Stadens struktur : varför och hur?

Sammanfattning: Why do cities appear the way they do? What are the underlying forces that contribute to its built environment and transport system? What/whom are the factors/actors that influence the ways in which the city is shaped? How can the international differences in the shape of cities be explained? The driving forces that shape the city are numerous and complex. City structure, has through the ages, been influenced by new technologies, social agencies and planning ideals. This book, Stadens struktur. Varför och hur? (City structure. Why and how?) introduces two doctoral dissertations, where city structure is analysed from two perspectives. The dissertations consists of both shared and individual material or parts and has a common general goal: to investigate and analyse the driving forces that shape city structure and to analyse how these driving forces manifest themselves in different cities around the world by highlighting international similarities and differences. The dissertations are presented as a series of scientific articles, supplementary literature and extensive empirical material from both Swedish and foreign cities. Lena Eskilsson's dissertation is entitled Stadens struktur - makten över marken (City structure - control over land). Eskilsson's perspective infers that the urban landscape does not arise by itself and that the urban changes we experience are not self-generating. The urban landscape or cityscape is constructed. The intention of this dissertation is to analyse to what degree development control shapes cities' built environments and transport systems. The concept, development control, is briefly defined as the control structure that would include having influence or control over the physical development of the city. Power/control is exercised by different actors. Eskilsson divides them into two categories, viz. private and public sector actors. These actors influence are however curtailed by different restrictions. The dissertation examines the connection between control structures in cities, i.e. the interaction between the public and private sector actors, their restrictions, the scope of actions and the spatial outcome of the cityscape.