The harbour in Arvika is closed down and the industry that has been established in the area is now beeing wound up. A deepened comprehensive plan for the area is under progress in the municipality. The intentions are for instance that the harbour should be integrated with the city and that Arvika is facing a lake should be more apparent from the city center. The harbour should also contribute to a more attractive city. These intentions have hence been the starting point of my undergraduate theses, which has resulted in a proposal on how to develop the harbour.
During the process I have analysed the city image, how the area is used today and the public places in the city centre. The analysis of the city image has been inspired by Kevin Lynch and the analysis of the public places has been inspired by the park characteristics developed by Patrik Grahn. From these analyses I found it to be important that the accessibility to the area should be improved to integrate well with the city centre. This means that the barrier, formed by the railway, must become less tengible and that there is a need for more passages. For this area to be experienced as a natural continuation of the city centre it should contain a mixture of housing, buisness and public places. If the harbour is to contribute to a more attractive city, it must offer something to both residents and visitors. In my analysis of the public places I found that the city lacks of creative playgrounds for infants and areas for activities for older children and adolescents. Furthermore the public places should contain as many of the park characteristics as possible, to offer a wide spectrum of different activities.
In my proposal the harbour gets the same structure as the city centre. The straight streets continue south of the railway down to the lake, so you can catch a glimpse of the water futher up in the city. Since the harbour gets the same structure as the city centre, the sensation of integration is strengthened. In the area is a small residental area containing terrace houses, blocks of flats and a few blocks where there is a mixture of bui...
