Reading Socio-Spatial Interplay - Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i ...

R E A D I N G S O C I O - S P A T I A L I N T E R P L A Y P A R T 2Oppsal where the family lived before: “the proximity to natureand the tube, the walking trails, the calmness and the wellmaintainedcommon greenery.” They are planning to remain inthis area, but she is hoping that the family soon can afford asingle family house. There are many foreigners in theapartment building that don’t participate in “dugnader”,particularly she bears a grudge against a large and noisyAfrican family downstairs: they make a lot of mess and theydon’t even clean the staircase when it’s their turn. She hasmany female friends living in different places in Oslo, but alsohere at Furuset: Some of them are Norwegian and some arePakistani. They usually meet in each other’s homes ordowntown, but she has also been at weekend trips to privatecabins (“hyttetur”) with some of her Norwegian friends. Shegoes for walks at Furuset every day, sometimes she goes forlonger walks in Marka. In the summer she often goes toSognsvann or Ekeberg for picnic with the family and/or withfriends. She also participates in cookouts at Furuset, but thenmostly with neighbors. Most of her acquaintances at Furusetare either people living in the same building or other Pakistanisin the area. “Usually I shop food at Sultan supermarket atFuruset senter, and in different Pakistani-shops at Grønland.My husband had lived at Grønland for five years when Iarrived in Norway and we stayed there for a few years beforewe moved out to the satellite towns, twenty years ago. I stillhave friends from living at Grønland, and every time when I goshopping there I meet lots of acquaintances that now live allover the city” (#418).At Furuset, most of the interviewed parents describe that their children veryoften are out playing on their own: toddlers in sandpits and equippedplaygrounds, schoolchildren biking around to and from different organizedleisure activities, playing ball, etc. The children get to know each other, andthe parents get acquainted through their children’s friends and activities – orthrough involvement in neighbourhood issues:The parents (#416) of a 5-year old boy with a handicap usuallyaccompany their son when he is out playing. “When I amoutside with my thermos-bottle of coffee, I often meet and talkwith other parents. We have become acquainted with someNorwegian, Pakistani, Kurdish and Vietnamese parents.” Theydescribe the neighbors they meet and discuss with outside as289