IN
DEGREE PROJECT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS
,
STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2018
Completing the Circuit
Connecting and Transforming Hovsjö and Måsnaren
PENG WU
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Completing the Circuit
Connecting and Transforming Hovsjö and Måsnaren
Site Situation: Hovsjö
Södertälje : Hovsjö
5,778 72,704 25.84 km2 0.48 km2 2.8 km 33 kmTo Central Stockholm To Södertälje Centrum
My project will focus on the neighborhood of Hov-sjö in the city of Södertälje, located in the south of Stockholm county. Through this project I will examine aspects of this neighborhood’s isolation from the rest of the city. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches, I explore the nature of this isolation and question how much of this segregation is a result of its spatial orientation, as well as various cultural and social factors. As Hovsjö is an area with a high concen-tration of members of the Assyrian/Syriac immigrant community, it has natural affinities to surrounding immigrant neighborhoods, but its spatial arrangement inhibits this affinity. Furthermore, Hovsjö is also iso-lated from its surrounding environs; I will explain how it is cut off from its immediate neighbor to its south and west, Lake Måsnaren. A nature area with its many
Introduction
- How is Hovsjö isolated from the rest of Södertälje?
- How is Hovsjö isolated from its surrounding natural areas?
- How does Hovsjö’s isolation compare to its place in the city’s
cul-ture?
- How do we break through Hovsjö’s barriers
and connect it to the rest of the city?
recreational amenities, I show in my research that it is not well used by the residents of Hovsjö, despite their proximity to it. Investigating the physical struc-ture and the layout of the area between Hovsjö and Måsnaren, I will show that this separation is due to physical factors as well as an inappropriate program-ming of the green spaces. Using this research, I will to suggest a series of interventions with will break down both types of isolation and thereby fully integrate Lake Måsnaren into Hovsjö, and Hovsjö into the rest of Södertälje. This integration will lead to the creation new cultural landmarks for both the city of Södertäl-je as a whole as well as its Assyrian/Syriac immigrant community in particular, and the results will link Hov-sjö more deeply into Södertälje’s urban fabric and end its isolation.
1. Literature Review
- Eva Minoura: Uncommon Spaces
Classifications of public spaces in the Swedish context - Jennifer Mack: The Construction of Equality
Background on the Assyrian Community and its important cultural sites
2. Space Syntax Analysis
- GIS data and shapefiles obtained from Läntmateriet - Used qGIS and depthmapX app to obtain results
3. Site observations
- Over thirty hours of on-site observation in Södertälje, focusing on Hovsjö and Måsnaren - Observations span year round and in many weather conditions
4. Personal Interviews
- Unstructed- Residents and Former Residents - Workers
Methods
Study Questions:
Area Population 12,000/km2 2,800/km2 DensityHovsjö is a small dense neighborhood in the southwest of Södertälje, a city located 33km south of Stockholm. Although Södertälje is an old city, having been founded in the 14th century, Hovsjö is one of its newest neigh-borhoods. Built in the mid-1970’s at the tail end of the so called “millon homes program”
(Miljon-programmet), Hovsjö’s structure and
archi-tecture is typical of this time. It is strongly defined by its centrum, which is located at the northeast end of the neighborhood. The centrum is designed as the main com-mercial and social meeting space, leaving the rest of the neighborhood with few or no spaces for these activities. From the cen-trum, housing is placed in concentric circles,
with the higher density apartment housing placed
closer to the centrum, and lower density housing farther out. Hovsjö’s centrum is the location of the only super-market in the neighborhood and a few restaurants and
Confined by the Centrum
Hovsjö, due to its construction at the height of the mil-lion homes program, as well as its high levels foreign-or-igin population, fits into a particular place in the public discussion within Sweden, that of the stereotypical ‘im-migrant neighborhood’, a phrase which conjours up vi-sions of poverty, disorder, and crime in the popular imag-ination of the country. As described in the works of the scholar Irene Molina, this stigmatization in the popular imagination reinforces the isolation and disconnection of these places by putting them beyond the pale of normal society, and taints those residents who live in the area with a mark that sets them apart from ‘ordinary’ people. This has led to government policies in these areas that, however well-meaning in the beginning, has led to in-creased alienation and discrimination.
Furthermore, the images and words associated with a neighborhood such as Hovsjö are hyper-urban, with all
The image of the urban
their connotations of disorder, criminality, and dirtiness. This is despite the fact the Hovsjö is situ-ated right next to an area of great natural beauty; there is an invisible but at the same time very real barrier that dissassociates them in the popular con-sciousness. This has a further effect on increasing the isolation and perceived abnormality of these areas, as the self-conceptionof many Swedes revolve around images of nature and being in nature. To be cut off from nature is seen as, in a certain sense, unswedish. Therefore, in order to tackle the issue of isolation and discon-nection in these areas, we
must also consider how Hovsjö is situated in relation to the natural resources surrounding it, which in its
case is dominated by the large lake of Måsnaren.
Located immediately to the southwest of Hov-sjö, Lake Måsnaren can seem like a world apart from the dense apartment blocks of its neigh-bor. Måsnaren has a surface area of 4.3 km2,
with a coast line of 24.8 km. It has a maximum depth of around 7m but an average depth of only 2.6m. The lake has a wealth of natural recreation options; close by to Hovsjö is the beach of Eklundsnäs and its attached camping ground. Around the lake there is the 12 km long walking trail Måsnarenleden, and to
the south there is an addi-tional swimming beach
and recreation ground at Tveta. Yet despite Måsnaren’s proximity to Hovsjö, they are very much in different worlds. For one, there are no views of the lake from the grounds of Hovsjö, despite them being only 200m away from each other, and Hovsjö being more than 30m high-er in height. Furthhigh-ermore, thhigh-ere are vhigh-ery few direct access paths between the two areas, and the green areas that mark their mutual bound-aries are thickly wooded and difficult to cross. For these reasons, Måsnaren remains
underuti-lized by the residents of Hovsjö.
Måsnaren: A World Away
Master’s Thesis Project by Peng Wu
Sustainable Urban Planning and Design, KTH Royal Institute of Technology Advisor: Ann Legeby
September 2018
Tag cloud for a google search of the phrase “hovsjö nyheter” Tag cloud for a google search of the phrase “hovsjö”
Results of image search for “hovsjö program”
Tag cloud for a google search of the phrase “måsnaren”
small shops, as well as the community space now known as “the Hub” and library. There is also a green area as well as a fenced-in soccer field. The inner ring of high density housing is represented by apartment buildings of around
6-8 stories. Most of these apartments are rental units only, but a few are available to own. The
low density housing around the outer edges are single family rowhouses of two stories.
Malen, former resident
Annika, social worker
Sia, student
Entry to Hovsjö on Tvetavägen Pedestrian entry to Hovsjö from the west Gated entrance to Eklundsfältet allotment gardens Buffering natural goods south of Hovsjö, directly across from Måsnaren
Pedestrian entry to Hovsjö from the South Pedestrian path on Hovsjövägen St. Jacob’s Church, north of Hovsjö Assyrian Cultural Association, north of Hovsjö
Solitary type nature of public good, west of Hovsjö Wooded path north of Måsnaren Dense woods typical of the forest around Måsnaren Overview of Måsnaren allotment gardens
View of Måsnaren from remains of Hovsjö farm Swimming piers at Eklundsnäs beach
Panorama view of Måsnaren from Eklundsnäs beach, south side
Underpass across E20 highway from Stålhamravägen
Underpass across Stålhamravägen from Saltskogsvägen
The soccer field in the middle of Hovsjö, viewed from the north Hovsjövägen looking north from Eklundsfältet allotment gardens
Södertälje sports hall Scania Health center from Tvetavägen Tvetavägen south of Hovsjö, looking south
Scania health center, viewed from the southwest Office and restaurant at Eklundsnäs beach and camping grounds
Panorama of Eklundsnäs beach
View of Måsnaren from the remains of Hovsjö farm
Remains of a former road north of Måsnaren
Soccer field in the center of Hovsjö and the Björnövägen bus terminus Fountain in the green areas just west of Hovsjö hub Path towards the soccer field from Hovsjö hub
Public square type space just west of Hovsjö hub Green public space between the soccer field and Hovsjö hub
Eklundsnäs beach on a summer’s day Path in the middle of Måsnaren allotment gardens View of Måsnaren from Eklundsnäs beach area
Green open space and restaurant/office at Eklundsnäs beach and camping site View of Måsnaren from Måsnaren allotment gardens
Eklundsnäs camping grounds
Annika, in her mid-forties, works in Hovsjö within the community center and runs a programing helping unemployed resdients get work training and find work. She has a lot of experience with the immigrant culture in the neighborhood, and provided the perspective of a non-resident.
Malen, in her late fifties, lived in Hovsjö for a half year before moving out. She provided the perspective of someone who valued safety and security. Although she said she frequently used the Måsnaren nature areas, it was always for walking, and she was often alone.
I encountered Sia, a teenager, while at the community center inter-viewing another subject. She had walked into the interview room and started and conversation with us. When Sia found out I had come from New York, she expressed her surprise that I was in Hovsjö.
Site Observations and Interviews
Key Observations:
Pedestrian access into Hovsjö is
diffi-cult and roundabout compared to car
access
Pedestrian access is not common
around Hovsjö and it was rare to
en-counter other walkers
Natural areas near Måsnaren that
encourage congregation are not
easi-ly accessed from Hovsjö
Key Observations:
Outdoor spaces in Hovsjö and around
Måsnaren are completely deactivated
Connections between Hovsjö and sur-
rounding areas even more difficult to
navigate
Indoor sports and recreation
activi-ties were avilable, but access is
most-ly done by car
Key Observations:
Despite the summer weather, the
public goods within Hovsjö are still
sparsely used
Eklundsnäs beach was populated but
with only a small population, less
than expected for Hovsjö’s size
Good mix of languages and
ethnici-ties present at the beach
In order to better understand Hovsjö and its surrounding en-vironment, I carried out extensive site observation over the course of the year. I visited the area over half a dozen times in many different weather conditions and different times
during the day, and observed how the public spaces and ac-cess paths were being utilized. I carried out the observations while on foot, and tried as much as possible to travel to and from Hovsjö on foot as well. Otherwise, I travelled via bus,
which was the only form of public transit that reached Hovsjö from Södertälje centrum.
At the same time, I also did several unstructured and
semi-structured interviews with those who have lived in Hov-sjö as well as work there. I also interacted with several resi-dents during my time as a participant-observer, and I made several notes of significant interactions I had with them
during my time there. Although there were sometimes com-munications issues due to communicating in Swedish instead of English, I was able to understand enough to make notes on when I found interesting observations or responses.
I returned to the area once again during the summer. As Sweden expe-rienced an unusually warm summer, temperature was quite high during my visit, and I saw that Eklundsnäs beach was decently occupied, but it was not as crowded as I thought it would be, despite school not having started and still in the summer vacation window in early August. However, there was a good mix of age and background at the beach, and I quite often heard nonSwedish languages being spoken. Within Hovsjö, I saw very little activity in the green spaces. The soccer field was deserted and there was no one near the fountain by the community center. I did observe, however, a few people sitting and relaxing next to the apartment building blocks, perhaps taking advantage of the shade. All in all, I did not feel that the public spaces were being utilized in the neighbor-hood.
Over the winter I returned to Hov-sjö and Måsnaren several times to observe it under different weather conditions than my previous visit. Once again I reached Hovsjö on foot by different routes than before, and again noticed the subpar infrastructure for pedestrian traffic. As expected, there was even less evidence of usage of the areas around Måsnaren and around Hovsjö. I had expected some winter activity such as skiing or skating, but although I saw evidence in the snow of the former, I encountered almost no one walking and observing the area. Within Hovsjö, there were no signs of winter outdoor activity, and I didn’t see any infrastructure that would ac-commodate it. I also observed strong vehicle traffic to the sports halls next to Hovsjö, but again little evidence of walkers despite their proximity. I first visited Hovsjö and Måsnaren in
Södertälje is home to one of the largest communities of the Assyr-ian/Syriac diaspora in the world. Originally from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Turkey, the Assyrian/Syriac population began arriv-ing in Sweden from 1968 as refugees. Soon after their arrival, they began to settle in large numbers in Södertälje, first in the neighborhood of Geneta and later to Ronna and Hovsjö, where today they make up a majority of the residents. The Assyrian/ Syriac culture is marked by a strong identification with church-es of various denominations. Religious celebration and rituals play a large role in society, as well as strong ties between
extend-ed family members. Occasions such as wextend-eddings and funerals are im-portant cultural events in the community, and a network of party halls
have established themselves in and around the city to cater to their needs. In addition, the two local soccer teams in Södertälje have
become important symbols of the community, and their games are watched worldwide in the diaspora. Live games in the local stadium are always well attended and draw large crowds celebrating and cheering on the home teams.
Hovsjö: Suburb of a Diaspora
How is Hovsjö isolated from the rest of Södertälje?
N
at
ur
a
l
C
h
oi
c
e
(Conne
ctivity)
High Low Integration/ConnectivitySödertälje road network
has strong central axes but
weak connections around
the outer edges
Hovsjö lies outside of the
major lines of connection
and integration in
Söder-tälje
Although a part of the
As-syrian/Syriac community,
Hovsjö is located spatially
outside of its main circuit
Locations of important
cul-tural sites in the Assyrian/
Syriac community
One quantitative method of of studying the level of integration or separation of city neighborhoods is through the use of Space Syntax Analysis. One popu-lar method of analysis is to look at the street network of cities. By mapping out all the streets and calculating how each street connects to all ther others in the network and in what way, we can derive an understanding of how well a city is linked together, and conversely where it is lacking connection. I created my own analysis by first downloading a shapefile of the street network in the entirety of Södertälje from Läntmater-iet, the offical Swedish land surveying authority. Using GIS software, I mapped the shapefiles and recreated the city’s car road network. I included all roads within the boundaries except for the European highways, as they do not in-tersect the regular road networks except at set exits, and thus can skew the re-sults. Next, I use the freeware program depthMapX in order to create a segment and axial map of the city streets. I set-tled on using two different measures to show connectivity or lack thereof in the city: the first is “Integration.” Integration measured for each street and is a value of how often this street intersects an-other street. High integration streets are often axes that provide important cor-ridors of movement. The next measure, “Natural Choice”, describesin general the total connectivity of any particular street to the rest of the network. A high value indicates that it is easier to get to this street from any other street in the network.
Space Syntax Analysis
Conclusions
Using these two analyses, I show that Hovsjö lies mainly outside of the main lines of connection and integration of Södertälje. First, the integration analysis show that there are several main street axes in the city, notably Nyköpingsvägen which runs directly north-south from the city center. There are also secondary axes that lead into the outlying neigh-borhoods of Ronna and Geneta. Howev-er, Hovsjö is not linked to any of these axes, which indicates its relative isola-tion in the network. Next, the Natural Choice show that there is a network of high connectivity streets that are adja-cent to Hovsjö, such as Genetaleden to its north, Hovsjövägen to its west, and Tvetavägen to the east. However, these high connectivity streets do not extend into Hovsjö, leaving it isolated from the rest of Södertälje. Furthermore, the road structure within Hovsjö also has weak connection and integration overall. The result of these analyses show that the road network in Södertälje form a kind of incomplete circuit at its edges, with Hovsjö being one of the missing links. In order to connect Hovsjö, one should create currently missing links to
the major axes and high con-nectivity streets nearby
such as Nyköpingvägen. Furthermore, the internal
street network in Hovsjö ought to be remade to faciliate flow and connec-tion both within and with-out.
Top 20% integration
Top 30% connectivity
Warehouses on the outside, Castles on the inside: Party halls in Södertälje “Most Assyrian/Syriac banquest halls (religious or secular) are located in urban areas originally zoned for commerce or industry.... At these sites, sumptuous celebrations that work against the Swedish welfare state’s prescription of sober propriety are effectively invisible to the outside community....
These forgotten Swedish peripheries become, through temporary and transformative spatial practices and the creation of a new ritual infra-structure, new social centers for Assyrian/Syriacs during the events through urban design from below.”
-Jennifer Mack, The Construction of Equality: Syriac Immigration and the Swedish City, p. 148
How is Hovsjö isolated from its surrounding natural areas?
Turning from the city-wide scale to the local scale, I wanted to better understand why Hovsjö seems so isolated from its immediate surroundings, espe-cially Lake Måsnaren and its natural recreation ar-eas. During my observations of the neighborhoods, I noticed that there was a lot of public space in and around Hovsjö, but they were not being used as public spaces, in that they were not places were people were congregating for social gatherings. In fact, many of these spaces almost seem to be barriers that prevent people from moving about the neighborhood.
In order to better understand why this is the case, I used the analysis of open spaces done by Eva Minoura in her book Uncommon Spaces. According to Minoura, she breaks down open spaces into four categories as shown below, divided along two axes, excludable and
Natives
Non-natives
From the results of the analysis, it can be seen that Hovsjö is dominated by large blocs of goods both within and without. Within the neighborhood,
com-mon goods dominate, due to the large size of the
un-enclosed yards surrounding the apartments. Some areas where the apartments close together are small enough that they form quasi-private goods, areas
where residents may more comfortably claim for their own. The public goods that encourage congregation, such as plazas and parks, are concentrated in the east and central end of the area, away from Måsnar-en. Furthermore, the areas of Hovsjö immediately adjacent to Måsnaren are marked by areas of private goods that discourage thru
move-ment to reach the lake. This is especially true of the allotment gardens immediate to the south, which is completely encircled by tall fencing, making it a de-facto private garden that is inaccesible except to members.
Outside of Hovsjö, the public goods that lie between it and Måsnaren are either of the
buffer-rivalrous, which can be explained as follows:
Excludable spaces are spaces where one group of
us-ers can rightfully exclude othus-ers from using it.
Rivalrous spaces are spaces where a user’s enjoyment
a space can decrease another user’s enjoyment of it. I applied Minoura’s categories to the spaces in Hovsjö and produced the map to the right. In addition to the four categories and examples offered by Minoura, I also added one of my own, that of a Buffering natural good versus Solitary natural good. In the former, the natural spaces are deployed as a buffer between areas or buildings, and not as spaces to enjoy natural recre-ation in and of themselves.
ing or the solitary variety. There are exceptions to the
southwest at Eklundsnäs beach and campgrounds. The campgrounds, which are occupied by recreational vehicles, can be seen as a common good that is open to all, but crowdedness would detract from the en-joyment of the area, while the beach and the attached wooded area are public goods that is open to all. In order to get to these spaces, however, one must tra-verse the large areas of buffering and solitary public goods that surround Hovsjö. In an area that has a high immigrant background population, this is espe-cially difficult because of the different perceptions of unprogrammed natural space between native and
non-native residents. Swedish culture has strong traditions and preference for using unpro-grammed forest space for rec-reation, while this is not always the case with immigrants, who find the dense wooded spaces to be unwelcoming. This makes the many amenities offered by Måsnaren difficult to access for the majority of Hovsjö’s resi-dents.
The area within Hovsjö is
dominated by common
goods, which limit how
many people can use them.
The unprogrammed
soli-tary nature that surround
the neighborhoods are a
barrier for non-natives.
The large blocs of the same
type of goods make it
dif-ficult to traverse from one
type to another easily.
C
onnect
In order to remedy Hovsjö’s isolation, it will be necessary to strengthen its connections to its surrounding areas by linking it to the existing strong axes of movement and integration that lie just outside of the neigh-borhood. Through these new connections, visitors to Hovsjö would be more able to access the new cultural and sports amenities that have been creat-ed, and on the other hand allow Hovsjö’s residents easier access to the rest of the city as well. Furthermore, a more grid-like street structure will be cre-ated within Hovsjö. This will transform its typical miljon-city structure, which funnels
traf-D
iversify
Currently, the urban form with-in Hovsjö is domwith-inated by two different typologies: the high-rise apartment and the small rowhouses. The apartments are located centrally and are in long parallel rows. This creates zones of common good as well as de facto private goods, as shown in the above analysis. In these areas the ownership of the place becomes difficult to discern, making it uncomfort-able for both the residents and visitors and discouraging activ-ity from taking place there. The rowhouses, located peripher-ally, have small fenced in yards that clearly delineate between private and public goods, but
T
ransform
A
ttract
Currently the major cultur-al attractors are situated on the inner boundary of Hovs-jö, between it and the rest of Södertälje. This means that it is not necessary to encounter Hovsjö while accessing these attractors, which increases its isolation. In the proposal, a new park will be created along with a cultural center to Hovs-jö’s western boundary, next to Lake Måsnaren, to draw visi-tors through and past Hovsjö. Furthermore, capitalizing on the importance of sport in the local community, we propose enclosed sports centers at its western and southern areas as additional draws to the area.
Five strategies to connect Hovsjö
How do we break through its surrounding barriers?
These sports facilities link up to the existing football arena to the west of Hovsjö, as well as the major sports halls to the east and south of Hovsjö. Taken together, these new attractions will bring visitors from around the city or even beyond, due to their flexibility as event spaces and locations where large arts gatherings, such as concerts and plays can occur.
fic and movement towards its centrum, into a network with strong cross axes that promote flow out towards its edges, specifically towards the new cultural areas by Måsnaren. In other words, instead of Hovsjö being confined by its heart, it will have a spine on which to bear the weight of new connec-tions and expanded neighbor-hoods.
Eklundsparken
Hovsjö Theater
One major new attractionwill be the creation of a new park, Eklundsparken, along the lake shore to the west of Hovsjö. This converts the existing solitary public good to a space that will encour-age social gathering. As the only public space outside of the city center that inte-grates water and park space, it will be an attractive place for walkers, picnic goers, and those seeking relaxing views of the lake.
The establishment of a new theater within Eklund-sparken will create a new community space for Hovs-jö. This theater, with a footprint of approximately 600 meters and seating for 350, will be able to convert to an event space in order to provide a location for cele-brations such as weddings or birthdays, or serve as a community meeting space.
F
ragment
Currently Hovsjö is divided intolarge blocs where land usage and housing types are strictly delinated. Social and commer-cial functions are segregated in their own areas. By breaking up these large continuous blocs and shuffling functions into and among each other, better flows of movement are created throughout the neighborhood. By mixing commercial, social, and housing zones together,
we create more a more alive and vibrant neighborhood. This in return will make the overall are more attractive to visitors, reinforcing our first strategy. The fragmentation of the large blocs of common and public goods into smaller zones will also benefit the neighborhood by providing clear indications of ownership, making it easier to maintain and upkeep the area.
New Björnövägen
The spine of the new Hovsjö will be an expanded Björnövägen. Running the full length down to Måsnaren and beyond, it will be converted to a boulevard-type street with a green promenade in the middle, creating an at-tractive place to stroll and relax.
Two new sports facilities, soccer field to the west and basketball courts to the east,
To Södertälje sports hall and Scania Hälsocenter
To Södertälje football arena
Semi-detached Townhouse
Freestanding apartments
Large block apartments
Shared and co-op housing
This new housing typology, attractive to young families, will have large shared backyards that open onto walking lanes between the houses. This design creates a private goods that are clearly delineated but can still combine into common goods during special occasions.
For areas that need to have high density, this type of apartment will be deployed. As opposed to the old apartment blocks in the city center, these freestanding ones do not form long corridors of open common areas where it is difficult to decipher ownership of the space.
This high density type of housing will be deployed in the city center to replace the unused open spaces. Each apartment block encloses an interior yard which will create areas of club good. This means that these areas will be very well cared for and tend-ed, but still be able to enjoyed by many.
The last new type of housing will be large coop housing that share living rooms, kitchens and other living areas. This type is especially suited for the large extended families that are often found in Hovsjö. A large common yard encourages social activ-ity across the households.
their small sizes make it diffi-cult to do many activities and to conglomerate during special occasions.
By increasing the different types of housing and non-res-idential spaces, livelier and more active environments can be created. The interactions between these buildings helps to fragment the large blocs of goods that currently dominate the area.
The vast zones of unpro-grammed buffering natural public space that currently surround Hovsjö serve as an effective barrier that keeps its residents and visitors from reaching the bountiful natural goods that lie just beyond the neighborhood. By transforming these spaces into more socially friendly green areas and parks, we convert the barrier instead
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Master plan
1: 2500 scale
Section A1
Section B2
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Section B1
The enclosed and roofed soccer field at the north end of the new development will serve as an at-tractant to the new area. This sports complex will allow for year round play of soccer, which is not currently available in Södertälje, and promote an important cultural practice in the local community, as well as attract visitors from beyond. The current parking areas to the
west of the row houses will be converted into small community gardens. This conversion of the area into club goods will serve as a way to bring activity and human presence to an area that is current-ly abandoned. Furthermore, it will serve as a stop in the path down to the main park at Måsnaren.
In addition to the low density town-house developments, high density apartment blocks will be added as well. In contrast to the long, contin-uous blocks that are in the centrum, these will be square in shape and surrounded by open access gar-dens, bringing human presence but at the same time promoting perme-ability and flow.
One of the center pieces of the new park on Måsnaren is an open space amphitheater which lies directly on the water. The scenic backdrop of the lake will provide a spectacular attraction for celebrations such as weddings as well as concerts and fairs. In the winter, it can be con-verted into an ice rink for skating should the lake not freeze.
Another new attraction next to the park is the new theater and community center. In addition to providing additional stage space for performances in and around Söder-tälje, its designed to be a flexible space that can be converted to a party or meeting venue, drawing more visitors to the lake and the surrounding neighborhood. To the southwest of Hovsjö, a series
of co-living housing will be built. Each unit will open up to a large common yard, and will have exten-sive yard space beyond it as well. Due to the prevalence of extended families, these types of housing will be popular to house multi-gener-ational families, allowing them to pool resources to own housing.
Townhouse type housing will be constructed in order to create an extension of the Hovsjö neighbor-hood. In contrast to the existing rowhouse low density housing area, the townhouses will open onto mix traffic streets directly, and will be situated farther apart to create larger spaces that together will con-stitute a common space.
In this new area, small commercial buildings will be erected to allow for economic development from local business owners. The rela-tively small spaces will allow for flexibility of use as well as provide a low ceiling for capital investment; strategies which are more suited to the immigrant-majority population in the neighborhood.
The main street of Björnövägen will be transformed into a dense urban thoroughfare flanked by new apart-ment blocks. These new apartapart-ments will be up with commercial spaces on the first floor to allow for retail usage. The interior of the blocks will convert the existing un-used public good to private goods while still open to the public to transit thru.
At the center of the transformed Björnövagen will be the new small urban park Björnparken. At ap-proximately 4800m2, the park will
offer an excellent space for social gathering and activity for the near-by dense apartment housing. Sur-rounding by retail options, it will see more round the clock occupa-tion than the existing green spaces.
The tops of current parking lots at the far north and south sides will be converted into garden terraces that will support townhouse type hous-ing. This conversion creates new private spaces that are observed and well maintained and break up the large concentration of common and public goods that lie between the apartment blocks.
Sections and Wider Context
Regi onal C ity-Wi de N eighb orhood Scale of AttractionConcerts can also be staged at the amphitheater. This will bring the widest scale of attraction as music lovers and fans will attend from all over Stockholm. They will be exposed to the new Hov-sjö and see its new, beneficial relation to the nat-ural spaces around it, countering Hovsjö’s current narrative of urban decay and decline
The amphitheater, with its beautiful backdrop on Måsnar-en, can be used as a scenic spot for a wedding or as a a fair-ground, drawing visitors from around the city
On a day to day basis, the am-phitheater can provide a place for local residents to prome-nade and exercise along the newly accesible lake, as well as to congregate or just relax
The existing green buffer space current-ly existing has now been transformed into a large park with many paths that are friendly for promenading and spaces for simple relaxation
The transformed green buffer space also provides room for families and large groups to congregate, draw-ing them into interaction with the nature around Hovsjö
The transformed green space also pro-vides large open ground for children and youths to exercise and play sports which might not have been programmed for in the existing sporting facilities
The introduction of the townhouse ty-pology diversifies the existing housing stock in the neighborhood, drawing in new residents with different life tra-jectories than the existing population, creating a more dynamic area
The combination of the new house types and the spaces in between them also creates possibilities for new associations between neighbors and new activities such as mini-fairs and markets in the lanes that run through the areav
The new Hovsjö theater, scenically situ-ated next to the shore of Måsnaren, will provide an additional cultural landmark to the fabric of the city, and add to the limited performance space that exists in Södertälje.
In addition, the theater transforms to an event venue, linking it to the Assyrian/ Syriac cultural circuit as a space to cele-brate important community events. The beautiful backdrop of the lake next to the theater provides an additional attraction for the community to use this space.
The large stretch of natural buffer space is fragemented by roads and a large plaza that overlooks Måsnaren. The stair arrangement not only bridges the heights between Måsnaren and Hovsjö, but also provide sitting space. A short walk away from the industrial area to the north, the plaza can provide an attractive place for workers to take lunch and socialize.
The square shaped apartment buildings here create a zone of club good with its surrounding garden spaces that is still accesible to thru traffic. Furthermore, retail on the ground floor creates a more diverse street scene and promotes lively foot traffic.
Section B2
Scale 1 : 250
Section B1
Sections and Wider Context
Integration Analysis - Before Proposal
Natural Choice Analysis - Before
Integration Analysis - After
Natural Choice Analysis - After
Wider context
1: 10,000 scale
Two new links to the high con-nectivity road of
Genetaleden
Two new links to the cen-tral axis road of
Nyköpingsvä-gen
In order to introduce diversity of activity into the heart of Hovsjö, a series of small co-working spaces will be installed near the existing apartments. This will provide a space for entrepeneurs in the communi-ty to work at a low overhead, stimulating business formation and employment.
New retails spaces will be placed one the side of the expanded Björnövägen. By keeping these spaces small, they become accesible to the immigrant entrepeneurs, who traditionally have uneven access to credit. The presence of these retail es-tablishments will help make Björnövägen into the central artery of Hovsjö.
The center of Hovsjö will be converted into several large apartment blocks, surrounding a small, block-sized urban park, Björnöparken. This park will take the currently unprogrammed green public good and reshape it into a dynamic and active public square. Surrounded by high density apartments along with copious new retail opportunities right next door, the park will be well-occupied and will feel safe and monitored. It also provides a space for large scale community events, such as farmers markets or night markets, welcomed activites in an immigrant com-munity marked by a strong food culture. The new and expanded Björnövägen will
become Hovsjö’s new spine. Along its side will be the largest and densest housing, as well as a new line of shops to encour-age pedestrian activity. It will also serve as a green belt that draws pedestrians from the existing centrum down to the new district by Lake Måsnaren.
How has Hovsjö been connected?
Cultural Circuit:
4.) Created two new sports facilities with potential for year-round use that will attract users from both within and without the community. 5.) Created a new theater and event venue that adds to the city’s stock of cultural space as well as giving the com-munity an additional space for celebrations.
6.) Created a new urban park in the centrum as a space for large scale neighborhood associations and events, such as
farmer’s markets and food fairs.
7.) Created new possibilites for neighborhood association and events at the small scale by
deploying new typologies such as the townhouse row and co-op
hous-ing.
Spatial Circuit:
1.) Created four new linkages
be-tween Hovsjö and surrounding important axes
2.) Created a grid network within Hovsjö to pro-mote improved flow of pedestrians and increase
density
3.) Created a new “spine” for Hovsjö that links together the old centrum and the
new district by Måsnaren and over-come the confining effects of
the old design
Natural Circuit
8.) Created Eklundsparken, a large green space with several programmed uses for recreation and culture.
9.) Creation of the new district by the lake opens up Måsnaren to the rest of Södertälje by greatly
improving pedestrian access and offering even more activities to visitors.
10.) Transformed existing unprogrammed natural space to create intermediary
natural spaces that are easier for non-natives to approach
and enjoy
Using synatx analysis, we can see how our efforts to change the street system of Hovsjö have affected the overall network. Due to Hovsjö’s original peripheral position in the network, we cannot radically change the connectivity of the whole Södertälje network through our interventions, but we can see that there is minor improvement in connectiv-ity and intergration at the neighborhood level.
Section A1
TRITA TRITA-ABE-MBT-18469
