Emotional Landscapes - En explorativ undersökning av människans samspel med Värnhemstorget i Malmö

The aim of this thesis is to explore how people interact with their environment. With increasing urbanization, cities are under more pressure to accommodate the needs of their inhabitants. Influenced by the sustainability discourse and the challenges of an increasing urban population, the outcome in many cases is densification. However, urban transformation also involves another discourse, that of interurban competition, which involves the construction of more attractive and liveable cities. With this as the background of this study, I aim to address the core components of cities: people and places, as well as the interplay between them. The case study in question, drawing from Henri Lefebvre´s "triad of space", looks at how Värnhemstorget is conceived and perceived. Following content analysis and non-participatory observational methods, the study indicates that Värnhemstorget is conceived to be used as a public transport hub and a meeting spot, and perceived in the same light. However, it also indicates a much more complex and multifaceted interplay between people and the environment, which goes beyond this conception. The study concludes that the process of planning needs to involve a conside-ration of the reality of how people interact with the environment, in turn leading to the creation and development of more vibrant and liveable cities. Furthermore, the study suggests that there is ample scope for further research in this area