Accessibility and Street Layout Exploring spatial equity in

Preface
When I arrived in Stockholm for the first time, I stayed in one its suburban neighbourhoods
for couple of days. The next morning after my arrival, I went for a walk
in the neighbourhood. It was a sunny calm day in late August. The Centrum was
slowly animated by shoppers, commuters, passers by and café costumers. Then my
attention was drawn to the pedestrian paths passing over the street. It reminded me
the illustrations of modern public place as I had seen in architecture magazines of
the 60s and 70s. I had a delicate feeling to see those concepts had been realized. I
imagined that the architect or the chief planner had designed the area with a sense of
total control over every thing and optimist attitude toward technology.
Later during my university courses, I got more acquainted with the formation of
contemporary Stockholm and the emergence of modernist suburbs. We read about
and discussed the outcomes of that era. As an architect who was gradually becoming
aware of the complexity of urban planning, I tried to consider both sides. I
mean origins and outcomes. In the other words, besides the problematic outcomes
of modernist planning, the underlying ambitions created these neighbourhoods are
still respectable and important. To name some: safety, affordability, adequate green
space, fluent traffic and accessible public services. To my opinion, all these attempts
aimed to achieve a more significant goal: equitable welfare which has yet remained
resilient despite socio political shifts. This is one of precious aspirations I found in
urban planning.
In doing this thesis, I was fortunate to have Lars Marcus as my supervisor. During
the whole master programme, Lars has been so influential to my understanding of
urban design. I give my gratitude and sincere thanks to him for all his invaluable supports
and encouragements during the thesis and the master programme. I would like
to thank Daniel Koch who has enriched my work with insightful comments, valuable
references and data. I must also thank Ann Legeby, researcher at Spatial Analysis &
Design research group for her helpful hints in working with Place Syntax Tool.
I am indebted to my friends Aziz Nazary, Vista Goharizadeh and Jaime Torres who
supported me in different ways to accomplish this diploma. Also, I would like to
thank the staff of Architecture Library at KTH for their generous helps and toler-