Hur tillgänglig är staden? : fallstudie av Kungsgatan och Föreningsgatan i Malmö

Sammanfattning: How accessible is the city? Is there more factors than merely the strictly physical that affect how accessible the city is perceived? These questions are the starting point of this study. The greatest emphasis, in this study, is placed on the perceived parameters that affect us humans when we move in our cities. Experiences and internal images can change our behaviour and prevent free movement in the city. The result from this study shows that a city can not be seen as fully accessible unless both the physical and the perceived accessibility are fulfilled. A place is created when it is populated with humans. Without the presence of people it is only a space. It can therefore be said that when the physical accessibility is fulfilled, the site has adopted its physical form. The site is accessible from a physical perspective. All the hard parameters are measured and balanced. When the site fills with people it is perceived in as many ways as there are people. All carry their own images and experiences. The human minds receive the surrounding influences. The space has been transformed into a place. The study was conducted parallel with Therese Nieminen, Civil engineer student (traffic planning) at LTH. We have collaborated when selecting the site, during field studies and in many of the methods. Ramböll is the initiator of this project. The intention is to combine expertise from the fields of traffic and landscape. “Issues that is strictly related to the physical environment and accessibility should be broadened and include more of soft parameters, that influence on our experiences and affect our movement in the urban environment” (Melin, 2006). My role as a landscape architect is to illustrate and point out “the soft and perceived” values. The entry point to this study is to examine the parameters that are not included in the travel time ratio model. Travel time ratio is the quotation between the travel time when using bike/train/bus and travel time when using car. Early in the project we realized that availability and safeness basically consists of people’s experiences of places and situations. Therefore, we decided to interview users of Kungsgatan and Föreningsgatan in Malmö. The result shows that the hard and the soft parameters are both equally important for movement in urban environments. This shows that we must make room for the soft parameters in urban planning. Today we often plan with measurable data in mind, as in the travel time ratio model. In this model only distance, time and traffic safety is considered. We need new tools to measure and evaluate the soft parameters in urban accessibility planning. The study begins with literature studies in combination with qualitative interviews with experts. This provides a good starting point into the subject. In consultation with the City of Malmö, we chose, after carefully set criteria, a number of places in Malmö. We visited all places, but finally we chose Kungsgatan and Föreningsgatan as case study. They fulfilled all the criteria; they are included in the main network of paths in Malmö and has a high flow of cyclists and pedestrians. They are parallel paths leading towards the same destination. Their different expressions is important. Kungsgatan is a relatively quiet green path. Föreningsgatan is in comparison, a highly trafficked street. Along both paths quantitative interviews, a 12h study and gate counts was conducted. We also participated in two “safety walks” in Husie, Malmö.The result of this study is an indicator of what is important for cyclists and pedestrians when moving in the urban environment, and what is perceived as safe and unsafe.