Transformative landscapes of the Million Programme

Abstract When the Million Programme was constructed in Swedish cities from 1965 to 1974, the outdoor environments were still incomplete sites of construction. Based on national guidelines, regulations, and visions of planners, architects, and politicians at the time, rationalised and standardised outdoor spaces began to take shape. However, these landscapes were soon stigmatised and subject to renovation and transformation. This analysis investigates the transformation and production of spatial cultures of humans as well as non-humans, from when the Million Programme was built till today.

With ethnographic and spatial research methods applied in case studies, the research explores spatial practices, transnationalism, diasporic cultures, as well as the sense of belonging in Swedish welfare landscapes. Further, questions on health, well-being, ecological practices, materialism, collective belonging, and internationalised spaces are studied and how various municipal processes function with (or without) citizen engagement. The study relies on feminist and architectural theories, as well as cultural and social anthropology. The research question which leads the thesis is: “How have residents and other living beings, objects, physical forces and politics of the Million Programme’s transformed their surrounding landscapes since its completion?”.

By presenting an analysis of social, spatial, ecological, cultural, and non-human narratives, this research contributes to the literature on landscape architectural knowledge production and anthropology.