Social Sustainability
The Institute for Urban Research seeks to consolidate existing research on vulnerable groups in the city, conflicts emanating from ethnic, gender and class inequalities, and conflicts and vulnerabilities stemming from recent immigration.
The current wave of urbanization has given rise to a range of new urban visions that increasingly inform policy-making practices: smart city, resilient city, shared city, sustainable city, etc. What they have in common is that precisely social issues and the place of weaker groups in cities remains underemphasized both in research and in practice. The Institute for Urban Research wants to understand, as an overall research question, how issues of social sustainability can gain a more prominent place in urban policies and urban research. Social sustainability will be placed in a historical perspective since it cannot be understood unless we understand what they build on. Social sustainability will be placed in its geographical context to understand where sustainability concepts originate and in what ways they travel and find implementation elsewhere. In times of increasing urban polarization, segregation and inequality, the Institute seeks to play a prominent in giving urban social sustainability a more prominent role on the policy and research agenda.
Research Projects
Allmänningen revisited [att göra allmänning/ar]
- 2018-2019
- Karin Grundström
Allmänningen revisited [att göra allmänning/ar] is an investigation based in architecture and art. The aim of the project is to investigate historical changes in two allmänningar [commons] and the consequence it has on peoples’ access and appropriation of public places in the current urban/rural landscape. Allmänningen revisited is part of PROCESSES, an exhibition curated by […]
Cultivating Public Spaces: urban agriculture as a basis for human flourishing and sustainability transition in Norwegian cities
- 2017 - 2020
- Peter Parker
‘Cultivating Public Spaces’ is an interdisciplinary and internationally oriented project addressing the potentials of urban agriculture (UA) as a driving force of a sustainability transition in contemporary Norwegian cities. Our major focus is social sustainability, in particular the concerns related to the quality of life and social justice in a compact city. In addition, we […]
Governing private provision of public space: developing governance models and urban design that ensure inclusive, democratic public space
- 2016 - 2019
- Peter Parker
The main objective of the project is to enquire how governance models and urban design can ensure inclusive and democratic public space. The objective is addressed from interdisciplinary and international perspectives. The challenges of the new practice of private provision of public space are studied through the lenses of law, political science, political theory, architecture, […]
Local and regional collaboration in crime prevention – a national strategy
- 2017 - 2019
- Stig Westerdahl
The project aims to evaluate the implementation of a “Methodologic support to the Swedish Police against organized crime locally and in exposed areas”. The evaluation has a specific focus on collaboration with organizations outside the police authority. Researchers from Malmö University work as follow-researchers with various approaches, methods and areas of interest depending on the […]
MISTRA Urban Futures South Sweden
- 2015 - 2020
Mistra Urban Futures addresses one of today’s key societal challenges: How can sustainable urban development be achieved within our planet’s boundaries? Its vision is to create sustainable urbanisation where cities are accessible, green and fair. Its mission is to generate and use knowledge for transitions towards sustainable urban futures through reflective co-creation at local and global […]
Planning vis-a-vis Real Estate Development: a study of the social, spatial and ideological implications of market-oriented urban planning
The wide spread of market-oriented discourses within urban and regional planning in fact suggests that there is an acceptance for the idea that governmental investments constitute a precondition for the private sector’s development. The proposed study aims at analysing the role of governmental strategies, municipal strategies in particular, in providing spaces for private sector investments, […]
