Bredäng in flux : Reshaping modernist spaces through contemporary planning

Abstract: Open and un-built spaces can be argued as creating holes and abruptions in the urban fabric, or contradictory, as being spaces for opportunities and spontaneity. In contemporary urban ideals of density, spaces as these are rarely planned. In previous paradigms of urban planning however, as during the modernist era, open spaces were more often intentionally introduced as urban elements. The study researches the neighbourhood of Bredäng as a distinct case of a modernist suburban area in Stockholm. Bredäng is characterised partly by its many open unbuilt spaces, which were planned as part of the then prevailing idea of urbanity where nature and open spaces were seen as providing a peaceful living environment in contrast to the hectic and unhealthy inner city. In the current planning ideal of Stockholm, the city is to become a coherent and dense urban environment, and a wish to ‘heal the wounds’ of, primarily, modernist planning, is stressed. Bredäng is placed between its historical ideals of modernism and contemporary ideals of densification and continuous urban landscapes, and in this meeting the open spaces will play a vital role. Through interview studies with planners, engineers and architects involved in current planning of Bredäng, as well as through analysis of planning documents and policies, the thesis examines the open spaces of Bredäng as fields for interaction between planning ideals. Three competing, but not mutually exclusive, strategic approaches emerges from the analysis of the contemporary planning of Bredäng. We categorise these approaches to the open spaces as; (1) Sustainable Bredäng in which open spaces are understood partly negative, as spaces without quality, hindering integration, and partly in positive terms as spaces for exploitation and densification. (2) Preserved Bredäng in which open spaces are romanticised as carriers of the historical legacy and seen as important to preserve. (3) Polished Bredäng in which the open spaces are perceived as positive for the marketing of the identity of Bredäng but also as unwanted, unsafe and empty elements. Regardless approach, the open spaces are seen as in need of definition, as urban parks, as cultural heritage or as transformed into vibrant spaces for street life. Hence, to be undefined and undisciplined is not a viable alternative within a contemporary urban context. A historical comparison can be made - if the land where Bredäng was planned can be seen as a tabula rasa for new visions, the small scale open spaces now becomes a tabula rasa for contemporary urban thought on which ideas a nd visions can be pictured.