Tyck om Hedemora! : en sociotopundersökning för Hedemora stad

Abstract: Hedemora is the oldest town in Dalarna; traditionally acting as an important junction for trade. Nowadays, the town is suffering from a declining population and a poor economy. Therefore, it is important to explore how to best spend the money needed for Hedemora to become an attractive city once again. "Sociotops" are public spaces that have been evaluated by their users and by city planners, both working together. The result in the sociotop investigation will be used as a basis for city planning and as a foundation for discussing how to make the town a nicer environment. The sociotop investigation attempts to answer the questions: What places are popular and why? And What places are disliked? I approached the questions by using questionnaires, by arranging public walks in the city and by holding group interviews with children, along with my own observations. The information I have gathered is most detailed for children and youth between the ages of seven and twenty years old. This is good because they spend a lot of time outside, but seldom have any part in the planning process. The most popular place in Hedemora is Sveaparken, while the most well used place is Åsgatan. Åsgatan is a necessary place for everyday life because that is where all the shops are. Sveaparken, on the other hand, is used by free will. Generally speaking, the most well liked places are open-air recreational areas and sports grounds, and well managed, central located, parks with some sort of extra activity or social meaning. The sociotops will change as the town and its inhabitants develop, therefore the sociotop investigation has to continue. Otherwise it will soon be useless.