The Dilution of Social Sustainability through the Density Discourse in Swedish Urban Planning : The Case of Västerås as a Mid-sized ‘Ordinary’ City

Sammanfattning: The field of urban planning experiences many trends, social sustainability and density being two of them. While density has been on the agenda before, it has lately become synonymous with sustainability, the social dimension included. The relationship between social sustainability and density has however been contested by many scholars claiming that the relationship is unclear due to the vagueness and that policymakers can adapt the concept in a way that favours their intentions or the dominating urban paradigm. Thus, this thesis provides a deeper understanding of the contradictions and dilemmas of social sustainability and density, and in what way this reflects contemporary trends within urban planning in the context of ‘ordinary cities’. A thematic analysis of documents and interviews was conducted to identify how themes of social sustainability and density have been motivated, as well as the relationship between the two. With private interest being influential in urban governance, economic interests tend to define the vague, and shapeable concept of social sustainability. With that we find that dimensions of social sustainability that concern attractiveness are prioritised, while values of integration, affordability, and equity are not. Our findings contribute by linking social sustainability to the idea of a good city while at the same time allowing market interest to define social values as attractiveness and in the end sellability. In that sense, the market has become an indicator of whether the area is socially sustainable or not. Thus, it is important to define social sustainability and its incorporation in the planning process.