Fall 08

Luleå city centre Chances and restrictions of a winter city Jan Welsch ClimateLuleå and Human, swedessn Activity Examiner Ram Pasupuleti Winter 2014

Luleå University of Technology

1 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions

INTRODUCTION Buildings in winter cities are not only supposed to Sources Introduction protect people from the cold. A shift in people’s mind . Chapman, D. (2013). Coastal Luleå, a 60 Degree Luleå’s city centre on a first glimpse has many aspects leads us to buildings that are using the benefits of a cold City, Luleå University of Technology. that are not necessary interrelated or connected. On the climate and help to overcome the disadvantages. In fact . Oldenburg, R. (2001) Celebrating the Third Place: one hand the city centre could be described as the core, the landscapes and the different aspects of light in Inspiring Stories about the "great Good Places" at the heart, of the city, especially when it comes to human northern Sweden are quite fascinating and outstanding. the Heart of Our Communities, Da Capo Press. activity. On the other hand manner and the amount of Furthermore there are many days with few hours of sun. . Pressman, N. (1996). Sustainable Winter Cities: human activity are strongly limited due to constraints. For that reasons it is important that buildings, especially Future Directions for Planning, Policy and Design. public buildings are very bright and let you see the All in all Luleå is a winter city, thus many aspects of Available at: http://ac.els- outside without actually being outside all the time. In this build forms and habits can be traced back to cold cdn.com/1352231095000127/1-s2.0- matter the use of window walls can be the key. The climate in Northern Sweden. 1352231095000127-main.pdf?_tid=91fd9c80- Kulturens Hus combines all these elements and citizens aded-11e3-801f- Goal of this work is to understand the relation of these favour this building by spending a lot of time there 00000aab0f6c&acdnat=1395072342_11424ff5fcd build forms, human activity and the cold climate. especially when it is sunny. e8e3f78b37c79c312f3ec. Build Forms In general the buildings in Luleå’s city centre are not very space efficient as there are few space constraints. One of the best examples to understand winter cities in In the residential areas it is common to use the space in general and Luleå in special, is the Kulturens Hus between of the rectangular buildings for protecting cars. located in the northern harbour in the city centre. Streets, squares and networks Central road and most important link when it comes to pedestrians is the Storgatan. The road goes parallel to the northern and southern harbour. Storgatan is the

central of human activity in the city centre, although the activities in Storgatan are not diversified. People are entering this path mostly from Smedjegatan, the bus stop in the city centre that is also part of line 4, the starting point of our reflections. ¨

Figure 1: Kulturens Hus

2 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions

NETWORK & DESIGN

Starting from Smedjegatan, the central node in the city centre, the design of Luleå is rather symmetric. There are parallel streets to northern and southern harbour and orthogonal crossing paths. This pattern has a big disadvantage as Luleå has to cope with rough winds coming from the sea. Depending on power and direction of these winds the streets of the city centre might become even colder and less comfortable. A further link in winter, and one of the most important peculiarities throughout Luleå, is the ice road. The ice road uses the frozen sea to connect southern to northern harbour and parts of the archipelago. Barbecue places and marked entries empower people to use this road and to be active on it. The next important link is the road on the seaside because it connects the ice road to the city centre and to the Kulturens Hus. Human activity can be find especially pedestrians are common here. In addition to the entry point in Smedjegatan, there are two further entry points or nodes in the city centre. One is the central train station and the other is a bus station where far distance busses arrive and depart. These three entry points build a line. Further entry points are the parking spaces that are located in the city centre. In fact there is a lot of car traffic in the city centre. One cannot find any squares or places for people to relax in the Luleå city centre. Storgatan is a straight road that does not offer pedestrians a place to sit, an outside place to take a coffee or encourages similar social life. That is why the atmosphere in the city centre can be described as cold. There are several shopping malls in the city centre that allow people to be protected from the cold. Some of them are linked with bridges to support the protection. This protectionism can be seen as negative as people are not encouraged to spend time outside but to hide in their houses. Figure 2: City Centre Network

Node Smedjegatan Node Bus terminal Node Train station Link Storgatan Link Seaside

3 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions Methods & approach

Observations As people are a major point of our studies, they should be a central part of our approach. Most of what helped me to understand the city centre were structured observations. To understand the city centre it was important to see how people in the city centre behave in different conditions. These conditions could be the changing weather or different times of the day. Also it was interesting to classify which kind of people can be observed in the different parts of the city.

Understanding the basics In a first part of a structured approach, which was based on human interaction, a map was used to find out which part of the city centre are actually being used by people. With this knowledge it should be possible to further analyse the peculiarities of the city centre. People, in my case fellow students, should show which parts of the city centre they are actually using. Further they were asked to state what they did in the city centre and why they are not using the city centre more often. With this qualitative data the basic structure of the city centre could be explained and some downsides of the design of Luleå’s city centre became clearer.

Specific approach A second approach allowed going further into detail because the focus area of this topic was more specific. This approach has qualitative and quantitative aspects. Also I

Notation System To understand the city centre and all his aspects a notation system after Kevin Lynch has been used. With this newly developed notation system social and strategic important points could be stressed. The specialty about the used notation system is its climate sensitiveness that helps to understand the winter city Luleå.

Figure 3: Questionnaire for quantitative work.

4 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions Analysis & Findings - Observations As stated in the methods chapter of this work, observations can support a better a gap in the middle of Storgatan. People are using Storgatan on the sides next to the understanding of people in a city. Observations can become even more meaningful if shops; the part in the middle is left out. On some places there is an abandoned pavilion you consider variables as weather, time, activities or specifics of people in order to but most of the times this space seems lost for activities of any kind. understand a place. Weather Time How is the weather in a winter city influencing people? It is easy to observe differences It is possible to narrow the time of human activity in the city centre of Luleå down to the in human behaviour depending on the weather in Luleå. A good example is once again timeframe from 10 am to 5 pm. Before and after this time window it is hard to find any the Kulturens Hus. This public place is also used as a library. Some chairs in the first human activity. This time window is similar on weekdays as on weekends what is kind floor are directed towards the seaside and if there is a cold but sunny day you can bet of surprising as people should be able to spend leisure time rather on the weekends. that every chair directed to the sea is taken. But it seems that cold and darkness are forcing people to visit the city centre only in this Unfortunately the sun is a rare visitor in winter Luleå and if it is very cold (<-20) and grey particular time window. the behaviour of people changes. People keep close to the buildings and are moving Another part where it is possible to see a difference between weekends to weekdays is faster on this kind of weather. Furthermore the activity in the Storgatan is shifting into the ice road, where inhabitants of Luleå are much more active on the weekends. This the malls. In grey and cold weekends there can be small concerts in this malls that human activity is encouraged on weekends with promotion actions to rent winter sport create a good atmosphere inside. On the other hand people on the ice road are not very devices like ice skates. impressed by bad weather and it is remarkable how brave people face the bad weather on the ice. Around 4 to 5 pm one can feel a strange atmosphere in the city centre as more people are waiting for the busses to leave then are actually present in the streets. This leads us to the conclusion that this behaviour of protectionism is not necessary but there should be some incentives that motivate people to spend time outside in the Activities actual city centre. In the Storgatan, the human activity is very limited. As stated above there are no places where people can sit and relax. Incentives to use the Storgatan in a different way than to go shopping are rare. Only in the park on the other side of the Stadshus, an ice sculpture has been built and encourages kids to slide on it. Moreover you can observe

Figure 4: Ice fishing on a cold day Figure 5: Ice sculpture in City Centre

Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions A limited city centre?

As mentioned below, the kinds of human activity in the actual city centre are very limited. Moreover I felt that the usage of space has strong boundaries. That is why I asked fellow students to mark on a map where exactly they have been going when they went to the city centre. Furthermore some general questions have been asked to understand the usage pattern of the city centre. The results of the marked maps are combined in the map that you can observe to the right. There are some boxes of different human activities but no combined box and no common atmosphere.

Results The results of thirteen participants are supporting the view that the use of the city centre is very limited. The Smedjegatan is the central entry point for all participants and the Storgatan is basically all what they visit in the city centre. The ice road has been used on several occasions but if people go to use the ice road they tend to go directly there and not to spend time in the city centre. Also the purpose of their visits was most of the times clearly defined. The two dominating patterns were shopping and using the ice road or visiting a night club. Only one out of thirteen persons stated that he had visited the city centre to spend leisure time due to an action in the Storgatan. The reason is clearly that there are no incentives. The design of the city centre is goal oriented. If you need to go shopping you go directly to the shops if you want to spend time on the ice road you go directly there. There is nothing that encourages people to spend leisure time.

Arising questions The results of this qualitative research are not really satisfying as the limitation of the city centre cannot be explained in detail. What exactly is building this single minded atmosphere and could it be avoided? Is there a way to encourage people to expand the use of the city centre? All that questions cannot be answered just now but it is fair to answer the heading question of this page: Yes, the city centre is limited. This limitation is defined by the kinds of human activity that can be observed in the city centre and the space that is being used.

Figure 6: Activity Map

Activity Box – Shopping

Activity Box – Ice Road

Activity Box – Kulturens Hus (Library)

Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions Notation System In order to understand the different aspects of our winter and summer times. As differentiator works about the most important links in the network. studies in a better way, a notation system with snow and ice that can open new roads, close others Second the winter and summer barriers give you a references to Kevin Lynch’s system has been used. and can form new landscapes. new perspective. On the one hand winter can remove The aspects of our study area in which we have Three aspects of the notation system have been some barriers. On the other hand some barriers are special interest are human activity, build form and especially valuable when examining Luleå’s city permanent and this can give you information. climate and the interrelations of these three aspects. centre. Last but not least the climatic aspect of this notation The specialty of this newly developed notation system First of all roads have to be classified after system helps to understand places like the ice road in is the climatic aspect. The system uses signs in importance in three categories. This makes you think a better way because all aspects of it can be covered.

Figure 7: City Centre Notation System References:  Chapman & Pasupuleti R. (2014). Climate and Human Activity – Slides, Luleå University of Technology.  Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the city, MIT Press.

Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions Borders & Focus Area

Borders Focus Area Throughout my observations of the city centre I have in many cases found the limits of In order to study how these borders are influencing people and what the implications for the city centre considering usage of space. The notation system has helped me to human activity behind the borders are, a study area next to one of the borders has been identify these borders because I actually reflected about where the limits of the city chosen. The aim is to show what kind of human activity can be found in this part of the centre are located. As a result I found that the two crossing streets of Storgatan town, how the build forms differ from the rest of Luleå’s city centre and whether or not Radshusgatan and Kungsgatan are bounding the usage of the city centre. These two this part could be connected to the rest of the city centre routes are limiting the city centre because of car traffic. People have to wait to cross the streets. These crossings can take time and any relaxed atmosphere vanishes. The borders are even stronger in winter when snow and ice transform to mud on the streets because of the car traffic.

Figure 8: End of pedestrian way at Kungsgatan

Figure 9: Kungsgatan

8 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions Three Axis

Detailed Notation System The map below shows my focus area in a more detailed way. As a result of this notation we can take away that the park in the middle of this area is a gathering place. The Norrbottens museum that is located in this park can be seen as a landmark. Thus this park is likely more important than first assumed. Furthermore the ice road has some possible entry points on the backside of this area. In the roundabout of the park there are several schools. Coming from the ice road the first building is an ancient building of the municipality. According to my observations the entry point at the north harbour that is marked with a much bigger arrow is the main entry point to the ice road. It is to examine why few people are using different entry points as the ice road can be entered at basically every point.

Figure 11: Map with axis. Three axis People shall be supported to use this area so that the city centre of Luleå can be prolonged. It would be nice to encourage people to walk around in this area so health and atmosphere in Luleå can be improved. It is necessary to give people an incentive to walk but first of all it would be nice to find a connection in this area that could be strengthened. The actual walking path of people as it is at the moment can be observed on the northern harbour next to the ice road and through Storgatan. This is the basis for finding a connection. Three axis have been found that could be connected and linked to define a whole pathway. Green Axis: connect parks with paths. Maybe families with children can be motivated to use the path from Radshus to Norbottens Museum if the kids can play in the parks. Unfortunately there is some car traffic in the Stadshusgatan in the middle of this way. Blue Axis: The opportunity to lead people from the north harbour and the entry to the ice road further is lost because the beach promenade is not very nice. White Axis: People using the ice road could be encouraged to enter the city centre Figure 10: Detailed Notation System coming from the sea.

9 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions Another weak spot is where green and blue path are becoming a unit. There is no actual connection yet.

Results of the Questionnaire Creating a path Twelve participants answered questions that are related to the weaknesses of the proposed walking path. The research was done in the park around Norrbottens museum In order to establish a concrete path that goes all around this quarter of the city, we first because there was the highest human activity. have to find the weak spots in this path as it is now. Two methods help to find this weak spots: One is to observe where people might not be able to follow the path or where the Reason for being in the park design of the path does not encourage people to walk further. Second method is to ask people how they are actually using the focused part of the city. I used a questionnaire with a semi quantitative approach to discover some issues. Leisure time Crossing Observations Museum Meet People Walk

Below you can find the number of usage per week per peson of the ice road and the jogging path at Gultzaudden.

7 6

6 5 5 4 0 0 4 1 to 3 3 1 to 2 3 3 to 5 2 2 3 or more more 1 1 0 0 # use of the ice road # use of jogging path

It has to be added that all participants are living in residential quarters next to the park. Figure 10: Point of view at Seaside. So apparently the park is not very attractive for people that are not living right next to One weakness of this path is the seaside of Luleå. People are using the Ice road and the park. next to the ice road there is a public place, the Norrbottensteatern. But if one walks a Furthermore I asked the people to show me where exactly they are entering the ice little further the seaside is not very promising. An investment would be needed to road as the ice road is good used. More than half of the people who are using the ice encourage people to continue walking. Also the connection of the two parks, so to say road are entering the road on the big entrance at the northern harbour. Considering that the green connection is not visible. most of the people live in the residential quarters quite far away from that entrance On the backside of my focus area there is one entrance to the ice road where mostly these results are surprising. cars of the community are entering. People would need an incentive to enter the ice Another point that is worth mentioning is that all of the three people who stated to spend road just here. leisure time in the park were families with children. This could be used to strengthen the green axis.

10 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions Inferences

First part Analysis of the three axis walking path The first part of my project work had the aim to understand the city centre as it is used A short SWOT Analysis of the Axis idea shall summarize why this concept could create now. Take away message in this part of the work are: a connection and what the obstacles to overcome are. . The city centre is limited in space STRENGHTS WEAKNESSES  Investment needed to improve . The city centre is limited considering human activities Internal  The existing human activity is used design . The activities in the city centre are limited in time and extended  Some paths are already built and  Incentive needed to walk the path . There are borders that define this box used (Gultzaudden jogging path…)  The green axis has to handle with a traffic road . The borders are roads and constrain pedestrian life because of car traffic

. Some borders are removed in winter . The ice road supports human activity OPPORTUNITIES THREATS  Intersections between paths . The ice road is used as a winter road  Swedish like to spend time outside

External  The ice road is accessible  Human activity in the actual city . Buildings like the Kulturens Hus are using the strengths of a winter city while everywhere centre could be lost protecting people from the weaknesses  Ice road makes Luleå special . Nevertheless protectionism is a used pattern in Luleå  Especially Families with kids could . Ice blocks, ice sculpture and slides show how the climate can be used to be encouraged to spend leisure time create a better atmosphere . Gathering places are rarely spread and there are few places to actually sit and relax in the city centre In order to make this concept useful it is necessary to think closely about how the places are used at the moment so people can be encouraged to expand their activities. Second part The second part of this project has a more defined focus area right next to one of the borders at Radshusgatan. The park in the middle of this city centre, where the Norrbottens museum is located, takes an important part in this part of the town. Together with the jogging and barbecue places at Gultzaudden this is the only spot where people are gathering and human activity is observable. In order to support human activity in my focus area, the design of some places should be improved. A connected path that goes on the outside of this part of the city could encourage people to take a longer walk and could enhance satisfaction and atmosphere in Luleå. To find a possible connected path it could be useful to think about three axis: green, blue and white. Partly these axis are already recognizable but in general there are only some similar units in different places in the city that need to be connected.

Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions In a nutshell this path needs first to be visible so people can actually follow the connection. Second it is necessary that people will be rewarded for their effort and there will be nice places that are worth the walk. Proposal Visibility Is it feasible for people to walk this path, even if they are not aware that there might be a Focus of my design proposal shall be the green axis that has been analyzed. This axis connection between has a lot of potential as it can use human activity in Storgatan the most important road these two parks? To in the city centre. On the other hand there is no real connection at the moment and the answer this question you Radshusgatan is a major obstacle that has to be overcome. can simply walk from one park to the other. Green Axis in detail What you will see is the In order to make a good design proposal it can be valuable to go one step back and to following (the arrow look at the green axis in more detail. indicates where in this map you can find the matching view; the picture has been taken in direction to the park of Norrbottens Museum) This point of view shows us that the visibility of a connection is not given in our case. In fact if you do not know that this path will lead to a park you would not guess it. There are neither signs that tell us something nor lights that could help Figure 14: Point of view us to find the way. My research in the park indicates that not many people who are not living next to the park are spending time there. One of the reasons is in my opinion the missing visibility. It is kind of a marketing issue. Also a further connection or even walking path from the park to the sea is missing. It looks like the path was ending with the ancient building of the municipality. References:  Gehl, J. & Gemzoe, L. (2000), New City Spaces, Danish Figure 13: Highlighted map. Architectural Press. The original idea was to connect the two parks (marked in green). Further a connection from Storgatan all the way to the sea or ice road in the eastshould be build. On their way from the actual city centre to the ice road people would see first the park next to the Stadshus with an ice sculpture. Next attraction would be the park around the landmark Norrbottens museum. And finally it could be possible to continue walking passing a building of the municipality with a smaller statue in front of it.

12 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions Improve gathering place As mentioned above people want to be rewarded for their effort to walk the path. Currently the park offers a little statue, a self-made ice rink for kids and a barbecue place. Here we can use our inside that especially families with little kids are using the Design Ideas park to spend leisure time so we have to offer them some attractions like an improved ice rink or an igloo. Moreover we know that in the city centre the places to sit and relax Improve visibility are very limited. By building benches and attraction for kids we use our knowledge and create a comfortable atmosphere by improving the gathering of people. A pavilion in the middle of the park can protect people from the cold and the big stairs that are working with water in the middle and on top encourage people to go up. Maybe one part of the stairs can be used for skating to support another activity.

To improve the visible connection one focal point shall guide people coming from the Stadshus or Storgatan to the park around Norrbottens Museum. Another Landmark could be built on the backside of the building of the municipality. That way people coming from the sea could see it and people coming from the park would continue their walk. The Landmark had to be quite high to tower the building of the muncipality and guide people. Another possibility would be to move the building of the municipality backwards and build a bigger landmark next to it.

Focal point The archway below that has been drawn with sketch up can lead people and can help to build a connection. On either side of the way that leads Figure 116: Sketch up view on new park. towards the park little statues are showing the way. In winter this could be ice sculptures. The archway has the advantage that it can be seen from far away but nevertheless it shows what is going on below it.

Figure 17: Sketch up different angle on park. Figure 15: Sketch up view on archway. 13 Luleå City Centre – Chances and Restrictions