Grannskapstorg som fenomen - med fallstudien Axel Dahlströms torg

Abstract

In the 1940s the Swedish town planning was inspired by the English city development with the concepts of neighbourhood and community planning. In order to promote democratic development and solidarity the ideal would be to create community centers with full service. Community centers are part of the building of the suburbs during the postwar period. The buildings in Sweden from 1940 - and -50s were built with the intentions to be good homes for all regardless of income, class and status. Collective solutions to individual problems were characteristic of the Swedish policy during this time. "The Swedish model" was acclaimed internationally and the spirit of cooperation among trade unions, entrepreneurs, cooperatives and state influenced the model. Four structures were established and provided the foundation for neighbourhood planning: 1. the state housing policy, 2. the increasing local control over planning and construction, 3. functionalism as an architectural style, 4. neighbourhood planning as a model for the planning of the city. Axel Dahlströms torg was built 1953-56 as a community center for the district Högsbo in western Gothenburg. The community center and the houses around were designed by the architects Sven Brolid and Jan Wallinder. Axel Dahlströms torg is a place with historical and cultural value, primarily as a good representative of the architecture and community planning in Sweden during the postwar period. A community center would serve as both a democratic meeting place, marketplace and as a representative public place. Community centers can be seen as a manifestation of how the ideal citizen in postwar Sweden ought to live: modern, rationally and with a participation in society. The non-commercial public space is important for the community center as a meeting place. It is both from a democratic and a historical perspective important to preserve these sites for the future.