Randi Aleksandra Narvestad Attractiveness and Density A study of the four-family house area Sjøveien Doctoral thesis for the degree of doctor philosophiae Trondheim, August 2006 Norwegian University of Science and Technology Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art Department of Architectural Design, History and Technology Innovation and Creativity NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology Doctoral thesis for the degree of philosophiae doctor Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art Department of Architectural Design, History and Technology © Randi Aleksandra Narvestad ISBN 82-471-8004-9 (printed version) ISBN 82-471-8003-0 (electronic version) ISSN 1503-8181 Doctoral theses at NTNU, 2006:122 Printed by NTNU-trykk Attractiveness and density – A study of the four-family house area Sjøveien Contents Contents............................................................................................................................... i Summary .......................................................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... 1 1.2 A sustainable housing sector ............................................................................ 1 1.3 Aim of the study............................................................................................... 4 PART 1: BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 2 The Norwegian housing sector at the end of the 20th century ............................. 9 2.1 The Norwegian housing situation in 1995........................................................ 9 2.2 The growth of the average housing size ......................................................... 13 2.3 Different types of housing and average consumption of living floor space.... 15 2.4 How the detached dwelling leads to excess consumption of living floor space ..........................................................................................................................17 2.5 The dwelling situation for families with children in 1995.............................. 21 3 The distribution of different types of housing in Norway................................... 23 3.1 The composition of the housing stock in post-war Norway ........................... 23 3.2 The distribution of detached housing ............................................................. 25 3.2.1 The dream of the detached single-family house. ....................................... 25 3.2.2 Is the detached dwelling a traditional Norwegian housing type?............... 26 3.2.3 The role of detached dwellings in the post-war period.............................. 26 3.2.4 Detached dwelling areas at the end of the 20th century............................. 27 3.3 The distribution of vertically, horizontally and cross divided small-scale housing........................................................................................................... 28 3.3.1 Low rise high density housing as the ideal housing for the working class 28 3.3.2 The role of concentrated small-scale housing in the post-war period........ 29 3.3.3 The “dense and low” movement of the 1970s ........................................... 29 3.3.4 Concentrated small-scale housing at the end of the 20th century ............... 30 3.4 The distribution of apartment buildings and blocks of flats. .......................... 31 3.4.1 Urban apartment housing before the Second World War .......................... 31 3.4.2 The role of apartment buildings and blocks of flats in the post-war period. .....................................................................................................................32 3.4.3 Apartment building projects at the end of the 20th century........................ 33 3.4.4 Conclusion................................................................................................. 33 4 Norwegian housing research of relevance to the project .................................... 35 4.1 Research on dense vertically divided small-scale housing ............................. 35 i Contents 4.2 The housing culture of the detached house areas from the 1980s ...................37 4.3 Research on inner-city developments .............................................................39 4.4 Implementing a policy to increase housing densities......................................41 4.5 Families with children living in blocks of flats or apartment buildings ..........44 4.6 High-density low-rise housing, a lifetime or a short-term dwelling solution? 45 4.7 Qualities in future concentrated small-scale housing......................................46 4.8 Conclusion ......................................................................................................49 5 The Sjøveien case study area .................................................................................53 5.1 Preliminary inquiry .........................................................................................53 5.2 Demographic and physical density in the investigated areas ..........................54 5.3 Percentage of children in the different areas...................................................55 5.4 The Sjøveien area as a case for the main study...............................................56 5.5 Background information about the Sjøveien area ...........................................58 5.6 Physical and demographic densities, buildings and building pattern ..............61 5.7 Sverre Pedersen, the area’s architect?.............................................................64 5.8 The four-family house as a type of dwelling...................................................66 6 Research questions and methods...........................................................................69 6.1 Research questions..........................................................................................69 6.2 Case studies ....................................................................................................69 6.3 Making generalizations based on case studies ................................................70 6.4 How should Sjøveien as a case study be classified? .......................................72 6.5 How can Sjøveien be classified?.....................................................................73 6.6 A single case study .........................................................................................74 6.7 Combining different types of data...................................................................76 6.8 Collecting the data ..........................................................................................77 6.9 Initial hypothesis, a necessary guide or an unfortunate preconception?..........78 6.10 Choice of concepts and theoretical framework for the study ..........................81 6.11 Conclusion ......................................................................................................83 PART 2: ATTRACTIVENESS 7 Housing value, housing quality and lifestyle ........................................................87 7.1 Housing value .................................................................................................87 7.2 Housing quality...............................................................................................88 7.3 Eriksson’s classification system of housing values.........................................88 7.4 A classification system of housing values adapted for this study....................92 7.5 Different categories of inhabitants..................................................................93 7.6 The concept of lifestyle...................................................................................94 7.7 Dwelling attractiveness...................................................................................96 7.8 A quantitative investigation of housing qualities ............................................98 7.9 A qualitative investigation of attractiveness. ................................................102 ii Attractiveness and density – A study of the four-family house area Sjøveien 8 Evaluation of housing qualities in five Norwegian suburban residential areas. ..................................................................................................................................105 8.1 The Torvetua area......................................................................................... 106 8.2 The Disengrenda area................................................................................... 107 8.3 The Reinen area............................................................................................ 108 8.4 The Nobø area .............................................................................................. 109 8.5 Housing qualities in the five areas................................................................ 110 8.6 The predominance of practical values.......................................................... 111 8.7 Aesthetic and symbolic values ..................................................................... 112 8.8 Psychosocial values for different household categories ............................... 113 8.9 Conclusion.................................................................................................... 114 9 Evaluation of housing qualities in the Sjøveien