Rosa Danenberg

I currently work as a Postdoc researcher at SLU on the Formas-funded project "Rules and Tools - safeguarding neighbouring green space for human health and well-being” in collaboration with Uppsala municipality and Nordregio. 

Previously I was a doctoral student at KTH division of Urban and Regional Studies where I defended my PhD thesis in Dec 2023, titled "Main Streets as Resilient Public Spaces. Zooming in on ground floors in Stockholm”. 

I also worked as a researcher at the Centre for the Future of Places (research project: public space literature database). 

Alongside my academic research, I have been actively involved in practice through placemaking projects and bottom-up initiatives (such as Frihamnstorget), participation in urban planning networks, and hands-on studying public space. I have also worked with a children’s perspective on urban environments as co-editor of the book The City at Eye Level for Kids.

Key areas of expertise: urban planning and design, public space, placemaking, (retail) gentrification, urban green space, ethnography, mixed methods 

Postdoc research

Formas funded research project ”RULES AND TOOLS – safeguarding neighbouring green space for human health and well-being” with professor Helena Nordh and lecturer Mari Kågström, in collaboration with Uppsala municipality and Nordregio. 

This project focuses on the relationship between tree canopy cover and distance to GS and human health and well-being. We study the 3-30-300 and GYF tool. 

My role in this project involves conducting a systematic literature review, field observations, interviews and writing academic publications.

PhD thesis

In my PhD thesis "Main Streets as Resilient Public Spaces. Zooming in on ground floors in Stockholm” I examined the changes of ground floor retail on four main streets in Stockholm over a ten-year period. I concluded that main streets are vital public spaces but are increasingly shaped by retail gentrification - driven by the pandemic, property owners and planning strategies - ultimately reshaping the character of these streets. 

Publications: PhD thesis, 2 journal articles, 3 book chapters, 5 popular science articles, and 1 book.

At SLU division Landscape Architecture, I have been involved in "Studio Platsen i staden och VK 2" (Studio Place in the city) and the LASU program master thesis examination. 

At KTH division Urban and Regional Studies, I was involved in teaching (course: How to study public space), supervising master students of the program Sustainable Urban Planning and Design and the program Urbanism Studies, and facilitated student-led placemaking projects.