Kjellson . Dahlhielm . Edblom

Green Grid . Europan 11 . MALMO

design team: Karin Kjellson . Malin Dahlhielm . Anna Edblom . + Europan 11

The proposal GREEN GRID intends to strengthen Holma as an economically, socially and ecologically sustainable part of Malmö - done through improved connectivity, increased urban intensity, and increased urban diversity.

CONNECTIVITY
Regionally it is easy to reach Holma, but locally the neighbourhood is spatially segregated. It has been designed to avoid through travel, as a quiet enclave with few connections to the city grid.
New connections to the surrounding grid will improve Holmas level of spatial integration in the city. It will become a part of daily life not only for its own residents, but also for people living in the surrounding areas. Spatial integration results in increased opportunities for local commerce (economical sustainability) as well as in new meetings between Malmö citizens (social sustainability).
The new city district and railway station in Hyllie, less than a kilometre south of Holma, puts Holma in a strategic location between the city centre and Hyllie. Holma will have better connections to regional and national railways, and local movement through Holma is likely to increase. The neighbourhood will benefit from being passed through, not just passed by.
INTENSITY
The proposal aims to define and intensify public spaces, and to give these spaces attributes for interactivity and recreation.
By turning roads into streets designed for mixed use by pedestrians, bicy­clists, motorists and public transport, local street life can be intensified. Street parking is part of the new and more efficient infrastructure; making in possible to replace two centrally located parking garages with a local square and a local park.
Density, optimization of land use, is in itself economy of resources. In this case, the undeveloped land between existing buildings and surround­ing roads lacks recreational qualities. It functions mainly as a low intensity buffer zone, but can also be considered as a physical and mental barrier.
The seamless city, where one neighbourhood directly connects to the next without apparent boundaries or gaps, has proven to be a robust and social­ly sustainable concept. Streets and other urban spaces should incorporate rather than separate areas. This calls for double-use of Pildammsvägen and Ärtholmsvägen, functioning both as regional connections as well as local streets with space for pedestrians and cyclists.
Proposed possible extensions to the north, east, south and west of current Holma all intend to tie into the surrounding urban fabric and to create new and attractive urban interfaces. Strategically placed commercial areas at street level as well as positions and amount of entrances are parts of the strategy to strengthen public spaces and intensify local city life.
DIVERSITY
Holma has the spatial potential to grow, and can as proposed over time be a community of about 8000 residents (more than twice as many as today) along with new workspaces, commercial areas, and schools.
Today the area almost exclusively consists of residential narrow blocks of three different types; three level blocks with communal staircase access, three level blocks with gallery access, and eight level blocks with com­munal staircase/elevator access. Eighty percent of the 1500 apartments have one or two bedrooms. Two thirds of the apartments are rental flats through MKB, the municipal housing company, and the rest are tenant-owned units through Riksbyggen, a cooperatively owned company. In other words, the diversity within the area and within the housing stock is remarkably low.
The proposal calls for a mixed-use development. This includes larger of­fice buildings in well-exposed locations (mainly in the direction of Hyllie; by Annetorpsleden and Pildammsvägen), as well as smaller workshops and commercial areas. A mix of professionals and local residents creates a desirable context where people meet and strangers coexist.
Furthermore, the proposal calls for multiple users, a heterogeneous mix of inhabitants, diverse life styles and family models. This can be achieved through diversity of housing typologies, possibilities for individualisation and unit variety.
A greater number of property owners, even within each block, is desired as well as a wide range of financial constructions: short- and long-term rental units, cooperative housing and tenant-owned units. Compact self-owned housing units and own-your-own-home initiatives should also be considered as a complement to larger multifamily buildings.
Considering the large amount of conventional one- or two-bedroom apartments in the area, it might be interesting to focus especially on com­plementary apartment types. For instance: compact and/or short-term living in strategic locations for commuters, compact and affordable living for young, single professionals/students, larger units with extensive private outdoor spaces for families, large units for three generation households, apartments with extended service and communal spaces for seniors, and basic generic spaces for different kinds of work-live arrangements.
By offering a large variety of housing within the neighbourhood, its resi­dents have the possibility of moving within the area when life and needs change.
Diversity in public spaces supports local urban life. The proposal intro­duces a park boardwalk, a local fruit park, new community gardens and a new local square.
Private outdoors spaces (such as balconies, terraces, gardens, courtyards and roof gardens) complement