En ny urbanitet utanför murarna

Sammanfattning: In this thesis project I investigate, analyze and develop a proposal in order to improve the urban qualities of my hometown, Visby on the island Gotland in the Baltic sea. The city had a major role as a trading port during the 12th and 13th centuries but then had an economic setback which hindered its growth until the19th century. The medieval street network of the old city as well as the old city wall is preserved and marks a distinct border in the urban landscape. Outside of the wall, the city is laid out according to the mindset of the modern era with a lot of space in between the buildings. The majority of Visby’s inhabitants live outside of the wall but in a cityscape with much less urban intensity than the inner city. My aim is to investigate if some urban qualities from the inner city can be used when Visby is expanding in order to create a better and more cohesive urbanity in the outer city with pedestrians and cyclists in mind. I started reading the theories of Danish architect Jan Gehl and applied them in an analysis of my hometown. I then chose a site in Visby near a new developing neighbourhood in the outer city that once was a military facility, but since then has been gradually transformed into an area with a lot of working places. My sketches led me into creating an urban stretch containing new mixed developments around one of the old military buildings that is transformed into a food court. An important factor of my project is the mixing of a green path (that leads from the city wall and out towards Visby’s perifery) with the proposed buildings. In summary, the project discusses the development of Visby outside the city wall in three different scales of transformation: the building, the neighbourhood and the city.