Reconfiguring Green Space for the Compact City : Uncovering the Ontological Politics of Green Planning in a Deregulated Planning System
(2025) In Nordic Journal of Urban Studies 5(1). p.1-17- Abstract
- Urban planning is increasingly embedded in a neoliberal paradigm, resulting in decentralization and deregulation of planning practice. This affects how compact cities are materialized. However, few studies of the effects of neoliberal planning for density consider the resulting geographies of green space. To address this research gap, this paper explores how the idea of green space is being reconfigured in contemporary planning to enable the realization of the compact city. We draw on studies of the relationality of urban density, and research within Science and Technology Studies on the ontological politics of policy, in a review of planning documents from the 20 largest municipalities in Sweden. Our empirical findings disclose a plethora... (More)
- Urban planning is increasingly embedded in a neoliberal paradigm, resulting in decentralization and deregulation of planning practice. This affects how compact cities are materialized. However, few studies of the effects of neoliberal planning for density consider the resulting geographies of green space. To address this research gap, this paper explores how the idea of green space is being reconfigured in contemporary planning to enable the realization of the compact city. We draw on studies of the relationality of urban density, and research within Science and Technology Studies on the ontological politics of policy, in a review of planning documents from the 20 largest municipalities in Sweden. Our empirical findings disclose a plethora of vaguely defined techniques for green space planning which, taken together, facilitate the dilution of standards for green space provision inherited from the Swedish welfare state. The study captures the ontological politics of seemingly neutral and “apolitical” techniques, showing how they can obscure potential conflicts between densification and green space provision by conceptualizing green space as malleable, non-localized and exchangeable. These techniques open up the use of green planning as a tool for densification in which spaciousness, materiality, history and place-specific values of urban green spaces are overlooked.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1902fd9b-8ff8-4753-bb05-8465442e81b0
- author
- Qviström, Mattias ; Engström, Amalia ; Peinert, Hanna and Pries, Johan LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-03-26
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- planering, förtätning, tät stad, politisk ontologi
- in
- Nordic Journal of Urban Studies
- volume
- 5
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 1 - 17
- publisher
- Universitetsforlaget
- ISSN
- 2703-8866
- DOI
- 10.18261/njus.5.1.4
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 1902fd9b-8ff8-4753-bb05-8465442e81b0
- date added to LUP
- 2025-03-28 19:40:53
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:18:17
@article{1902fd9b-8ff8-4753-bb05-8465442e81b0,
abstract = {{Urban planning is increasingly embedded in a neoliberal paradigm, resulting in decentralization and deregulation of planning practice. This affects how compact cities are materialized. However, few studies of the effects of neoliberal planning for density consider the resulting geographies of green space. To address this research gap, this paper explores how the idea of green space is being reconfigured in contemporary planning to enable the realization of the compact city. We draw on studies of the relationality of urban density, and research within Science and Technology Studies on the ontological politics of policy, in a review of planning documents from the 20 largest municipalities in Sweden. Our empirical findings disclose a plethora of vaguely defined techniques for green space planning which, taken together, facilitate the dilution of standards for green space provision inherited from the Swedish welfare state. The study captures the ontological politics of seemingly neutral and “apolitical” techniques, showing how they can obscure potential conflicts between densification and green space provision by conceptualizing green space as malleable, non-localized and exchangeable. These techniques open up the use of green planning as a tool for densification in which spaciousness, materiality, history and place-specific values of urban green spaces are overlooked.<br/>}},
author = {{Qviström, Mattias and Engström, Amalia and Peinert, Hanna and Pries, Johan}},
issn = {{2703-8866}},
keywords = {{planering; förtätning; tät stad; politisk ontologi}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{1--17}},
publisher = {{Universitetsforlaget}},
series = {{Nordic Journal of Urban Studies}},
title = {{Reconfiguring Green Space for the Compact City : Uncovering the Ontological Politics of Green Planning in a Deregulated Planning System}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.18261/njus.5.1.4}},
doi = {{10.18261/njus.5.1.4}},
volume = {{5}},
year = {{2025}},
}