Achieving Social and Spatial Integration in Skäggetorp Through Densification

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines if and how densification as a spatial planning tool can be used in order to improve the social sustainability and the inclusivity and to achieve a spatially integrated built environment in the city district Skäggetorp in Linköping. Skäggetorp is spatially and in particular socially segregated from the rest of Linköping, and the residents in Skäggetorp in general have a low socioeconomic background. The social exclusion is a consequence of the spatial segregation, which makes the exclusion further problematic. The thesis will analyse this through a document analysis of the planning programme for Skäggetorp as well as through interviews conducted with professionals at Linköping municipality working with or in relation to urban planning. The thesis found that Linköping municipality wants to densify the area around Skäggetorp and spatially connect it to the nearby neighbourhoods, as well as create a more mixed city district by adding the city functions and the types of housing that Skäggetorp lacks today. A mix of housing, businesses and offices, along with a diversity in housing types, types of living and tenure forms will create a larger diversity among the citizens in Skäggetorp, which in turn will improve the social sustainability in the neighbourhood. Additionally, Linköping municipality states that public spaces and parks are important to develop as well, in order for citizens from both Skäggetorp and other neighbourhoods to meet.