Stockholm med modernismen i centrum : Cityomdaningen ur ett aktörs- och ett mediaperspektiv

Sammanfattning: Urban planning is intertwined with societal developments in general, especially aspects pertaining to technology, economy, and politics. Of similar fundamental importance are the values, ideals and visions that inform urban planning praxis in any particular era. The 20th century project of urban renewal of Stockholm city centre, including the construction of Sergels Torg, should accordingly be seen as a consequence of the wider societal flux engendered by processes of modernisation.The biography of a single actor can provide a link between a planning project and the society that constitutes the context in which it proceeds. Therefore, this thesis primarily represents a biography of the architect Torsten Westman, a key actor responsible for planning Sergels Torg and for Stockholm’s urban renewal project in general.The focus of analysis concerns the interactions in society between the individual actor, physical planning, and the media. Accordingly, the biography presented here is subsequently related to certain aspects of this complex historical material. By studying the way in which Sweden’s largest daily newspaper – Dagens Nyheter – and Sweden’s leading journal on architecture – Arkitektur – mirrored the social climate, debate, and atmosphere that coloured several decades of the 20th century, it is possible to situate the biography in a wider context and to shed more light on the question concerning the relative degrees of consensus contra conflict in the planning of Stockholm city.The urban renewal of Stockholm city centre must thus be considered in the environment in which it originated, proceeded, and ended. Only then can the forces behind it be made more evident and understood. Therefore, the principal aim of this thesis is not to relate the historical process per se, but rather to approach and illuminate the planning project from new perspectives in order to better explain its conception and implementation.