The Outdoor Area Implications of Mixed Housing Tenure Initiatives—A Swedish Case in Tynnered, Gothenburg

Abstract

Mixing tenure types is often seen as a means of reducing segregation by breaking up concentrations of poverty. Previous research suggests that introducing new tenure types may also result in homeowners erecting fences and attempting to control activity by public housing tenants in outdoor spaces. These have often meant that tenure mix rather than reducing segregation has instead inscribed it within neighbourhoods. We conducted a case study of a mixed-tenure neighbourhood in Sweden, relying primarily on resident interviews. The results were analysed thematically using the concepts of nested commons, gentrification of outdoor space, and a smorgasbord of places. We found some evidence of new fencing and of attempts to modify shared outdoor area use, but overall, relations remained harmonious. We argue that this was largely because the smorgasbord of places created by the original planners has largely remained intact, and because there were not sharp social differences between the residents of the different tenure forms. Nevertheless, we argue that the outdoor implications of tenure mix initiatives can be crucial to the outcomes of such initiatives, and that they deserve serious attention from policymakers and practitioners.

Keywords

• tenure mix
• social mix
• outdoor areas
• urban planning
• urban green space
• segregation