| dc.description.abstract | The Car-free Livability Program has transformed the inner-city parts of Oslo from traffic dense streets to car-free, pedestrian areas. This transformation has been done through changing traffic patterns, removing parking spots and transforming roads and parking to pedestrian areas, facilitating for better accessibility between the city areas and offering better possibilities for outdoor activity. This thesis revolves around craftsmen’s mobility while conducting service assignments in the Car-Free Livability area in Oslo. The aim of this thesis is to find leverage points and utilize them to promote change that could benefit both the craftsmen and the Car-Free Livability Program (CFLP). The thesis utilizes system-oriented design tools and follows a creative framework to answer the research question; What can be done to improve the conditions for craftsmen taking on service assignments in the Car-Free Livability Program area in Oslo, supporting the CFLP transition?
The first part of this thesis, understanding the system, sheds light on the situation in the inner city and craftsmen’s mobility challenges today. It also addresses the theoretical framework on system parts and properties, cognitive biases, framing and leverage levels, as well as data collection. The data collection is based on phenomenology and qualitative in-depth interviews with craftsmen and mobility and urban planners.
The analysis of intervention points highlights different areas in the system with potential to alter mindset, system structure that are reflected in behavioral patterns and visible events. The changed traffic patterns, removal of public parking possibilities, and limited commercial parking situated nearby the assignments have led to increased time use in the CFLP area, resulting in decreased profitability for car-using craftsmen. This has, again, led to frustration and decreased interest in taking on assignments in the CFLP area. The craftsmen’s systemic structure, mindsets and rigidness also have a saying in the reshaping and getting in line with the dominant CFLP system structure. Furthermore, is the oscillation between the systems causing an imbalance due to low number of mitigating measures and low facilitation of good options and alternative ways to conduct service assignments in the CFLP area.
The second part of the thesis, changing the system, revolves around developing ideas and concepts that could change the systemic structures. The proposed concept includes ideas that revolves around facilitating car-free mobility, using hubs, electric cargo scooters, delivery services, and the metro as means to decrease the reliance of the van in the CFLP area.
The concept functions also as a platform to potential cross-disciplinary collaborations. The concepts stakeholder connecting potential can bridge silos, create supportive relationships, and plant seeds for future ventures, that potentially increases the systems flexibility and resilience, especially as the CFLP area is expanding, creating a need for new innovations. | en_US |
