The purpose with this thesis is to understand the relationship between a square’s design and its function as a public meeting place, were Sundstorget in the city of Helsingborg is used as a study object.
The architect Jan Gehl developed a theory of people’s outdoor activities in his book Livet mellem husene (1996). He divides the activities in three categories; 1) necessary activities, 2) optional activities and 3) social activities, which are differently affected by the place’s design.
For a square to work as a public meeting place, its shape, design and function must invite people to stay and take part in its recurring activities.
The dominant square called Sundstorget functioned as a public meeting place between 1901-1966. During that time Sundstorget contained a covered market where the citizens went to buy their food but which also contributed to that optional and social activities developed.
In 1966 Sundstorget went through a drastical change, similar to what many other Swedish squares did at the same time. Instead of functioning as a public meeting place for the citizens, the square now had to supply the growing need of parking places, that was a consequence of the motoring era. After 1966 Sundstorget only functioned as a public place rather than a public meeting place, something which would last until the beginning of the 21st century.
In 2004 Sundstorget was given new possibilities to once again function as a public meeting place when it was redesigned. The landscape architect Sven-Ingvar Andersson who was responsible for the idea of the new square, thought that Sundstorget should function as a front towards Dunkers Kulturhus and that the museum should use the square for cultural events. However this idea does not seem to have worked. Instead Sundstorget is used as a path, where no optional or social activities occur. The reason to this is that the square’s design don’t invite people to actually remain on the square to take part in activities.
The study of Sundstorget makes me believe that the square has a potenti...
