The Cars’ Role in New Urban Development Projects:implications and considerations when planning away from car dependencies. : A comparative study of Stationsstaden and Brunnshög

Abstract: Due to cars' negative impact on our cities and the strain cars put on the environment, more and more cities strive towards sustainable mobility and a reduction of car dependencies. This thesis will examine how two new contemporary planning projects view the car and what implications follow an eventual decrease of car dependent planning. The two projects are Brunnshög in Lund and Stationsstaden in Kävlinge, located in the South-West of Sweden, in the southern county of Skåne. Our study is based on research questions aiming to find out if these two projects are planning to reduce cars and how they will do it, as well as looking at the impacts that follow this kind of planning and consequences it can have on less mobile groups in society. The study is conducted by first gathering research surrounding the history of the car, its impacts on cities as well as current measures to reduce automobile dependencies. Following this, official planning documents and policies for both projects were analysed and interviews were conducted with relevant actors to gain a deeper understanding of the projects and work as a complement to the planning documents. With five theories acting as our framework the material was analysed and discussed from different concepts point of view, to gain a deeper understanding of the complex question that reducing cars in cities constitutes.  Through the study we concluded that the two projects work with reducing car dependencies to different degrees, Brunnshög more so than Stationsstaden. Identified reasons for their differences are due to challenges which include, political support, customer demand, time frames and surrounding infrastructure among other things. We also concluded that more consideration for the effects on certain groups in society is needed, as a reduction of cars might come with great effects that can cause injustices towards certain vulnerable groups.