Multiple Knowledges and Participation in Planning: A Case Study of the Amiralsstaden Process

Urban inequalities are one of the most important questions in contemporary times. One urban area that is struggling with inequalities is Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden. The new comprehensive plan for Malmö from 2018, states that a socially balanced city is necessary for further development of Malmö, to tackle inequalities the plan states that all citizens need to be able to shape society and their own lives (Malmö stad, 2018b). My research has centred on a new urban development process called Amiralsstaden. The method of knowledge alliances has been tested in the process, which is a new way of conducting participation. The new method is aimed at creating meetings where different knowledges can be shared between different actors. The Amiralsstaden process and the knowledge alliances in particular has been my case study, which I have looked at through a feminist theory of science framework and through conducting qualitative interviews. My research further draws on theories of situated knowledge (Haraway, 1988, Rose, 1997) and theories of participation and multiple knowledges (Cornwall, 2008, Sandercock & Forsyth, 1992, Sandercock, 2003a, Sandercock, 2003b). My conclusion is that the knowledge alliances of Amiralsstaden have involved multiple actors, and that multiple knowledges have come forward in the encounters. Although, the municipality stated no explicit definition of knowledge, the understanding of knowledge from the municipality’s side has included knowledge as experience. However, the citizens’ knowledges have to a greater extent been viewed as biased