18 November 2009

Urban-life corridors: an explanation

1.
I have been studying Rosengård and its interaction with Malmö, and to some degree, the rest of the world. So far, I have found a perception wall that affects how people perceive Rosengård. A vast majority of the people I have talked to, don't want to arrive in Rosengård, and those who live there, want to move out. It is not a place for arrival. As a next step for my research, I would like to introduce the concept of the Urban-life corridor.



2.
The urban-life corridor is based on the wildlife corridor. Here's a wildlife corridor definition from Wikipedia:


"A wildlife corridor or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting (...) populations separated by human activities (...) This allows an exchange of individuals between populations..."


Therefore, according to an old diagram I made some weeks ago, I will try to establish such a corridor between inside and outside (the currently separated populations) of Rosengård.



3., 4. & 5.
I provide my own definition for the Urban-life corridor, which takes as an important element the results of the encounter of these previously separated geographical areas. I found several areas with the potential to serve as corridors.
I divided these areas into 5 categories, according to its characteristics:


- Rosengård Center, which holds commerce, services and administration.
- Roads: streets and highways connecting and dividing Rosengård.
- Sports areas: they hold a great potential, offering residents a healthy way of entertainment and interaction with neighboring communities.
- Parks: they offer a free, democratic space, which can be used and transformed in endless ways.
- Religious space: it consists mainly of 2 areas, the graveyard in the North and the Mosque in the South.



6.
I found this space to be ideal for my project. Many roads cross here (pedestrian and vehicles), and it connects the mosque with RoCen through open spaces. Since it comes across the main road and has the potential of connecting Rosengård with other populations, it complies with the criteria to be an Urban-life corridor.



7. & 8.
A functional experiment: drawing from Doina Petrescu's text, I want to explore the possibility of introducing new functions to an old space with the intentions of causing new, unexpected consequences.


What new functions? People in Rosengård have a number of assets brought from their homelands: cooking, traditions, skills, and a large etcétera. Hence, this Urban-life corridor can serve as a stage for these activities, and many more.

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