| Summary: | Urban densification and the resulting "Compact City” is often seen as an importantstrategy in the move away from the unsustainable car-dependant society we currently live in and towards a more sustainable future. This is something that can be achieved through several methods, but one that is increasingly popular in many citiesis replacing parking lots in residential areas with parking garages, while building new houses on the suddenly vacant land. This can be seen as a win-win, since it both opens up increasingly valuable centrally located land for development, while also having a positive effect on the sustainability of our urban environment. There have however not been that many studies about the effect and effectiveness of the sechanges. A shortage that is a bit unfortunate, since changes to the way our cities are built tends to be long-lasting and needs to make a city more sustainable, while preferably not making the daily life of its citizens too much more difficult. This thesis studies one case of this sort of densification, in Umeå in northern Sweden, to find out how it has affected some of the residents of the area. It uses their accounts of the ways it has affected them, along with data on the number of parking spots rented out before and after the change to find out how it has affected them as well as what effect the change has had on car usage in the area. This is then compared with earlier scientific studies on parking-related factors that influence car usage and car ownership to study the impact it has had on the car usage in the area. The study concludes that there has been a marked decrease in cars parked in the area, something that was expected based on the data from previous studies, although even stronger than what could been expected. Despite this, those who still used cars said that they did not think that they drive any less frequently than before the change. The study also raises the question about the possible distributive effects of replacing parking lots with garages. If it leads to ...
|
|---|