We don't need another 4000 neighbours : a critical design strategy that values the existing Hagalund

Abstract: In August 2014 a development strategy for Hagalund, a million program area situated in Solna, was published. The strategy argues that a densification of the area would increase the local supply of services and cultural activities and that the existing needs of investment in the urban environment is dependent on the revenues that new housing would provide. The report proposes a densification of the area up to 1800 new apartments. The current housing stock is 2100 dwellings. I argue that the development strategy is not based on the needs of the existing Hagalund and its residents, but rather tries to meet the economic interests of property owners, the municipality and the imagined needs of a future population. In this diploma work I design an alternative participatory strategy to identify needs and potentials of an existing built environment and its social community, since I see a lot of potentials and qualitites, rather than problems, in Hagalund. I have chosen to value the situated knowledge of the current community by collecting opinions and reactions from people I have met during my thesis work and formulated them into an alternative future for Hagalund where the existing built environment and its social community are valued as key elements in a more socially sustainable future for Hagalund.