Rumslig legitimitet : när hållbar utveckling medvetandegörs

Sammanfattning: The political ambition for sustainable development is dependent on new attitudes and behaviors, as well as new physical environments. Sustainable development has, therefore, become increasingly important to analyze and describe within the fields of planning, urban design, and architecture to contribute to a positive attitude and to gain democratic approval throughout society. Sustainable development was explored through three studies of sustainable energy facilities; looking at space, place, and architectural design.In the first study planning and energy systems (production and distribution facilities) was in focus. This study dealt with the current practice of energy decisions based purely on political will in comparison to the effects on physical environment. The study attempts to illustrate how truly sustainable energy systems are dependent upon ties to space and place within the planning process. This was studied empirically on six comprehensive municipal plans. In these examples large infrastructure policies are emphasized over place-based energy planning, leading to non-sustainable growth. A connection between planning and the spatial placement of future facilities seems to be central to sustainable development. The second study dealt with urban design and the specific placement of energy facilities in local communities. This study indicated that facility placement in the public realm affects public attitudes. Spatial analysis was empirically used to study the location, position, and visual presence of distribution and production facilities in three Swedish communities and all three communities had well-integrated and visible energy facilities. According to the space syntax analysis certain facilities had more potential than others to develop into positive sustainable development icons. This finding further emphasizes that the potential to create awareness for sustainable development is place specific. The third study dealt with the architectural design of specific energy facilities. A theoretical review of previous research showed that the perception of sustainable development does not coincide with the individual experience of a specific representation of sustainable energy. The perception of sustainable energy systems was more positive than the reality experienced in the physical environment. This dissonance suggests that architectural design must play an integral role in the development of energy systems in order for them to be truly sustainable. In an empirical study individuals experiences of an architecturally designed power line compared to their previous attitude towards power lines. The results highlighted the potential to reverse negative associations of energy facilities by aesthetic and place-specific architectural design. A positive perception of sustainable development might, therefore, correspond with a compelling experience and not necessarily with long held attitudes.The theoretical and empirical results presented can be described by the term spatial legitimacy. This term explains the ability of the planning, urban design, and architecture fields to rearticulate physical form and function within a specific cultural context, thus allowing actual experience to correspond with held preconceptions. How communities design affects how communities plan and vice versa. Spatial legitimacy underscores the central connection between placement and architectural design in personal experience. The fields of planning, urban design and architecture have the potential and responsibility to further the field of sustainable development by helping us understand that design is as important to individual response and collective perception as is technology.