the process and development of new housing. The adaptable city is a city where dwellers co-create their housing environment. 

Universities, like many other institutions in today’s society, are to such an extent connected to their buildings that activity and built structures can be difficult to separate from each other. What we can begin to see is how people have always used building to establish and maintain both societal functions and more everyday customs and practices. Activities that manage to establish themselves in built form become a natural and supportive part of our material reality, whereas activities that do not may have problems surviving. In our times, characterized by continuous change, established solutions can also be in the way of new development and hinder us from seeing how the built environment could be designed in a different way.

Seen from this perspective, KI – Karolinska Institutet – constitutes an interesting example between consciously shaped environment and highly qualified academic activity. Karolinska Institutet is since long one of Swedens most creative knowledge environments. The institute’s buildings have come to over a long period of time and is characterized by high ambitions, where different ideas of the conditions of knowledge production have governed both the overall plan and the design of individual buildings. By clarifying these ideas, and simultaneously investigating how the built result works, we hope to contribute not only to the understanding of the development of Karolinska Institutet, but to e more general knowledge of the relation between architecture and knowledge environment as well.

The intelligent handling of waste is a pressing issue today. Up until the 19^th century it had been however an integral part of societies especially when it comes to the waste generated by construction and demolition (Bahamon and Sanjines, 2010). After industrial revolution (1750-1850) which opened the gates of mass production and mass consumption followed and supported by two major forces of capitalism and the dramatic increase in world population, the generation of waste accelerated correspondingly and in a global scale.

The mass extraction of natural resources on one hand (limited amount of natural resources), and the problems caused by waste landfilling and incineration such as pollution and diseases on the other hand, made us stop this linear extraction-to-waste trend and recognize recycling as a solution. Recycling chiefly addresses a sustainable approach to reduce the negative effects of waste and at the same time involves processing used materials (waste) into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials (Eco Cloud), however through recycling not only some energy has to be consumed to make this process run but also some portion of pollution would be generated as a side effect. What is more is that up until today recycling has been neither in many cases economically profitable nor has it been possible to recycle all the amount of waste. For instance In US- as the most consuming society on the planet Earth- only 34% of the municipal solid waste can be recycled and the rest ends up in either landfills or incinerators (EPA,2010).

This project is to mainly focus on the definition of a rather comprehensive network (Network of Reuse) which sits right before recycling through which as much as possible of the total amount of waste could be directly absorbed back into the society (with minor changes in some cases) in different scales, the resultants of which would be claimed not to be only less energy consumption and less pollution caused through processing waste (as in recycling) but also avoiding a considerable amount of unrecycled materials from ending up in landfills and incineration. In fact the assumed network-which is simulated by the smart grid model- could be said to be a complementary section added to the existing trend today and is on no account against recycling. Like any other network, the network of reuse is based upon strategies, tools, and policies. The rhizomic growing structure of this network-that is in contrast to the tree structure of recycling- suggests a bottom up movement in handling waste and empowering people while the proposed time-line strategy is assumed to be moving from entertainment towards a coherent business network. In fact the project itself suggests the necessity of more bottom up structures to happen in our future planning. The entire project is highly founded upon research and could be applied in a variety of actual designs and concrete cases. Therefore, in this project no specific site is being addressed directly but the actual need for adding the supposed network is explored.

This paper will discuss how the car-free streets are used by the pedestrians in residential neighborhoods and how it affects the walkability of the built environment. The discussion is based on empirical evidence, the results from a case study in Stockholm, Sweden. The project was a qualitative observation study in three residential areas in Stockholm with the aim of understanding and developing the concept of ‘walkability’ in the Scandinavian urban context. The walking behavior of residents was observed, and the data on walking behavior patterns and pedestrian route choices have been analyzed in relation to different properties of the built environment.

In this paper, the focus will be on how car-free streets are used by pedestrians in residential areas. The comparison of the walking behavior in three residential neighborhoods with different conditions in the built environment will be described, focusing on how the car-pedestrian interaction seems to take place. It will develop the discussion on how the car-free design affects the walkability by enhancing or impeding different qualities such as traffic safety, crime safety, land-use diversity, etc. All of the three studied areas include pedestrian-only streets/paths in different conditions with different forms, which allow the discussion on different ways of implementing car-free environment in urban design practices. The results from this case study imply that, although car-free design is often adopted in order to create a pedestrian-friendly environment, it is important to be cautious in its design since, according to how it is implemented, it may also reduce the walkability of the environment. 

The issue of pedestrian-friendly urban environments has been of increasing importance lately in urban planning and design. In order to develop a better knowledge about the walkability of the built environment, it is important to understand the complexity behind walking behavior. Since different kinds of walking activities vary in their goal, effort, frequency, duration, etc., they also vary in how strongly and in what aspect they are influenced by the condition of urban form and also in the qualities in the built environment that the pedestrian prioritize during the walking activity. With an empirical study in three residential areas in Stockholm, Sweden, this study investigated the different types and aspects of walking activities in how they are influenced by and interact with the built environment. The results of the observation study of walking behavior showed that the condition of the built environment related to the density, connectivity, and land-use diversity seem to influence the amount and diversity of walking activities that occur in the given environment and also affect how the walking activities are conducted. This is related to the degree of the potential of the urban form in providing the different qualities that the pedestrians may desire from the environment in their walking activities, which is not only related to providing walking destinations and possible routes, but also qualities that may enhance the experiential quality of walking. Investigating the different aspects of walking in how they occur and are conducted in the urban environment is important in understanding why and how different conditions of the urban form may discourage or encourage walking. This may not only be useful in providing insights for more accurate knowledge on walkability, but may also assist a better understanding and application of other urban design theories on pedestrian movement as well.

The focus on pedestrian-friendly environment has increased among urban planners and designers. Also, with the aim of enhancing public health, ‘walkability research’ has been actively done with the preventive medicine field, where the correlation between the built environment and physical activity has been explored. Results from existing studies show the importance of the urban environment on walkability and provide evidence on correlation between different built environment attributes and walking activity. However, better understanding of both the built environment factors and walking activity is necessary in order to improve the measurement of the built environment attributes and to provide better knowledge on designing a walkable environment. 

This paper includes results from a case study in Stockholm, Sweden, an observation study of three residential neighborhoods with the aim of understanding and developing ‘walkability’ in the Swedish context. The walking behavior of residents was observed, and the data on walking behavior patterns and pedestrian route choices have been analyzed in relation to different factors of the built environment. In this paper, the discussion will mainly be on the three factors that existing walkability research has most consistently proven correlation with walking: density, land-use diversity, and connectivity. Preliminary result shows that these factors seem to influence the quantity or the quality of walking activity and suggests how these factors could be dealt as a design problem. Also it suggests that the built environment attributes influence the walking behavior differently according to type/aspect of the walking activity.

The planning and design of the walkable environment is receiving more and more attention for its various benefits related to public health, sustainability, economy, or social life. Therefore, there is a growing need for knowledge about the walkability of the built environment. This presentation will report part of a research project on the relationship between urban form and walking behavior. One important issue dealt in this study is the investigation of the different aspects of walking through partitioning walking activities when studying how they are influenced by the built environment.

Three residential areas from Stockholm, Sweden were selected for the empirical study. An on-site observation study in these selected neighborhoods investigated the walkability of the built environment and the walking behavior of the pedestrians in the areas. Combining both qualitative and quantitative methods, the walking behaviors of the individuals of the areas were documented in detail by observing: the route choices made for the walking trips by tracking pedestrians / the details in the walking behavior during the walking activity tracked / the presence of different types of walking activities taking place in the area / the level of pedestrian density and its patterns. By obtaining hard data on real behaviors of walking in different situations, which includes around 2000 observed walking trips, the field study provides a detailed description of the walking activities and their patterns in the selected neighborhoods. GIS analyses of the condition of the built environment in the study areas were also conducted.

The data from the observation study are analyzed mainly around factors such as land-use diversity, density, and connectivity. The analysis confirms the significance of these factors discussed in improving the walkability of the urban environment. Moreover, an important outcome from this study is that walking activities differ in how they are influenced by various factors of the built environment. Since different kinds of walking activities vary in their goal, effort, frequency, duration, etc., they also vary in how strongly and in what aspect they are influenced by the condition of urban form and also in the qualities the pedestrian searches for and desires from the built environment. For example, the results of the empirical study show how various purposes of walking differently relate to the built environment in their route choice or frequency and how the different conditions of the environment also seem to influence the presence and characters of the different walking activities of their inhabitants.

This study suggests that in order to produce more accurate knowledge about the planning and design of walkable environments for researchers and practitioners in the field of urban planning, design, and architecture, acknowledging the different types of walking activity may be crucial in investigating their relationship to the built environment.

The issue of pedestrian-friendly urban environments has been of increasing importance lately in urban planning and design. In order to develop a better knowledge about the walkability of the built environment, it is important to understand the complexity behind walking behavior. Since different kinds of walking activities vary in their goal, effort, frequency, duration, etc., they also vary in how strongly and in what aspect they are influenced by the condition of urban form. With an empirical study in three residential areas in Stockholm, Sweden, this study investigated the different types of walking activities in how they interact with the built environment. The results showed that the condition of the built environment related to the density, connectivity, and land-use diversity seems to influence the amount and diversity of walking activities and also affect how the walking activities are conducted. This is related to the degree of the potential urban form has in providing the different qualities that the pedestrians desire from the environment, which is not only related to providing walking destinations and possible routes, but also qualities that enhance the experiential quality of walking. Investigating the different aspects of walking in how they occur and are conducted in the urban environment is important in understanding why and how different conditions of the urban form discourage or encourage walking. This is not only useful in providing insights for more accurate knowledge on walkability, but also assists a better understanding and application of other urban design theories on pedestrian movement as well.

The planning and design of the walkable environment is receiving more and more attention for its various benefits related to public health, sustainability, economy, or social life. Therefore, there is a growing need for knowledge about the walkability of the built environment. While urban planning, design, and transportation research have also examined walking in urban environments, a recently growing field of research usually referred to as walkability research have been actively investigating the relation between the built environment and walking behavior through correlation analysis. Although one must acknowledge the value of current walkability research to be used as the framework which can make significant contributions to urban design research and practice, it also has a few shortcomings in terms of applicability. There is also a problem that the design factors that are often discussed as promoting walking or creating ‘pedestrian-friendly environments’ in urban design theories and discourses are often based on little evidence and that these factors have been shown to be insignificant in the quantitative analyses on the amount of walking. This project aims to support urban design knowledge and practice and to contribute to the broader field of “walkability” by refining the methods and measures used to analyze the relation between walking behavior and physical environment. Its goal is to integrate knowledge from the medical field of walkability with urban design research and provide new empirical knowledge about the concrete level in which urban design and architectural practice operates.

What has been done during the earlier part of this PhD research project and is presented in this licentiate thesis is producing knowledge for a better understanding of the complexity behind the relationship between the built environment and walking. Through literature review from different fields and also through an empirical study, this project tried to investigate the concept of walkability by trying to understand the different ways/aspects in which the built environment influences walking, e.g. directly influencing the quantity of walking through providing destinations, or enhancing the experiential quality of walking by determining the condition as a walking environment. It also investigated the different aspects of walking by partitioning walking activities in understanding how they are influenced by different properties of the built environment. By partitioning both the influence of the built environment on walking and walking activity, the knowledge that this thesis tries to produce is not only on whether or not, but more on how and why the built environment influences walking behavior. Three residential areas from Stockholm were selected for the empirical study. The results of the empirical study show how the various factors and condition of the built environment influence walking with different effects and leverage and the importance of investigating the factors on different levels and from different aspects. Also, it seems that the different types of walking are related to how they are influenced by the built environment, and the different conditions of the environment also seem to influence the presence and characters of the walking activities of their inhabitants. The findings from this project provide insights into how we can better understand the interaction between the built environment and walking behavior in influencing each other.

Correlations between pedestrian movement and connectivity of streets have been frequently found in numerous studies. The configuration of the street network and its relation to observed movement patterns found in space syntax research is, of course, a significant part from them. With an attempt to further investigate the relation between urban form and movement behaviour, this study tests the correlation between configurational measures and a more detailed data on pedestrian movement. Observed in three residential neighbourhoods from Stockholm, the first part of data collected is the number of pedestrian per street segment (on a given moment). This so-called ’snapshot’ data of the pedestrian density is tested with the configurational measures of the street network. The preliminary result shows a significant degree of correlation between pedestrian density and configuration. More importantly, another set of data on pedestrian movement is the data of 200 individual trips made in one of the three study areas (with highest average movement density). The detailed data on individual walking trips is obtained through random on-site tracking of pedestrians, and includes the route and the details of the trip character. This data is also tested in its correlation to configuration measures. An interesting result from this is the large difference in the degrees of correlation found for origin/destination segments and route-in-between segments. The result also shows that the degree of correlation also differs according to the character of the walking activity e.g. utilitarian, recreational, etc. Testing with data on movement containing more details of pedestrian behaviour, this study tries to investigate how urban form interacts with pedestrian movement in the aspect of street connectivity.

While land-use mix has continuously been referred to for its importance for walkability, current researchdemands further investigation to refine the concept and develop the measurement for it so that it may bestcapture the way it influences walking behavior. This study combines two on-going research projects dealingwith issues in urban form, one on urban diversity and the other on walkability, both trying to develop theconceptualization and the measurement of these qualities. Regarding diversity, scales and categorizations astwo essential factors for evaluating diversity are examined in this study by the implementation of analysis atvarious configurational levels and on access to variety. From the research project on walkability, a qualitativeobservation study was conducted examining the subjective measurement of pedestrian density and itspatterns, the route choices made in the walking trips observed while tracking pedestrians, and the differenttypes of walking activities taking place in the study areas. By obtaining hard data on real behaviors of walkingin different situations, it provides a detailed description of the walking activities and their patterns in threeneighborhoods in Stockholm, Sweden, where the quantitative analysis regarding diversity was also conducted.Therefore, in this study the multi-level analyses searching for the proper and useful scale for measuringdiversity are compared with the descriptive data on walking behavior, in order to test their validity andapplicability in walkability research. The results show that areas with higher degree of diversity in the builtenvironment contribute to higher degree of diversity in walking behavior by providing variety in both thecomposition of pedestrians and the type of walking activities, which may ultimately enhance the walkability ofan area. The comparison of the quantitative analysis of the built environment with the description of thewalking activities show the potential of the analysis presented in this paper as a tool in measuring factorsrelated to walkability, and the process allows a better understanding of the walkability as a complex subject.Certain parts of the analyses especially show strength in being a more precise measurement and a betterrepresentation of the built environment attributes than the ones done in the earlier walkability studies.Although the analyses and discussions presented in this paper yet have limitations in fully exploring the issueof diversity and walkability of the urban form, they provide insight and knowledge for the development ofeach project.

Contemporary urban development seems to, globally and simultaneously, aim for the same results; densification, connections and an active urban life. In Stockholm this is emphasized through the comprehensive plan, The Walkable City. This thesis aims to research the com- plexities of open space, in-between areas and cultural practices on borders of territories.

I have visited two neighborhoods, one in Stureby, Stockholm and one in Madison, Wisconsin as part of an art-based research where places for cultural practices have been observed and performed by me as a way to investigate in-between areas and what role they take in everyday lives. I have met with inhabitants for observations and interviews as well as performing an everyday life of my own when staying in Madison for two weeks. I have used a few different pictures of neighborliness to see what exists between the frame of the pictures and the situation, and related this to Miwon Kwon’s notion about places situated next to each other.

I have also looked into the concept of territory, the ambiguous space between them and the communication that occurs on interfaces. In Stockholm's comprehensive plan and the research of Alexander Ståhle, I see an aiming for densification through connections, e.g. in walkability. I emphasize on a difference between connections and communication.

With this thesis I suggest to change the topic of a planning discussion going on in Stockholm as well as globally, from how to create walkability to how to make use of interfaces of ambiguous open space when densifying cities.

The area that once were “The Great Tenochtitlán”, the aztec city surrounded by five lakes, greenery and impressive sustainable systems for housing and agriculture has turned out to be a megacity growing uncontrollably, leaving a negative environmental and social impact within. Over the last 60 years the population has increased from 5.2 to 8.8 million (INEGI 2010) in the Distrito Federal and from 5.7 to 20.8 million in the ZMVM (Metropolitan Area of the Mexican Valley) known as Mexico City, area which is projected to be the third biggest city in the world by 2015 (United Nations 2005).

Research Questions: What would it take for a megacity such as Mexico City to take a shift into sustainable urban design and re-development? How can infrastructures such as transit, waste management systems and public spaces interact in a hybrid urban fabric of blue and green structures, in which the natural landscape and the built environment complement each other?

Aim: The aim of this study is to address a research in one of the 16 boroughs of Distrito Federal: Tláhuac, which will be the place for the first metro line reaching the urbanized south-east, therefore the activation of the area is imminent. Tláhuac is a borough with an agricultural-urban character. The area is inhabited by middle-low income families. Its connection to the city, commercial areas and public space is deplorable. The site has large areas of non-utilized agricultural land, these areas are constantly squatted, one large plot of land with these characteristics is right next to the site where the new metro line will be built.

Methodology and Design Tools: The study and design is supported by the emergent discipline: Landscape Urbanism, its theory of infrastructural landscapes is used as a way to conceal the urban and the regional, and so as the belief that “Landscape has replaced architectural form as the primary medium of city making” (Waldheim 2006). The methodologies used are literature review and spatial analysis. The final outcome is a new way to do urbanism in the post-agricultural areas of Mexico City, by including the preexistent landscapes as the urban fabrics when developing towards a more urban character. The basic design tools are; infrastructural landscapes throughout the use of the canals and chinampas, urban agriculture, eco-housing, recycling stations and inclusion of new services and community areas.

This thesis focuses on areas prone to inland floods and more specifically on the municipality of Acharnes, Attica, Greece. Usually, flood risk management strategies are treated as an engineering problem. Here, the floodplains/wetlands are going to be addressed as an asset and reveal the role of the landscape as a dynamic way for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Furthermore, such an approach can also offer potentials not only for water quality and management but also for benefiting the public spaces and open a discussion concerning awareness and engagement.

Within the context of Attica, flood prone areas are not only ecologically deprived but also places of inequalities and loose social capacities. Acharnes is not an exception. Thus, the vision of this thesis is to investigate an alternative way for flood resistance by incorporating tools and methods capable of strengthening local communities.

The thesis will investigate the following questions:

•How can cities adapt to water issues and how can public space be used towards this end?

•Can design for flood management be incorporated into a greater strategy connected to building relations?

Stockholm is a city of bridges. But we rarely pay attention to what happens below them. Many of these spaces are centrally located in the city, yet perceived as peripheral due to their uncertain programmatic status and rough physical appearance, also referred to as loose space. Some are integrated in the urban fabric; others are more inaccessible and thus become forgotten spots detached from the rapid development of the rest of the city.

The space below the bridges of Skanstull is an example of the latter. After many years of being in the shadow of the city, giving space for outdoor parties, graffiti painters and more recently urban farming, it is now being under pressure of a large scale redevelopment project.

But do these spaces carry meaning that is neglected in the common notion of public space? How can we as planners use our tools in order to encourage the existence of a larger diversity of forms, spaces and uses?

Reportage från antroposofernas Järna. Landskapet där en spelplats för alternativ odling, nu också blivit ett centrum för EU-finansierade visioner om framtidens matproduktion, Ecological Recycling Agriculture (ERA).

This introduction to "Solids and Flows: Architecture and Capitalism" provides a context to the articles assembled in this issue, and reflects on the implications of what can be perceived as a common approach. Drawing on Nancy Fraser's "expanded conception of capitalism" combined with Isabelle Stengers' advocacy for "resisting the coming barbarism," we offer a framework for thinking architecture's relationship to capitalism that goes beyond the spheres of property and market, and places emphasis on our capacity to move across the categories. It seems that in view of "the social institutionalisation" of capitalism, and confronted with the neoliberal market set up as "thinking machine," there is no simple return to the analysis and strategies established in the past. Rather, it becomes a matter of " learning from now on" with an acute attention to detail of the various assemblages in which architecture now operates.

Through a methodological approach this project examines possibilites for a more flexible and direct citizien participation within the framework of an urban design project. Allthroughout the process opportunities to influence the progressing workflow is exemplified by recurring phases of participation. The case study of examining the transformation of a motorized highway into an urban street network also serves as an interesting plattform which from an analytical perspective presents a variety of different presets that exposes valuable assets for the development. 

This master project adresses the challenge of transforming the former Bergs Oil Terminal in Nacka into an adaptive, collaborative, and socially just environment supporting the development of a self-sufficient post petroleum society. As tools, it experiments with temporary "pop ups" with various life cycles. The project critically examines urban development under the viewpoint of bottom-up activities where future development must be adapted to current socio-economical conditions and ecological concerns.

In this research, the study will be based on a spatial analysis of diverse urban spaces and their correlations with the street system. The urbanity of any city correlated with the density and grid system which have a great influence on our everyday life. Somehow densities help us to enhance the mix use of activities and diverse relationships within our society. However, now a day regional spaces are not more active in our city grid system. But its functions are still depending on the maximum use of value where different functions can be taken in that place. In addition the movement of social life and their links within the build spaces through the accessibility will be the key message in this study.

     “An ordinary day on an ordinary street. Pedestrians pass on the sidewalks, children play near front doors, people sit on benches and steps, the postman makes his rounds with the mail, two passersby greet on the sidewalk, two mechanics repair a car, groups engage in conversation.”….. (Life Between Buildings, Jan Gehl)

This mix of outdoor activities in public space is the main concern of design the better condition for daily life in the Älvsjö neighborhood (the area around the Stockholm international fairs center).

Enhancing the quality of life and raising the tendency for living in this area, is one of the issues that this thesis is working with. Effort of this thesis is enhancing the quality of life in a neighborhood that has lots of good potentials, for ordinary life, and raising the children. 

Taking an indoor skiing slope as the case of discussion for my Master thesis project, I wanted to investigate the notion of sustainability in technological, cultural and lifestyle terms. Furthermore, I would like to allude to the role of professionals when being asked to plan for an artificial indoor environment such as an Indoor skiing facility. To what extend can an architect make such a project sustainable? How can one compensate for the energy expenses of an indoor skiing hall? Apart from in-depth research and technological knowledge the architect needs to confront the social and economical aspects as well.

For the past few years, there has been an ongoing discussion about indoor skiing at Väsjöbacken at Sollentuna municipality, my case study. Skiing activities, indoor ski halls and snow-production has an environmental impact, which I would like to consider in my project. The issue of sustainability is widely discussed, but still it is a rather open concept. I decided to investigate the environmental impact of skiing trips in relation to the impact of a local indoor skiing slope in terms of carbon footprints. The energy component of the project is discussed through a comparative study, evaluating energy consumption of different large-scale indoor environments such as office buildings, ice hockey arenas and indoor skiing halls. What are the systems used for producing snow and artificial winter environments, to what extend are these systems considering environmental aspects, what are their priorities, and trends? 

At Väsjön, skiing is part of the existing local identity. The local skiing club, Sollentuna slalom club was established in 1969. Since decades the club has brought up several top Swedish skiing athletes. For the Nordic countries, skiing represents an important cultural legacy with roots of thousands of years. Skiing in Sweden is popular and part of the winter tradition. Most of the Swedish larger skiing resorts are concentrated in the northwestern part of the country and require several hours of travel, while smaller skiing destinations, such as Väsjöbacken are lately encountering serious existential issues. Reasons can be found in its size, non-recognisability, financial issues and irregular snowfall patterns, which seem to become a new constant. The main aim of my project is to locally strengthen existing sport facilities and to propose supplementary programmes for Väsjöbacken, situated north of Stockholm.

The economic and the political crisis that Greece experiences has as a consequence a social degradation, which is linked and followed by a spatial one. The humanitarian crisis in the city of Athens visualizes physically-spatially in the abandonment of public and private spaces. Today, there are more than 1,200 abandoned buildings in the city center remaining unused and empty.  On the other side, there are more than 10,000 homeless people experiencing the consequences of the economic crisis. Taking into consideration this contrast, our basic proposal is the redefinement and the reuse of the abandoned buildings in order to  provide homeless people with the means to satisfy their needs. During our investigation we came to the conclusion that  what is  needed is much more than just physical shelter. Thus, land for food production as well as public spaces for social inclusion are also crucial for our proposal.

The model that we seek to develop proposes shelter for the homeless people through the reuse of the buildings, supported by urban farming and public spaces.

In order to visualize how this model could be implemented in the city of Athens we decided to work with a case study that combines all the parameters mentioned above.The area selected is a complex of three abandoned buildings within Drakopoulou park situated in the area of Ano Patissia. The three structures are in different conditions and each one of them is being treated in a different way. Moreover, Drakopoulou park constitutes a suitable public space for urban farming and social activity.  

For the case study area we have developed three basic typologies for the renovation and the reuse of the abandoned buildings, according to their conditions. Additionally, three main typologies have been developed for urban farming proposals, according to the potential use of the land.

Following the example of Drakopoulou park our final vision is the implementation of this model and its typologies in multiple neighborhoods of Athens where abandoned buildings and suitable land for urban farming are situated.