ArkDes Fellowship 2020: Katja Rosenlind

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

Katja Rosenlind is a curator and art historian with extensive experience in reviewing and editing planning documents that inform political decisions in urban development processes. During her fellowship, she studied the documents that preceded the decisions behind the redevelopment of Slussen. The project offers a deeper understanding of the language used by public authorities and its impact on how cities are shaped.

The redevelopment of Slussen began as a technology-driven maintenance project, with the aim of securing funding to restore the 1935 construction, which had long been in disrepair. Only after a flood in the autumn of 2000 did the scope of the project expand. The need to release more water from Lake Mälaren to the Baltic Sea became more urgent, and after 2007, the project became increasingly focused on environmental and climate-related concerns. Until then, heritage values had weighed more heavily in the documentation than other potential values that could be developed on the site.

The study was based on decision-making documents, minutes, opinions, and consultation responses. It reflected social trends and current issues on the political agenda, and how these evolved over time. It also illustrated how the wording of an assignment’s framework plays a key role in determining which values are prioritized. In policy research, the term “framing” is used to describe how a decision-making atmosphere is created—where certain actions are enabled and others excluded. In the case of Slussen, the focus in the documentation shifted from maintenance and preservation to environmental aspects and qualities of public space.