Det uppätna monopolet : Initiativ, inflytande och resurser vid planeringen av kvarteret Druvan genom projektet Mitt I City

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this essay is to examine if the municipality has a real freedom of action to control the use of the land and the shaping of the buildings in a large and prestigious building project. In Karlstad there is now (2006) a large building project in form of a shopping mall. This project is in its final stage of completion and offers me a suitable case to examine. To undertake the purpose of the essay, the following research question is formulated: Do the municipality have a real freedom of action to control the use of the land and the shaping of the buildings in a large and prestigious building project as the Mitt I City project? In an attempt to examine the project and the planning process, three themes are applied. The first theme derives from the hypothesis that the part that initiate the process gets the upper hand as future discussions are taking place in relation to the original ideas. The second theme is influence and attempt to examine how and to what extent the parts can influence each other to inflict their will. The third theme is resources and has the purpose to examine if the municipality is dependent on other parts resources to govern. To examine these themes, a number of interviews were undertaken with representatives of both the municipality and the Mitt I City project. These respondents were asked questions to reveal how they apprehended the process. The questions were formulated to correspond with the three presented themes. The answer to my research question is no. The municipality of Karlstad exists in a reality where growth and investments are top priorities and Mitt I City are the only party that can offer this kind of project. The municipality therefore takes a more conservative role, and leaves most of the decisions to the exploiter, Mitt I City.