Close the gap; exploring evidence based design as a tool to bridge the strategic and detailed planning

Abstract

Cities play a central role in addressing current and future social and ecological challenges. Meeting these challenges requires us to take a comprehensive approach to the planning and developing our urban environments. A challenge in the Swedish planning system is the gap between strategic planning and detailed planning. This gap could hinder positive system effects and limit the potential of planning. Furthermore, if conflicts between social and ecological aspects are not identified and addressed early in the planning process, resolving them later becomes both more difficult and expensive. This thesis explores how an evidence-based design method can bridge this gap. The aim is to develop a framework for planning places based on their system conditions, with the goal of achieving desirable system effects. The design method also aims to foster a deeper understanding of the system by providing spatial insight into potential conflicts between social and ecological values in urban development projects and offering strategies for managing these conflicts through urban design and planning. The method is being applied and tested on a site in the municipality of Varberg, which has been selected as a case study. Several spatial studies are being conducted on the site to analyse its spatial configuration and identify how it may contribute to socio-ecological conflicts, as well as which conflicts may potentially arise in future development. Furthermore, the evidence-based design method is used to investigate the possibilities for mitigating these conflicts while enhancing desired system effects. The design phase involves testing and evaluating different spatial configurations, based on the thesis’s theoretical framework. Based on these evaluations, the site’s spatial configuration is redesigned to achieve the desired effects. This iterative design process contributes to knowledge development by demonstrating the impact of different configurations on socio-ecological conditions. The study results in an evidence-based design process that can be incorporated into the planning of urban development projects, helping to identify contextual design criteria that can enhance positive system effects and mitigate potential conflicts between ecological and social aspects.