Rättvis stadskärna : en jämförelsestudie av stadsform mellan norrcity och södercity i Örebro

The just city is a utopia, it should always be considered and prioritised in urban planning and policy making. When urban qualities such as democracy, diversity and equity are considered in decision making it will lead to more just outcomes. The city will become more available for both residents and visitors.Örebro city centre has since the 70’s until today been considered as two different areas, the north and the south city. This has been amplified over the years and the majority of resources have been put on the south city, the city’s commercial centre. The municipality in Örebro are now together with the property owners in the north city starting to development the area into a more attractive neighbourhood, not to compete but to supplement the south city. The aim of this study is to compare the south and north part of the city centre and analyse them from the perspective of justice and the qualities democracy, diversity and equity. The study is based on a theoretical basis arguing that the utilitarian approach which is the normative standard for planning and policy making ”the greatest good for the greatest number of people”. This excludes minority groups in society. The just city is a utopia but it should always be considered in urban planning to make it as fair as possible. To be able to understand the development of the city centre in Örebro over the past 50 years, interviews and old plans have been researched. After that an inventory of the urban space was conducted to describe today’s urban spaces and how they affect justice. This study shows that since the 70s, the municipality have chosen to prioritise the north city over the south city. The result from the inventory shows that there are differences between the areas when it comes to public housing, availability by car and bicycle and the amount of public spaces. All of these aspects where worse or lower in the north than in the south city which and make the city centre of Örebro unjust. Another conclusion is that there are aspects that should be preserved in the renewal of the north city. There are no or small differences when it comes to types of tenure, citizen socio- economic characteristics and building features.Validerat; 20130526 (global_studentproject_submitter