contradictions of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in low-income Neighborhoods: the case study of Rosengard, Malmo

Abstract: Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is known as a mixed-use development near and oriented to public transport facilities. While TOD has become a predominant model of urban planning based on the idea that there will be both social and economic benefits of implementation, the recent popularity of TOD in many cities has provided a new focus for the gentrification–displacement debate as well as affordability paradox. Furthermore, whereas transportation access is often seen as a pivotal strategy to mitigate neighborhood segregation, equity advocates argue that TOD is a place-based strategy which often neglects low-income resident’s need and thus fails to reduce socio-economic segregation. In this study, the author tries to shed light on these issues by bringing together previously disparate literature on mentioned contradictions and discuss the critic’s concern regarding the newly started TOD project in Rosengård, a low-income neighborhood in Malmö, Sweden, using mixed-method research. The research illustrates how the area has gradually entered into the gentrification process due to the establishment of the new train station, the transformation of the public housing system to the market-led housing stock, and using the ‘Starchitecture’ strategy in designing a spectacular signature architecture. More importantly, in contrast to the media acclamation and vast technical adherence of the planned TOD, the study demonstrates that there is a growing concern of gentrification-induced displacement and shows even at this early stage, how living condition in the area is more inconvenient for original dwellers due to the gradually cutting off parts of necessities.