STADSPLANERING I STOCKHOLM 1916-1940 En studie av Sigurd Westholms strävan att reformera stadens bebyggelse

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Sigurd Westholms city planning of the built environment in Stockholm. Westholm was the city architect in Stockholm between 1916 and 1940. The aim of the study was to create a better understanding about a specific type of building, the retracted building, that were distinctive for Westholms planning method. The retracted buildings were identified through comparisons of modern maps with historical maps and planning documents from Westholm. To better understand Westholms ideology and the reasoning behind his city planning a study of Westholms literary works was conducted. It was concluded that 43 blocks contained retracted buildings that were built from city plans from the investigated period. The study shows that the reasons behind the retracted buildings is a result of compromises in the negotiations between Westholm and the city developers and the legislative conditions of the time. Westholm wanted to remove buildings that he deemed unsuitable and unnecessary from the courtyards. To compensate the developers for their economic loss he approved of taller and wider buildings out by the street. By allowing taller buildings by the street Westholm, who was inspired by the ideals of the garden city movement, had to retracted buildings to facilitate for air and light to reach the street between the blocks and not just inside in the newly sanitized courtyards. The data do not support that the main reason behind the retracted buildings were regarding traffic. A retraction of the built environment to facilitate for traffic was only mentioned as a motivation in the city plans in one out of the forty-three investigated blocks.