IN
DEGREE PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS
STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2020,
Impact of the Botkyrka Project on Gender Equality and Youth
Participation
A Capability Approach Perspective on
#UrbanGirlsMovement VITTORIO ESPOSITO
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms
CA Capability Approach GU Global Utmaning NUA New Urban Agenda
SDG Sustainable Development Goals/ Agenda 2030 UGM #UrbanGirlsMovement
Acknowledgements 4
1. Introduction 5
2. Aim, Research Question, and Objectives 6
3. Theoretical Background 7
3.1 The Capability Approach 7
3.1.1 Relevance of the Capability Approach 8
3.1.2 Applying the Capability Approach 9
4. Methodology 11
4.1 Methods for Understanding the case study 11
4.2 Methods for Collecting Data 11
4.3 Analysis 12
5. The Botkyrka Pilot Project 16
5.1 Introduction and context 16
5.2 Theoretical background of the #UrbanGirlsMovement 18
5.3 Results and Recommendations from the Botkyrka project 19
5.4 Shortcomings of the project 21
6. Results 23
6.1 Outcome of the process 23
6.1.1 Implementation 23
6.1.2 Future plans of the municipality 25
6.2 Obstacles to the process 26
6.3 Inclusivity, collaboration and youth participation 29
7 Enhancing Capabilities 31
7.1 Social relations and connectedness 31
7.2 Political empowerment and agency 32
7.3 Education and knowledge 33
7.4 Public Facilities, Shelter and environment 34
7.5 Respect 34
7.6 Takeaways from the Capability Approach 35
8. Discussion 36
8.1 Takeaways from the Results 36
8.2 Suggestions and Recommendations 38
9. Conclusion 40
Abstract
(English)
The #UrbanGirlsMovement Pilot Project in Botkyrka was aimed at implementing feminist urban planning at local level, in order to develop innovative solution to improve socio-economically vulnerable urban areas. By laying its foundation on feminist urban planning practices, co-creation and youth participation, this case study aims at examining the implementation and potential impacts of the Botkyrka Pilot Project and how it could have potentially influenced a transformation in the practices of institutions towards more inclusive urban planning. Moreover, benefits and shortcomings were analyzed through the lenses of the Capability Approach, which is a multidimensional framework that prioritizes a person’s capabilities as opposed to the means of living. The results reveal the need for enhancing the gender perspective in urban planning, give marginalized groups a platform to make their voices heard, and confirmed the importance of youth and youth participation towards creating a better urban future. It was concluded that the process may lead to a ripple effect, potentially leading to a long lasting impact on both Botkyrka and surrounding municipalities, successfully bridging the gap between professionals and locals.
However, many obstacles were identified that could prevent the project from having a positive effect, such as institutional resistance, public sector economy, and power imbalance.
(Swedish)
Pilotprojecktetd #UrbanGirlsMovement i Botkyrka hade som mål att implementera feministisk statsplanering på lokal nivå för att utveckla innovativa lösningar för att kunna förbättra socioekonomiskt utsatta områden. Baserat på feministisk stadsplanering, samskapande, och ungdomsdeltagande syftar det här arbetet att undersöka genomförandet, utforska möjliga effekter av, samt försöka reda ut hur pilotprojektet i Botkyrka kan ha skapat en förändring i samhället för mer inkluderande stadsplanering. Fördelar och nackdelar analyserades genom “Capability Approach” som prioriterar en individspersons förmågoristället för dess tillgångar. Resultaten pekar på att det finns ett behov av att utveckla förhållningssättet kring könsperspektiv inom stadsplanering genom att ge marginaliserade grupper en plattform där de kan bli hörda, samt hur viktigt det är att involvera ungdomen för att skapa en bättre framtid. Det är möjligt att projektet kan ha gett upphov till en kedjereaktion som skulle kunna bidra till långtgående effekter där gapet mellan civila och tjänstemän minskar, både i Botkyrka och kringliggande kommuner. Många hinder för en sådan positiv utveckling upptäcktes också, till exempel, institutionell tröghet, ekonomi inom offentlig sektor, och maktobalans.
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Sara Borgström, for her expert and helpful advice, her availability and support.
This thesis would have been impossible without the help of Elin Andersotter Fabre. Thus, I want to thank her for giving me the opportunity to write this thesis and for supporting me throughout.
Moreover, I want to thank all the people who agreed to being interviewed for this thesis, sharing with me their thoughts and opinions on the matter. Your availability and help was crucial.
Lastly, I would like to thank my family, my brother, my friends and colleagues, for always supporting me and being there when I needed it.
1. Introduction
Urban planning is often perceived as neutral (for the public good), however, this gender-neutrality aimed at prioritizing the public interest often resulted in lack of inclusivity that has prevented urban planning from listening to the needs of everyone (Ortiz Escalante & Gutierrez Valdivia, 2015, Bendik, 2019). Hence, the incorporation of feminist perspectives in urban planning is aimed at challenging this idea of neutrality, underlining the need of planners to take into account the diversity of social groups (Sjölqvist, 2017; Bendik, 2019). Thus, gender-sensitive urban planning,
“does not blindly focus on the needs and experiences of women, but also involve the needs of men, kids, elderly, and other minority social groups into the planning”(Bendik, 2019:29). Participatory processes are deemed crucial towards implementing gender-sensitive urban planning, since they represent one way in which marginalized groups can be empowered (Fischer, 2016; Bendik, 2019).
In fact, lack of recognition and representation in decision-making is one of the reason why subordinate groups are marginalized, and recognizing this inherent injustice in the planing process, characterized by voices that dominate the discourse, is crucial to make planning more inclusive (Listerborn, 2007; Snyder, 1995; Sjölqvist, 2017).
Gender-sensitive urban planning can be implemented in the form of both top-down or bottom-up approaches, the second being aimed at enhancing the involvement of marginalized groups into different stages of the planning process, one example of which is the Botkyrka Project, which will be the topic of discussion for this study (Bendik, 2019). The #UrbanGirlsMovement (UGM) Pilot Project in Botkyrka was aimed at implementing feminist urban planning at local level, by letting young girls be at the center of decision making, in order to develop innovative solution to improve socio-economically vulnerable urban areas (Global Utmaning, 2019; Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019).
The project was built on the hypothesis that a city built for girls would work for everyone.
This study focuses on providing a different tool to analyze participatory processes, and in particular the inclusion of marginalized groups in decision-making, by analyzing it through the lenses of the Capability Approach, which is a multidimensional, conceptual framework, used for the evaluation and assessment of individual wellbeing and that of institutions. The relevance of this study towards inclusive urban planning is confirmed by the aim of the UGM process as a whole, which is to utilize participatory, feminist urban development as a tool to mitigate the struggles of underrepresented and marginalized groups, such as young girls (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019). Utilizing the Botkyrka Project as a case study, a Capability Approach framework will be adopted in order to assess the level of achieved wellbeing and wellbeing freedom, that came as a result of the project.
Through the use of interviews and literature review, the aim of this study is to examine the impact that the project had on the participants and the local actors, in terms of enhancing their opportunity to influence planning and participate in decision making, creating an opportunity for municipalities to strive towards inclusive urban planning practices.
The choice of the Capability Approach (CA) will be extremely important in that sense. As stated by Robeyns (2017:26), it can be used to “evaluate a range of values that draw on an assessment of people’s wellbeing, such as inequality, poverty, changes in the wellbeing of persons or the average wellbeing of the members of a group”, which makes it suitable for the purpose of the study. Its flexibility, multi-purpose and unspecified nature allows it to be applied to a variety of cases.
Moreover, the relevance of the CA for the SDGs and NUA goals, and its ability to shed a light on gender issues, make it extremely relevant towards the UGM process.
2. Aim, Research Question, and Objectives
The overarching aim of this thesis is to examine how the Botkyrka Project affected urban planning and decision making at the local level, and to contribute by providing a different tool to analyze participatory processes, adopting a different perspective to juxtapose to the UGM framework. More specifically, the aim is to examine the impact that the Botkyrka Project had on the participants and the local actors, in terms of enhancing their opportunity to influence planning and participate in decision making, and creating an opportunity to strive towards inclusive urban planning practices.
In order to achieve that, it will be necessary to gather a list of most relevant capabilities related to the project, which will be done based on literature review, most relevant goals and policies, and semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders. The research questions identified for the study are the following:
I. How does the Botkyrka Project affected urban planning in the municipality, in terms of future plans and public/youth participation?
II. How were the proposals from the Botkyrka Project implemented, and were there any obstacles in the implementation of such proposals?
III. How could the Botkyrka project potentially have influenced a transformation in the practices of institutions towards more inclusive urban planning?
IV. What are the consequences of applying the Capability Approach to evaluate the impact of the Botkyrka Project?
The objectives related to the research question are:
1. Investigate how current and future policies have been addressed in the epilogue of UGM in various ways
2. Examine how the involvement of youth into the decision making process of the district changed as a consequence of the project.
3. Examine the impact of the project in terms of gender equality and changes on livelihoods 4. Examine how the participants played an important role in the decision making, and
enhanced their awareness of the opportunity to affect policy agendas and make changes 5. Examine the extent, in decision-making, of both public participation and inclusion of every
person, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, income, sexual orientation, gender identities, and capacities.
3. Theoretical Background
In this chapter, the underlying theory upon which the study is based on will be briefly presented. In order to contextualize the focus of the study, it’s important to discuss different theories and concepts which influenced the project. In this chapter, the analytical framework, represented by the Capability Approach, will be explained and discussed, along with its relevance and importance to the case study. Concepts such as gender equality, feminism and youth participation represent the point of departure of the case study, and will be examined when describing the Botkyrka Project (see Chapter 5).
3.1 The Capability Approach
The Capability Approach (CA) will provide the basis for the analysis in the study. Its choice, which will be further discussed in this paragraph, was based on the strong resonance with the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda goals, which both were extremely important in the UGM, moreover, its focus on agency and human flourishing provides a very strong analytical tool in gender equality considerations. Thus, it will be instrumental in evaluating the extent to which the Botkyrka Project will affect the area and how future plans and policies will enhance everyone’s opportunities to have a voice when it comes to decision-making and urban planning processes.
Definition and applications
The Capability Approach (CA) was first theorized by Amartya Sen (Robeyns, 2017), and is based on the concept that “freedom to achieve wellbeing is a matter of what people are able to do and to be, and thus the kind of life they are effectively able to lead” (Robeyns, 2017:24). Sen’s initial definition was focused both on people’s real freedoms, such as health, education and social networks, and on what people can do, such as being able to work and raise a family. The core concept of his reasoning lays on the idea that each person’s freedoms and capabilities are dependent on each individual values, and ultimately, wether to strive or not for one particular capability is for each individual to decide (Sen, 2009). He states: “individual advantage is judged in the capability approach by a person’s capability to do things he or she has reason to value. A person’s advantage in terms of opportunities is judged to be lower than that of another if she has less capability – less real opportunity – to achieve those things that she has reason to value”. (Sen, 2009:231).
The range in which CA can be applied has increased substantially in recent years, including fields such as development ethics, environmental protection, welfare state policies, ecological sustainability, and more (Robeyns, 2017). As Robeyns (2017) states, the CA is a multidimensional, conceptual framework, used for the evaluation and assessment of individual wellbeing and that of institutions. In addition, it can be used to assess people’s wellbeing, as an evaluative tool for social- cost benefit analysis, and to design and evaluate policies and institutions.
This approach is clearly a response to utilitarian approaches and income-based metrics to assess wellbeing and gender equality, which was criticized by Sen in different instances (Sen 2009, Robeyns 2003; Nussbaum 2003), stating that utilitarian approaches hide important dimensions and lead to misleading inter-personal or inter-temporal comparisons, and ultimately proves inadequate in assessing issues of gender justice. The CA prioritizes a person’s capabilities as opposed to the means of living, highlighting a substantial shift from other empirical or evaluative approaches (Sen, 2009). In fact, in the CA mindset, development is considered to be synonym with expanding one’s capability set, rather than expanding one’s functionings (achieved beings and doings) (Biggeri et al, 2019). It also brings to light certain aspects of gender equality that income based approaches are unable to show; whereas, concerning prosperity and social progress, the CA approach brings several
advantages, such as preventing from using mistaken assumptions about human beings in policies (Robeyns, 2017). Robeyns (2017) discussed the difference that the CA makes, showing how income levels in themselves are not enough to provide a reliable indicator for the prevalence of poverty.
Moreover, the author argues how the CA would make a difference in analyzing both gender equality and social progress, as opposed to income-based approaches, since the latter has different shortcomings, such as ignoring the distribution of burdens between men and women, and assuming that income within households is shared (Robeyns 2003; Robeyns, 2017).
3.1.1 Relevance of the Capability Approach
In this section the relevance and usefulness of the Capability Approach will be discussed in relation to this case study. Moreover, the reason for the choice of this particular framework will be discussed, along with other possible alternatives.
Participation and Empowerment
Since the Botkyrka Projects’ goal was based on enhancing public participation, and empower marginalized groups such as the young girls, it is important to discuss how those concepts relate to the CA. As Unterhalter (2019) thoroughly discusses, public participation and empowerment are deeply embedded in the Capability Approach, and as Sen himself stated: “Nothing, arguably, is as important today in the political economy of development as an adequate recognition of political, economic and social participation and leadership of women. This is indeed a crucial aspect of
“development as freedom”. (Sen, 1999:203). Thus, empowerment in the CA framework can be associated with concepts such as agency and well-being, which implies the need to consider these aspects when evaluating what social changes are needed. In particular, agency, which is defined as
“the ability and the right of the person to decide and act in terms of her own values and objectives”
(Sen, 1999:53), is crucial in addressing empowerment, and represents one of the ways in which empowerment can be perceived. Empowerment, which is defined as “acknowledging the power that individuals and groups excluded from political action already have, and finding mechanisms that can enable the right to exercise their power” (Ortiz Escalante & Gutierrez Valdivia, 2015:117), has three dimensions: agency, well-being freedom, and power, and it is not reducible to any of those three (Drydyk, 2013). It is thus dependent on national and international policies, which can influence it in different ways, such as, by “expanding the capability set (…), improving access for the most vulnerable to existing opportunities, offering extra resources, and removing barriers, and enhancing the freedom and agency of individuals by promoting democracy and enforcing individual rights” (Bakhshi & Trani, 2019:163).
Another way in which empowerment is called upon in the CA is through participation and deliberative democracy. Participatory processes help in the application of human development perspectives and how the CA could guide those participatory processes (Clark et al, 2019; Fennell, 2019; Biggeri et al, 2019). Participation is thus seen as a key instrument towards human development and giving voice to the disempowered, as participatory processes are seen as being able to expand capabilities of marginalized groups (ibid.). Moreover, the Botkyrka Project’s focus on youth does not hinder the applicability of the CA, instead, the CA is considered to be especially useful when dealing with youth, due to its focus on agency and participation (Biggeri et al, 2019;
Fennell, 2019; Bastien and Holmarsdottir, 2017). Youth are, thus, seen as potential agents of change, able to “actively contribute to social change if they are given the opportunity for voice and the space to express their concern” (Biggeri et al, 2019:196).
The Capability Approach framework can also be observed in the municipality’s goals and objectives, in fact, according to Botkyrka Kommun (2017), one of the objectives is for the
inhabitants to have the same opportunities in life, and a focus of reducing inequalities and disparities, which results in enhanced social cohesion, security and participation.
SDGs and International Policies
Many international policies and frameworks are deeply correlated to the CA. For example, there are many correlations between the CA and the SDGs, mainly due to the fact that the latter, like their predecessor (MDGs), and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in general, resonate strongly with the theoretical framework established by the CA (Clark et al, 2019). Moreover, the approach theorized by Amartya Sen, characterized a strong foundation for the creation of the Human Development Index, which, as approved by Sen, didn't provide a fixed list of dimensions in the HDI, but instead, they differ based on cultural and national contexts (Smyth and Vanclay, 2017;
Alkire, 2010).
The CA has been considered to be a possible solution to involve all relevant stakeholders and counteract one of the main shortcomings of the SDGs, which is their inability to be localized (Clark et al, 2019). The CA would then provide a set of guidelines to ensure that international dialogues could be translated into genuine change, with a strong conceptual framework that will enhance the resilience of the SDGs to external shocks, since their lack of a normative basis represents one of their biggest downsides (Alkire and Deneulin, 2018; Clark et al, 2019). Moreover, the CA brings a deeper analysis towards each individual’s well-being is interconnected, and both SDGs and CA approach interconnectedness and complexity in the same way, portraying how different dimensions or goals are affected by each others. Finally, the CA emphasizes the process, not just the outcomes, stressing people’s empowerment and public action as main drivers, which, in the SDGs is less explicit (ibid.).
Alternative Methods
The capability approach represents one interpretation of social justice, and of course is not the only one, nor the correct one per se. In particular, distributive justice aims at answering three questions:
“What is the community of justice?” “What is being distributed?” , and “What is the principle of distribution?” (Dobson, 1988). Even though all of those questions are important for this study, it is necessary to focus on the third one. Different principles of distribution exist in the distributional justice spectrum, some of which include: needs, desert, entitlement, equality, welfare, Rawls’ theory of “to the benefit of the least advantaged”, and finally, according to capabilities (Dobson, 1988).
There is no correct way to approach distributional justice, thus, any of these methods could have proven more or less suitable for the purpose of this study. Approaching this study through the lenses of the CA represents an alternative way of looking at the problem at hand, and, as aforementioned, has been proven to be extremely suitable in that sense, given its relevance to the study and its resonance with the UGM process, national and international policies. Ultimately, the choice of a distributional justice framework falls under context-dependent informations and subjectivity.
3.1.2 Applying the Capability Approach
Many authors struggled with the idea of having a list of capabilities. In particular, Robeyns (2003) and Nussbaum (2000; 2003) both discussed this issue first introduced by Amartya Sen. According to the first one, the CA is a framework of thought, a normative tool, not a fully specified theory, not a mathematical algorithm that measures inequality, nor a complete theory of justice. Which capabilities to be taken into account are not specified, but instead, those have to be chosen based on their relevance and on the context. Robeyns (2003) developed a list of capabilities (See Appendix B), based on the work of different scholars before, for conceptualizing gender inequality in post- industrialized Western Societies, stressing, however, how it is heavily dependent on the context (Alkire and Black, 1997; Nussbaum, 2003; Robeyns, 2003). Morevoer, Pham (2018), basing his
work on Sen and Nussbaum, argues that the CA can be used as an evaluation framework for Community-Driven Development programs, and thus builds a list of capabilities which strongly resonate with Robeyn’s (2003) work.
It is important to note how providing a list of capabilities inevitably creates a debate, assesses by different scholars in several occasions (Sen, 2005, 2009; Robeyns, 2003, 2017; Nussbaum 2000, 2003). Sen has not provided a list of capabilities, since the author’s idea was to provide a general framework, not a full theory. However, both Robeyns (2003) and Nussbaum (2000) attempted to provide such list, in the context of gender equality. Furthermore, the former states that multiple studies have been attempted in order to provide macro-indices for gender equality, however those have focused on countries rather than individuals (Robeyns, 2003). Differently from Nussbaum, who advocated for Sen to provide a list of capabilities, Robeyns corroborated Sen’s point of view, stating that the list of capabilities depends on the context, and is to be defined for each case, instead of applying a one-catch-all solution (Nussbaum, 2000, 2003; Robeyns, 2003). In fact, the author provides criteria for the selection of capabilities, in order to address the risk of biases (Robeyns, 2003).
4. Methodology
4.1 Methods for Understanding the case study
The methodological approach chosen for this study is the case study, for several reasons. Firstly, the Botkyrka Project falls under the definition of a case study, given its single unit of study (Fittja) and the multitude of variables (Johansson, 2003). Moreover, a case study gives a holistic perspective on the topic studies, enabling it to be examined through different perspectives, making it especially useful for the purpose of this study. Secondly, a case study makes it possible to contextualize the topic researched and delve deep by exploring in detail the experiences of group that is the object of the research, which is crucial for the purpose of this study (O’ Leary, 2017). Lastly, choosing a case study was considered to be ideal due to its relevance and importance to the UGM and Botkyrka, thus bringing an intrinsic value, and resulting in shedding a light on new variables, which may bring interesting results (ibid.). Data collection has been obtained through literature review, desk study, and qualitative interviews, which had the objective of giving different perspectives on the subject, expand the knowledge about the contexts and the study, and the opinions of the people involved and relevant actors about the case study.
A qualitative approach was considered to be the most appropriate, since its reliance on experiences, observations, and information that is not quantifiable is crucial for the purpose of this study (O’Leary, 2017). Moreover, the choice of a quantitative method wouldn’t fit the research, due to its reliance on statistical analysis, the fact that the research entails the study of non-commensurable information, such as well-being and empowerment, and the choice of the respondents, which wasn’t random (ibid.). This method is particularly suitable for this case, since the aim of the study is to examine how the Botkyrka Project affected urban planning in the municipality, in terms of future plans, gender equality, and public/youth participation, how the proposals were implemented, and the obstacles (if any) in the implementation of such proposals. Thus, a qualitative approach was particularly useful in focusing on the cultural context and in obtaining informations about such context, delving into social complexities, since its goal is to “gain and intimate understanding of people, places, cultures, and situations through rich engagement and even immersion in the reality being studied” (O’Leary, 2017:259).
The flexibility of this approach makes it possible for it to be implemented in different contexts and used for a wide scope. In fact, even though outcomes may not be generalizable due to the nature of the study, the results may be useful in different contexts, thus making the results transferrable, in some cases (Lindal et al, 2019).Even though the results of the Capability approach will be presented in semi-quantitative way, the extent to which such capabilities are enhanced is evaluated based on qualitative terms (very negative to very positive), rather than being tied to a specific amount or unit.
Moreover, the reliance on subjectivity and impossibility to ultimately rank the capabilities makes the result interpretable in many ways, and thus, the impossibility to arrive at at an ultimate objective result, makes a qualitative approach the most suitable for this study.
4.2 Methods for Collecting Data
Qualitative interviews were performed, both one-to-one and group interviews in order to understand the different perspectives of the people involved and their opinion about the subject. The interviews were semi structured to unstructured, with open ended questions and active listening. The structure of the interviews was heavily dependent on the respondent. For each respondent, dependent on the category (see Table 1), some basic questions were the same (see Appendix A), but more question were added each time to fit the respondent’s knowledge of the study and his/her’s role on the
project. Moreover, during the interview, it was possible that the conversation could be steered towards a specific direction depending on the answers of the respondents, and in some cases, keeping the interviews to a minimum, more flexible structure could be more beneficial towards revealing more informations about the study.
A desk study was performed in order to gather the most evidence possible towards the study, and to confirm some respondent’s statements. This included a literature review, which created the theoretical background for the study, and aided in the research of information related to the study.
Exploring the municipality’s web page and its documents was important towards understanding some respondent’s statements and to provide a description for the projects. The core documents used in this study are represented by, on one side, the ones related to the Botkyrka Project, and on the other the ones related to the CA. The former were instrumental in establishing the basis for the theoretical background and for the context of the study. They are: the UGM Catalogue (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019), the two master theses (Anneroth, 2019; Wrangsten, 2019), and the final report (Lindal et al, 2019). The latter were crucial for understanding the CA in ints entirety, and are characterized by: Sen (2005;2009), Robeyns (2003;2017), and Clark et al (2017). Regarding the documents, the literature was found by utilizing search engines such as Google Scholar or the KTH Library website, by looking for keywords, and by going through the the articles and documents which were cited by or related to the aforementioned core documents.
Table 1: List of respondents (Category 1: Key actor with formal responsibility/engagement; Category 2: Lab organizer & GU team; Category 3: Experts/ Participants)
4.3 Analysis
In order to analyze the outcomes of the Botkyrka Project, international (SDGs and New Urban Agenda), national (National goals for gender equality) and local (Botkyrka Kommun) policies and goals related to the project were used as reference in order to be able to list all relevant capabilities
Name Category Organization Role
Pontus Westerberg 1 UN Habitat Key Advisor
Anonymus 1 Municipality Civil Servant
Parvaneh Sharafi 1 Municipality Fittja city district strategist /Project Partner Mi Sundquist 1 Kungsvåningen Repr. centrum building owner/ Participant Victoria Escobar 1 Changers Hub Key organisations for engaging girls
Thomas Melin 2 GU Advisor
Caroline Wrangsten 2 GU MSc Student
Emelie Anneroth 2 GU MSc Student
Kristina Philipson 2 White Arkitekter Lab organizer, social sustainability expert
Gunnel Forsberg 3 Stockholm University Participating expert
Moné Ukonu 3 Resident Participant of the project
Susanna Findahl 3 Municipality Civil Servant
aimed for the project. Andersotter Fabre et al (2019), in the Urban Girls Catalogue listed all relevant Sustainable Development Goals and New Urban Agenda goals related to the
#UrbanGirlsMovement, and the Botkyrka Project in particular, as listed below (Table 2).
Analysis of interviews
For each of the twelve interviews, 10 to 12 questions were designed, based on the respondent’s category and relevance, and on his/her’s role in the project. The respondents were asked to sign a consent form in order to choose the level of anonymity and the usage of quotes in the thesis. Often the respondents were send the questions beforehand, in order to prepare accordingly, and help make the respondents more at ease during the interviews. The material collected from the interviews was transcribed and catalogued into an excel sheet, where the respondents’ answers were divided into different areas and topics, and narrowed down to the most important ones. In particular, the answers were divided into two bigger categories, and then sorted into sub-categories depending on the topic discussed, such as:
• General Questions (“Public Participation and Gender Equality”, “Inclusive Urban Planning”), and
• Botkyrka Project (Collaboration and Co-creation” “Obstacles to the process”, “Impact and implementation of the proposals”, “Impact on Future Plans”, “Impact on the girls”)
Once all the interviews were completed, the most relevant or popular answers were utilized, for example in order to come up with a list of obstacles to the process, which consisted of the obstacles that were most brought up during the interviews. Those were then grouped into four categories, as described in Chapter 6.2. A similar process was utilized when considering the enhancement of capabilities, which consisted in summing up the result of the interviews and sorting them into one of the five basic capabilities selected for the study.
List of Capabilities
For the purpose of this case study, in the selection of the capabilities, not all human functionings where addressed. Instead, just the ones aimed for by the project, or that were a consequence of the purpose of the project were addressed. Andersotter Fabre et al (2019) explain how the project were related to several SDGs and NUA goals, providing a list of goals and target affected by the project.
By correlating the SDGs and the goals from NUA (Table 2), it was possible to create a list of project goals affected that incorporated both agendas.
Regarding regional policies, the ones who were considered relevant to the purpose were the municipal documents Botkyrka Kommun (2018) and Botkyrka Kommun (2017). In particular, the latter is the most complete one, and it focuses on five equality dimensions (interculture, gender equality, accessibility, the good and equal health of the population, freedom from violence and oppression in the name of honor), of which, the first three were considered most relevant (Appendix B). Lastly, regional and international policies, along with the four goals from the Urban Girls Catalogue, were grouped into bigger categories, in line with the work of both Robeyns (2003) and Pham (2018). Thus, of the list of capabilities provided, Social relations and connectedness, Political empowerment and agency, Education and knowledge, Public Facilities, Shelter and environment (also includes Mobility and Leisure Activities), and Respect were considered to be the ones relevant to the process (Appendix B). The final list of capabilities is shown in Chapter 6.4, Figure 5).
Table 2: Correlation between the New Urban Agenda goals and the SDGs in terms of goals relevant to the Botkyrka Project (Inspired from Diaz-Sarachaga et al, 2018)
Vertical and Horizontal Spectrum Analysis, and Limitations
The Capability Approach however is not without its shortcomings. Some include its practicality, vagueness, the fact that is doesn’t tackle structural inequalities, but instead proposes local solutions for global problems (Frediani et al, 2019; Clark et al, 2019; Pham, 2018; Robeyns, 2017). As Robeyns (2017:216) stated: “there is no point in pretending that the capability approach can do more than it is able to do, since this would blind us to the necessary collaborations with other theories and insights that are needed. It is in those collaborations with complementary powerful theories and frameworks that the success of the future of the capability approach lies”.
In particular, one critique lays on its unspecificity, since the CA does not provide any concrete way to select relevant capabilities, and one could argue that it would prevent it from being used as an evaluation tool (Pham, 2018; Robeyns, 2017). However, various scholars have argued against this claim, stating that relevant capabilities have to be identified within Walzer’s (1994) ’thin’ and
‘thick’ morality. Walzer (1994) argued that “while the culture, history and context of a community give rise to its values, the fact that we recognize aspects, albeit abstract, of our own concerns in those of other communities, allows us to build a minimalist, or “thin” set of values that have a legitimate claim to being universal” (Walzer, 1994, cited in Pham, 2018:172). Thus, Robeyns’ (2003), Naussbaum’s (2000), and Pham’s (2018) list of capabilities can be seen as attempts of building this ‘thin’ account, which would then be expanded into a ‘thick’ one by considering the context of a specific community or group or project in which it is being implemented. Thus, similarly to the case of Pham (2018), in the case of this case study, the most relevant capabilities have been identified, and then, by adapting them to the context in question, it is possible to create a set of capabilities relevant to this specific case, making it possible to be operationalized for evaluation.
Another challenge is characterized by the non-commensurability of certain capabilities. Since aspects such as agency and well-being are highly subjective, it is almost impossible, and arguably wrong, to rank and weigh capabilities, which is what Riddle (2014) refers to as ‘Horizontal Spectral Analysis’. Although this aspect is usually seen as a drawback of the approach, as Pham (2018) argues, it just shows the complex nature of the world and how every aspect is interconnected,
making it imperative for issues to be evaluated from different perspectives and techniques. Thus, for the purpose of this case study, the different capabilities won’t be ranked.
The complementary analysis to the Horizontal Spectral Analysis is the Vertical Spectral Analysis, which has been defined as “the assessment of the opportunity or ability to achieve, secure, or perform a particular capability, distinct from considerations of the relationship to other capabilities” (Riddle, 2014:6). The author extensively discusses it, stating how the difficulty it assessing it lays in the fact that there is no definite time for when the measurement should take place, and individuals cannot be placed in a specific spot on the opportunity spectrum (no opportunity to genuine opportunity), but instead it is necessary to provide a range of possible places where the individual in question might fall under (Riddle, 2014). Thus, for the purpose of this study, the extent to which each capability could be expanded will be defined as a range (from the lowest possible value to the highest), both in terms of short term impacts and long term impacts (as shown in the example below, Figure 4).
Figure 4: Example of how the Capabilities will be evaluated
5. The Botkyrka Pilot Project
5.1 Introduction and context
The overall goal of the project was to “create a hub for feminist urban planning in Botkyrka municipality by letting young girls from the area develop innovative solutions to commonly identified challenges in the public space” (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019). Elin Andersdotter Fabre, responsible for the Sustainable Cities Program of Global Utmaning, upon realizing some unexplored areas concerning gender-equal urban planning, decided to create the
#UrbanGirlsMovement in order to address this (Lindal et al, 2019). The participants consisted of a diverse group of people: girls (14-25 years old), planners, architects, civil servants, and other stakeholders. The actors involved were chosen based on their influence on the municipality, such as Kungsvåningen, however, even though the municipality tried to involve all the local actors, some of them, such as Botkyrkabyggens, were unable to participate due to scheduling problems, since they were working on another project at the same time.
The location for the project was the Fittja district in Botkyrka Kommun (Figure 1). This was based on the fact that, of the 61 communities identified as vulnerable in Sweden, 23 are located in the 1 Stockholm Region, and of those, four are situated in Botkyrka Kommun (Wrangsten, 2019). Young girls were identified as one of the most vulnerable groups due to their gender, age, and living situation, and as much as 78% of young girls raised insecurity as the main challenge (Global Utmaning, 2019). Moreover, underrepresentation, lack of political engagement and power asymmetries were identified as the main drivers that led to the choice of this particular group (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019). Fittja was considered a particularly vulnerable area by the 2 Swedish police, which cased Botkyrka, and the Fittja district in particular, to suffer from issues of territorial stigmatization, with the media outlets portraying it as violent, and as a criminal and drug dealers hub (Anneroth, 2019; Global Utmaning, 2019). Anneroth (2019) commented on the fact that issues of security and vulnerability were brought up constantly by the participants of the project, and how living in an area that is affected by territorial stigmatization, like Fittja, may h a v e e ff e c t s o n i d e n t i t y formation processes, and prevent social mobility.
Figure 1: Overview of Fittja Centrum from Google Earth (Google Earth, 2020)
defined as areas of low socioeconomic status, and where criminal activities impact the social order of the community
1
an area where parallel social structures, extremism, and a high concentration of criminal activity can be identified
2
The process consisted of 9 different steps, which will be summarized below, according to what has been described by Andersotter Fabre et al (2019) and Wrangsten (2019).
• Lab 1, Urban Girls’ Walk: consisting of an individual questionnaire and a group walk (35 participants, of which 9 UGM girls);
• Lab 2, Challenges: where through MethodKit the main challenges and opportunities were identified (35 participants, of which 15 UGM girls);
• Lab 3, Possibilities: which brought together the girls and the professionals, resulting in a set of concrete ideas (35 participants, of which 14 UGM girls);
• Lab 4, Solutions: where the design proposals were build with the use of Minecraft (25 participants, of which 10 UGM girls);
• Input (Mid Term Exhibition): where the 3D models were uploaded, the project portal was created, and the responses about the proposals were gathered (15 participants, of which 7 UGM girls);
• Lab 5, Plans: where the physical model was built by White Arkitekter (30 participants, of which 4 UGM girls);
• Lab 6, Recommendations: where the designs were prioritized and guidelines and recommendations were created;
• Test: where the pop-up installation was created;
• Evaluation: where a digital interactive map was created.
The funding for the project was provided by Vinnova, Global Utmaning, Botkyrka Kommun, UN- Habitat, Iteam, and Mistra Urban Futures, and it ran from 2017 to 2019 (ibid.). The implementation of the proposals is in the hands of Botkyrka Kommun, and dependent on the success of policy dialogues, which will inform institutions about the concepts developed throughout the process (ibid.). Throughout the process, many challenges were identified. Involving people who are not trained in spatial thinking, especially in the case of marginalized communities, represented a challenge, and in order to bridge the gap, the use of 3D digital tool like Minecraft throughout the process was crucial (Nyberg et al, 2019; Westerberg, pers.com 2020). According to one of the organizers of the lab, it accomplished just that, facilitating the discussion between ordinary people and professionals, and incidentally, putting the girls on the same level as the professional had always been fundamental from the beginning (Westerberg, pers.com 2020; Escobar, pers.com 2020). According to some respondents, there was a fear of the influence of the professionals to dominate the discourse, possibly putting the girls’ ideas on the backseat, and being too much in control of the outcomes, but this, of course, wasn’t the case (Anneroth, 2019).
Another challenge that was identified involves power imbalances, and, in particular, the risk that, often, decision seem to be already made before the consultation meetings, whose sole purpose seems to be one of ‘ticking a box’ (Ako, 2017). However, the process was based on putting young girls on the same pedestal as professionals, thus making an effort to address those power imbalances. This was also stressed in the UGM Catalogue, where ‘active listening’ is identified as a tool to address power asymmetries, shift power dimension, and challenge social and societal struggles (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019). Thus, this is one of the many reasons why the UGM process was based on empowering young girls and giving them a voice in decision making, which prompted the municipality to realize the importance of including youth in decision making,
implementing some changes, however small, to the participation processes (Findahl, pers.com 2020; Sharafi, pers.com 2020; Anonymus, pers.com 2020).
5.2 Theoretical background of the #UrbanGirlsMovement
In order to contextualize the focus of the study, it’s important to discuss the different concepts which influenced the project, which are deeply interconnected, and provide the backbone for the analysis of the impact that the process had on Fittja and on the whole municipality. Those include gender equality, youth participation, collaboration, and co-creation, and represent the point of departure of this study.
Gender Perspectives in Urban Planning
Gender equality is at the forefront of both Botkyrka Kommun and the UGM, the former adopting strategies such as gender mainstreaming, and the latter by aiming at improving the living conditions of girls and young women in low-income urban areas (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019; Botkyrka Kommun 2017). However, before going into a more specific discussions, it is necessary to discuss its definition and terminology. Gender, which is often mistakenly considered to be related to the essential biological difference between women and men, is a social and cultural construction that
“refers to the associations, stereotypes and social patterns that a culture constructs on the basis of actual or perceived differences between men and women” (Nelson, 1995:132, cited in Fainstein and Servon, 2005:3). Equality, for the purpose of this discussion, relates to “equality of rights, representation, opportunities and outcomes between women and me.” (Reeves, 2010, p. 197).
The inclusion of a gender perspective in urban planning has been discussed thoroughly in the recent years, and aims at prioritizing people’s diversity, striving to build cities that meet everyone’s needs (Greed, 1994; Snyder, 1995; Reeves, 2010; Damyanovic & Zibell, 2013; Sanchez de Madariaga &
Roberts, 2013; Ortiz Escalante & Gutierrez Valdivia, 2015). Gender mainstreaming, which is based on acknowledging gender issues, relations and power differentials, has been adopted by Botkyrka Kommun for many years, and chosen as a top-down strategy for achieving gender equal development both in Botkyrka and in Sweden (Botkyrka Kommun, 2017; Anneroth, 2019). Many scholars, however, advocated for an expansion of engendering urban planning, which entails the adoption different perspectives to juxtapose to the top-down gender mainstreaming practices, which have since dominated the discourse (Horelli, 2017; Ortiz Escalante & Gutierrez Valdivia, 2015).
One way to achieve that is through gender-transformative urban planning, which aims at challenging and transforming “oppressive gender structures rather than just acknowledging them within an urban planning process” (Anneroth, 2019:12). This perspective resonates strongly with the UGM process, in fact, the three strategies identified by Ortiz Escalante & Gutierrez Valdivia (2015), women’s empowerment, urban diagnosis, and urban transformation, have strong correlations with the UGM process and with the steps of the Botkyrka Project. Thus, the aim of UGM could be seed as a way to juxtapose different perspectives to the already present strategies, since, “when it comes to the allocation of resources to implement urban public space policies and practises, they are far from being gender equal” (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019:11).
Collaboration and Youth Participation
For the purpose of the study, it is important to focus also on how youth has been portrayed in the eyes of professionals. Power imbalances between adults and youth always existed, making it possible for adults to dominate the decision-making discourse, making it one of the biggest obstacles to emancipatory discourses. Many scholars advocated advocated for adult-youth collaboration in decision making through processes of co-creation, which would help to make the
most of the community activities (Arup, 2017; Anneroth, 2019; Snyder, 1995). The potential of co- creation, for example through digital solutions, has proved to be a powerful solution for urban design issues, providing new perspectives and coming up with unexpected solutions (Nyberg et al, 2019). As confirmed in several interviews, multiple aspects of the Botkyrka project were aimed at bridging that gap and putting practical and theoretical knowledge on the same level, which was possible through the use of 3D tools such as Minecraft, and other similar tools provided by both UGM and White Arkitekter (Westerberg, pers.com 2020; Philipson, pers.com 2020).
The Botkyrka Project shares most of the challenges identified by scholars regarding the implementation of youth participation in urban planning. Derr et al (2018) discusses two important challenges in the ability of professionals to implement youth participation, corroborating what has been stated by Cele & van der Burgt (2013): “a lack of understanding of the differences between participation and simple consultations, in which children’s opinions are voiced but not necessarily taken seriously nor able to influence decision-making”, and “failure to recognize children as social actors with existing competencies that can be drawn upon for planning efforts” (Cele & van der Burgt, 2013, cited in Derr et al, 2018:21-22).
Regarding the former, both Cele & van der Burgt (2015) and Derr et al (2018) pointed out a discrepancy in the motivations for organizations to engage in participation. In fact, the authors point out how participation incorporates everything from consultation to ‘proper participation’, and often children and youth participation is relegated to a consultation level, as it has been the case for public participation in Botkyrka, and organizations often engage in participatory processes just to validate their objectives (Ako, 2017). As Cele & van der Burgt (2015:16) state, “too often consultation projects fail to acknowledge children as competent and independent actors, which means that children are used as a means of labelling a process as democratic and/or child-friendly but with little or no competence or willingness to understand how children can participate.”. Even though their discussion is centered on ‘children’ participation, it is arguable that the discourse can be expanded to youth participation, thus incorporating all young people, since they share similar issues of marginalization and lack of recognition.
Regarding the latter, Derr et al (2018) identifies ‘redressing power’ as an essential task to complete in order to grant youth the opportunity to influence decision making and play an active role in shaping their own future. The static nature of Swedish urban planning procedures may be then to be blame in favor of more innovative practices towards sustainable development (Cele & van der Burgt, 2015). Cele & van der Burgt (2015) go on to describe how public participation is often tackled in Sweden, and their explanation closely resonates with what many respondents discussed.
The authors explain how ‘consultation meetings’ are often organized by local governments or organizations to gather information about certain projects from relevant stakeholders, but youth is almost always absent from these meetings. Secondly, even though planners and politicians often promote public participation, in practice, the public does not have a voice in decision making, this making these processes often ineffective (ibid.). Many respondents echoed the aforementioned point of view. Among them, one stated that even though many institutions talk about the importance of public participation, in practice they are not as committed as they say they are (Westerberg, pers.com 2020).
5.3 Results and Recommendations from the Botkyrka project
The project process resulted in three proposals: Greenhouse 145 & Co., A Mall for All, and A New Station (see Figure 2 and 3). The first proposal consisted of a multi-purpose and multi-function area called “Greenhouse 145 & Co.”, where Botkyrka Kommun was considered to be the proposal recipient. It had the purpose to provide a complete solution to many issues, such as bike mobility,
and public transportation, lack of flexibility, lack of a place for women, children and elderly to occupy; and lack of visibility and lighting. This installation would function as a greenhouse for gardening, radio station for podcasts and such, entertainment centre, and a multicultural meeting place (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019). However, some issues identified include the possibility that it would not be used enough and lack of interest from investors, thus a pop-up installation was identified as the best solution to test it.
The Greenhouse 145 & Co. is the representation of how the process is based on enhancing multi- functional urban spaces. The girls ideas, at first separated in different proposals, were brought together into a mixed-use and multi-purpose area, capable of becoming a center-point for the area.
In creating the Greenhouse, the girls were able to highlight what they loved about Fittja, and it was instrumental in manifesting the girls’ identity in the urban form (Anneroth, pers.com 2020).
According to a respondent from White Arkitekter, an interesting concept that was implemented during the labs, consisted in designing the proposals as “on-off experiences”, which cater to everyone, and give people the opportunity to either be engaged in the activities that are going on (e.g. the radio station or the greenhouse), or to not, but still enjoy the experience (Philipson, pers.com 2020). When it was time to decide what to put in the ‘greenhouse’, the girls opted for a radio station, which most professionals found peculiar, given that radio is definitely not one of the most popular mediums out there, especially amongst the youth, and when asked about it, it was clear that the radio was the medium they wanted to use. However, it is important to point out that the radio station could be use in different ways, as a way to record podcasts, which are becoming much more popular and arguably replacing the radio, or to broadcast music, among many other things (Anneroth, pers.com 2020).
The second proposal was a “Mall for All”, with Kungsvåningen being the proposal recipient. The vision for this proposal consisted of making Fittja a brighter place, giving people a reason to stay and spend time (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019). The mall would then have cafés, food courts, lighting, and entrances and exits, in order to provide a safe environment when visiting the shopping mall, prioritizing the redevelopment of existing entrances rather than building more. The last proposal consisted of a New Station, with Region Stockholm/SL and Botkyrka Kommun being the proposal recipients. with accessible public services, with people around to help if needed, and youth facilities (ibid.). This would provide the area with better and more accessible footpaths, well working infrastructure, lighting and visibility, among other things. Changing the station would then be necessary, in addition to redesigning entrances and exits, green spaces, non-consumption based seating and relaxation areas. This would entail changes to the bus station, moving their position in order to decrease the noise in the area, making room for the activity cubes, and create a welcoming environment when visiting Fittja (ibid.).
Figure 2: Overview of Fittja Centrum in Minecraft after redesign (Block by Block, 2019)
Figure 3: Overview of Fittja
Centrum in Minecraft after redesign (Block by Block, 2019)
5.4 Shortcomings of the project
The UGM process wasn’t without its shortcomings. Several interviews, and many scholars that reviewed the process highlighted some issues related to it. Firstly, according to Global Utmaning (2019) and Lindal et al (2019), there were several shortcomings. For the former, the most relevant were related to the organization of the labs, the tools used, and language barriers. In particular, it was pointed out that the mid term exhibition should take place after the Minecraft session; that Lab 5 (plans) and 6 (recommendations) should be switched, which was agreed upon by a respondent from White Arkitekter who organized those exact Labs, who stated that it would have been beneficial, in order to be more precise in the design process when the designs have already been chosen and also for future designs (Philipson, pers.com 2020). Moreover, the process highlighted the need for an increase in the use of the digital tools used in the process, however, as Pontus Westerberg pointed out, it is likely that in the future they won’t become mainstream tools for urban planners, even though they are very effective (Global Utmaning, 2019; Westerberg, pers.com 2020).
Pontus Westerberg also pointed out that introducing 3D so late in the process severely limited creativity, and suggested that the process should implement 3D tools sooner (Westerberg, pers.com 2020).
It was found that language barriers prevented communications, which was overcome using digital tools, that helped bridging the gap, however, additional tools could be helpful (Global Utmaning, 2019). Moreover, some issues were identified concerning the meetings with the participants. It was pointed out that planning the labs was difficult since the girls were busy with school or work during working hours, and the actors such as Botkyrka Kommun or SL preferred to meet during the working hours, thus, creating a schedule that would be accepted by both was a challenge (Melin, pers.com 2020). Another challenge that was identified concerns the participants the aim of the process was to create a good example, a model from which other processes and projects would take inspiration, and to influence the people that participated, however, not so strongly that they wouldn’t have their own opinion on the subject, which maybe wasn’t an obstacle per se but definitely represented a challenge to overcome. This could be summarized by saying:“how can we have a dialogue with these people which is strong enough but not too strong?” (ibid.).
Some respondents highlighted the fact that, apart from the pop-up installation that lasted a few days, nothing physical was done as a result of the project, stating: “if you consider how long the process was and the amount of participation of everyone involved, I don’t know if it justifies the means to be frank. So I am a bit skeptical” (Findahl, pers.com 2020). Emelie Anneroth corroborated this point of view, saying “it's important that something gets done, and nothing major, these cubes or this Greenhouse, that’s not gonna happen and the girls know that. But we need to translate these proposals into something that’s actually implementable” (Anneroth, pers.com 2020). On the other hand, Thomas Melin supported another point of view on the topic, stating that the objective of the
process wasn’t to build something, but to highlight certain issues that were previously ignored, and to mold those into a bigger discussion when developing plans for the municipality, the girls were informed about the fact that probably the proposals aren’t going to be implemented, but that won’t prevent them from being disappointed (Melin, pers.com 2020).
One common shortcoming of projects that aim at co-creation, which is that the actors involved prioritize their own interest over the good of the project, which has been pointed out by different respondents during interviews with the municipalities (Andersotter Fabre et al, 2019; Anneroth, pers.com 2020; Findahl, pers.com 2020). Thus, the importance of having Global Utmaning as a facilitator was pivotal, but it can be seen as a double edged sword, since, once the process is finished, without a facilitator, the discussions and the projects aimed at collaborations among those same actors end up falling back to the same issues that Global Utmaning was trying to prevent.
6. Results
This section will be focused on analyzing the information gathered through the literature review, the desk study and the interviews. The results will be divided into the outcomes of the process, in terms of implementation of the proposals and the future plans of the municipality; the obstacles to the process, and the results in terms of CA. The result will be based on an interview analysis, described in the Methodology section in Chapter 4. In this chapter, the most relevant and/or popular answers from the aforementioned interviews will be discussed, along with the literature review of the most relevant documents.
6.1 Outcome of the process
6.1.1 Implementation
The project resulted in three proposal from the girls, which were the outcome of a series of labs.
The impact of the proposals affected different actors and resulted in several benefits and downsides.
One of the many benefits came from the process utilized, which strengthened the participants’
position in the dialogue with the local government, highlighting issues that young people consider a priority, as the lack of lighting in the municipality, which decreased the feeling of safety in the area.
Proposals
The opinions of the responses regarding the implementation of the proposals varied. The response of the municipality, was definitely homogenous. Many of the respondents commented on how the process was intended as an experiment, and thus, the proposals that came out of it are, on one hand, going to be taken in consideration in the future, but, on the other, they will be adapted to the municipality’s capabilities and resources, and to future plans. The Greenhouse, according to one of them, represents the only one, among the three proposals, that has the possibility of being implemented by the municipality, since the other two (the New Mall and the New Station) are considered to not be responsibility of Botkyrka Kommun, but of Kungsvåningen and SL respectively (Findahl, pers.com 2020; Sharafi, pers.com 2020). Moreover, for the proposal to be implemented, they would have had to be fit with other projects in the municipality (ibid.). Mi Sundqvist (Kungsvåningen) stated how the ideas and proposals had a positive impact, and they are focusing on what can be implemented in the short term, since other actions take a longer timeframe to be realized (Sundqvist, pers.com 2020). Concerning the shopping mall, Mi stated how their aim is to create a welcoming and safe environment, and the top priority is to improve and develop the existing entrances, rather than adding a new one.
Others shared the same point of view, stating that, from the beginning, the fact that probably nothing was going to be built was known to the participants, and, for the process, having a physical result wasn’t necessary for the success of the project, since it was aimed at enhancing the knowledge of the actors involved, sharing tools to use, empowering the young girls who participated and give them an outlet to be heard and share their opinion, and being part of the decision making (Melin, pers.com 2020; Anneroth, pers.com 2020). When asked about it, experts and lab organizers expressed their opinion about the possibility for the greenhouse to be implemented. Some were skeptical about the possibility to realize the proposal thought by the girls, saying that not many public institutions that are willing to put the financial resources and time in public participation, and, even though many institutions talk about its importance, when it actually gets to it, they are not as committed as they say they are, thus, trying is not enough (Westerberg,
