Stigmatization and its overshadow on urban green spaces in Gottsunda : the study of a segregated suburban area where existing green spaces are fading away

Abstract: In this modern era, when we are living in a society surrounded by advanced science and technology on the one hand, stigmatization as a form of social injustice is very much evident and still increasing in the social landscape on the other hand. In this thesis, I investigate the ongoing trend of redevelopment and densification projects in the Swedish context, explicitly targeting the marginalized neighborhoods in a Million Program housing areas built after the post-war period. Through this study, representations of place and the characterization of green spaces are examined to explore the practice of stigmatization in one of the segregated Million Program areas named Gottsunda. The overarching aim is to analyze the planning discourse to understand the influence of dominant white power which works behind the loss of existing urban green spaces - first by racializing them through negative portrayal, then dispossessing them through unmapping and finally justifying the redevelopment plan by claiming ‘planning for all’. The majority of my analysis is based on in-depth interviews with the inhabitants living in Gottsunda to understand their feelings, experience, and attachment to the place as well as to the green spaces. For being indulged in the place and with the people, the method of storytelling has been used that aided me during the whole journey of this research. Theoretically, in addition to stigmatization and segregation, the analysis is supplemented with the knowledge gathered from recently published works of literature regarding placemaking, whiteness in landscape and planning, green gentrification, as well as the socio-spatial, cultural and historical identity. The case of Gottsunda illustrates how the existing green spaces are fading away because of the systematic reconstruction of spatial stigmatization and the devaluation of space. This thesis highlights the knowledge concerning ‘the stigmatization of green spaces’, which is a crucial topic in recent times, but still not explored adequately in the field of landscape planning in the Swedish context. The findings from this study can be used as a backdrop for improving knowledge about planning practices, and it also paves the way to continue further research concerning the issues uncovered through this thesis.