Framtidens trafiksystem? : Maktutövningen i konflikterna om rummet och miljön i Dennispaketets vägfrågor

Sammanfattning: The traffic- and environmental situation in Stockholm has for several decades been a constant source of controversy and debate. During the 1990's, the main focus of these discussions was directed at the Dennis-package (Dennispaketet). The Dennis-package was the result of political negotiations between the Social Democrats, The Liberal Party and theModerate Party in the Municipality and the County Council of Stockholm. The aim of the project was to improve the environmental situation in the region, to raise the accessibility, and to improve the conditions for development of the region. To fulfil these aims, the negotiating parties agreed on a number of infrastructure investments, for example the construction of a Ring Road around the city, an Outer By-pass Route in the outskirts of the densely built parts of the region, the introduction of road tolls to fmance these large new roads, and, furthermore, large investments in the system of public transportation.The Dennis-package gave rise to deep controversies that characterised the public debate and the politics in Stockholm for several years. This study is a documentation of the fascinating course of events in the project from April 1990 to February 1997, when the Swedish Government finally decided to stop the project. The focus of this study is directed on the multitude of spatial and environmental conflicts that evolved around the roads in the Dermis-package. The aim is to reach a deeper understanding of the complexity, the difficulties and the power aspects that can be stated as general for large spatially and environmentally restructuring projects of our time. The study shows that both discursive and spatial aspects of power exercise were important for the course of events in the Dermis package. Furthermore, clear tendencies are identified concerning how different environmental values and different places and areas in the Stockholm region are given higher priority than others, both in the design and the public debate as well as in the partialimplementation of the package. The study gives clear evidence that issues of environmental and spatial restructuring are never neutral, but issues of deeply political and social relevance.