Housing context and legitimacy in the transformation of a stigmatized estate : the case of Rosengård

Large housing estates built in the post second world war era have been theobject of extensive debates and research in Europe and in North America, due to theirsocial and maintenance challenges but also their high symbolic value. A wide range ofregeneration strategies has been employed in addressing issues of segregation andstigmatization of these estates. This paper examines the role of local housing and publicmanagement in the selection of regeneration strategies. The paper starts from the conceptof housing context as means of explaining the selection of regeneration strategy. The paperis informed by a case study of regeneration efforts in Rosengård, where a minor regenerationeffort, the Bokals, led by the municipal housing company, crystalizes a newintegrated approach in regenerating the estate. This sets the stage for subsequent developments. We argue that legitimacy, in the sense of management being perceived as acredible agent of change, is critical in the cumulative strengthening and shaping of theregeneration strategy in Rosengård. We put forward the notion of legitimacy trading tocapture the mutual and instrumental public support of the main actors. The main contributionof the paper is to demonstrate how including aspects of management legitimacy candevelop the concept of housing context, by extending the range of applicability andbroadening the range of regeneration strategies that can be accounted for