Intent and Effect: A Study of the Decision-Making Documents Behind the Redevelopment of Slussen

As part of the ArkDes Fellowship 2020, three fellows were invited to carry out interdisciplinary research during a six-month period on the theme Our Living Environment.

The call attracted 75 applicants from a range of fields including research, practice, art, and communication. An international jury selected Katja Rosenlind, Andrea Luciani, and Camilla Schlyter, who each spent six months at ArkDes exploring current challenges and opportunities in our urban environments and developing new knowledge to support the designed living environments of the future.

Katja Rosenlind is a curator with a master’s degree in art history from Stockholm University. She has extensive experience in reviewing and editing the types of documents that formed the basis of her research project, and for many years has helped ensure the quality of policy documents used to support political decision-making in Stockholm’s urban development processes.

Her ArkDes Fellowship resulted in the report Intent and Effect: A Study of the Decision-Making Documents Behind the Redevelopment of Slussen. Through close reading and deconstruction of key texts, she analysed the decisions that preceded the redevelopment of Slussen and examined how alternative interpretations and latent possibilities were framed or excluded. The project offers a deeper understanding of the language used by public authorities and its role in shaping our cities.