Förortens utemiljöer : teorier, metoder och analyser för gestaltning av friytestruktur i gles förortsbebyggelse : exempel på arbetsmetoder för grönområdesanalyser och utvecklingsförslag för friytorna i Runby, Upplands Väsby

Abstract: This paper constitiutes graduate work at the Swedish University of Agriculture Science, the Department of Urban and Rural Development, Ultuna. The main objective of this work has been, in part, using the municipality of Runby as an example, to test different inventory and analysis methods directed towards a sociotopic usage perspective. A secondary objective has been, based on knowledge obtained from current research results concerning the usage of green areas, to transfer the analysis results to a proposal for a free space planning over Runby. People living in the countryside often have good access to nature as well as access to a garden of their own. In the city, however, there are considerably less people that have access to a private outdoor spaces so the parks become a type of public living room for all the inhabitants. Through the lack of private green spaces and through the anonymity of the city, an inviting atmosphere is created towards spending time in the park. The suburbs, however, often end up somewhere in the middle. Many people living in the suburbs have little or no access to private green spaces and at the same time that green areas exist seldom work as a public places for the inhabitants to enjoy. The green areas of the suburbs are often lacking in the subtle signs that indicate that it is okay to spend time there. The anonymity of the city and the inviting atmosphere is also missing, for better or for worse. As a result, a situation develops where there is a lack of green areas despite the large quantity of public areas that the suburbs often encompass. Instead, people are choosing to go in to town to sit in the sun or take the car to a bathing place further away. When there are no obvious signs that the green areas in the suburbs are being used and appreciated, as much as city parks, for example, it often happens that these areas become considered more as a resource for building development than as a resource for the inhabitant's recreational needs. This graduate work has taken the green areas of the suburbs as a starting point to examine people's views and use of their outdoor environment to determine if it is possible, by limited means, to increase the level of usage and quality. Research shows that the most common public outdoor activity is walking. For the parks to get many visitors, it's important that they are placed so that people can easily pass by them. In order for people to also use the park as a resting place, the park should contain something special that signals that it's okay to be there. Such values can be proximity to water, a nice view or the presence of other people to watch. The analysis of Runby shows that the outdoor spaces are mostly being used for walking with special emphasis on the band of green areas situated in the edge of the suburb. The smaller "leftovers" of rural forest between the residential areas are mostly used by playing children. Residents with different types of physical disabilities are the group whose needs are being most neglected in Runby. There is a substantial lack of seating places and benches for those that need a rest during a walk. The small pathways in the green areas are also difficult, if not impossible, to be used by this group. The analyses of user values, developed by the Stockholm Sociotope Map, demonstrates that there is a lack of user values connected to arranged parks and passive recreation. Examples of such user values are sitting in the sun, having picnic or enjoying the blossoms. The centrally situated residential parks often occupy steep terrain and are lacking in walkways that would encourage more frequent usage. In order to increase the range and variation of activities in the greens areas of Runby, the proposal aims on working with the whole green structure as a net system. The parks and walkways should form a weave that people can move through and experience. Such a weave could consist of walkways, both pleasant and easy accessible, and attraction points/places where larger and smaller places form room for shorter and longer stays as well as visual additions along the way that encourages a positive experience. To create this net in Runby both new additions of walkways in and around the park plus a number of new places/attraction points are needed. The often tight budget of the municipality restricts the amount of money that can later be spent on maintenance, which is something that has to be taken in to consideration and incorporated into the design of the new places. In the analysis, a couple of parks with high potential emerge that, with limited means, can be developed into pleasant, well used spaces. Working with the existing qualities of these parks gives an opportunity to raise the quality and range of activities in Runby's green areas.