From courthouse to town hall

This thesis is examining how built heritage under the protection of the legal instrument ”heritage building” (byggnadsminne) is being treated in city planning by the municipality aswell as county. It is done through a case study of the court house Göteborgs rådhus in Gothenburg. The courthouse is going through a series of changes to its interior and exterior based on a change of useage from courthouse to town hall and it is the planning and decision-making that lead to this process that is being studied. The method of conducting the study is an examination of: statements from officials working for the municipality, protocols and statements from political officials and decisions taken by the county administration. The conclusion of the case study shows a process which is heavily influenced by the political will. This is something that, in this particular case, results in a building marked as ”heritage building” being changed both physically aswell as in the way it is used with little regard to it being part of the built heritage. The second part of the is a discussion regarding how different operators within the municipal and county organization treat buildings marked as ”heritage building” in their planning processes. In cunclusion, there are a lot of different views on how our built heritage can be used, or not, in the planning of built environment, both within aswell as outside the field of conservation. To change built heritage to better work together with a city trying to expand itself is something that has happened in the case of Göteborgs rådhus but to decide wether that is a positive or negative conclusion fully depends on who makes it.Uppsats för avläggande av filosofie kandidatexamen i Kulturvård, Bebyggelseantikvariskt program 15 hp Institutionen för kulturvård Göteborgs universitet 2013: