Many suggestions for making Näsby more sustainable

In a long-term perspective Kristianstad municipality wants to develop Näsby. The aim is to have a new vision for the area with a more sustainable - and coherent - Näsby.

– For example it's about planning for pre-schools and other municipal facilities, as well as shops and offices, says Maria Asklund, who is responsible for planning social sustainability.

– We are working to create a more attractive housing milieu in the area, and provide conditions for various social projects. This includes creating leisure activities for children and young people, for example, finding ways of keeping people busy and developing their skills, she says.

Annika Olsson is in charge of the project.

– There's a risk that we get in a list of all sorts of things, we can't promise to do everything. But we'll try to carry out some of the suggestions from the children already this summer, she says.

Officials from the municipality have been at Gamlegården and at Kb Mosaik on a number of Thursdays this spring. There they have been able to talk to people inside the shopping centre to pick up suggestions and ideas for improvements.

The officials have met young people at After School, girls at the youth centre and women on maternity leave who are studying Sfi at Familjeservice.

How can we plan our district's development to make it more durable, robust and attractive?

_ If an area of a town is to be lively and function along with the rest of the town we must take an overall view (a holistic view? )to reach a better balance between housing and the service facilities that are required, says Karl Rönkkö, a researcher in public influence at Högskolan Kristianstad.

– The atmosphere here in general in the area is international, and I believe this is a quality that ought not to be forgotten.

– Where else can you find the kind of life there is here? There's something different here, and I interpret that as being positive, he says.

Children and young people ask for more, and newer, types of activity such as outdoor ping-pong, an artificial grass playing-field, dancing, swings, trampolines, a ground-level labyrinth, a fountain in the park, and music.Residents and people who work in the area would like secure places to get together, activities for women and children, ,more colour and flowers, sheltered places to sit and various steps to ensure better traffic safety