About three kilometers outside of the center of Kristianstad lies the city’s biggest neighborhood, called Näsby. Näsby has a population of 9000, and here is also the University of Kristianstad. The area is, however, challenged by socio-economic issues, where the living conditions of the residents are lower than the average conditions of the rest of Kristianstad. In an area of Näsby, called Gamlegården, the living conditions have been especially low. The Swedish Police Authority has classified it as a “vulnerable neighborhood”, meaning an area with low socio-economic status but high criminal influence. This has led inhabitants of the rest of Kristianstad to feel like Näsby is further away than it is and hard to reach, and the population of Näsby feels the same about other parts of Kristianstad.

This has led to many efforts from several actors within society to work towards the development of the area, and in 2022 the municipality of Kristianstad launched the long-term project Urban Community Development Näsby (Stadsutveckling Näsby). The project aims to develop the neighborhood of Näsby into a model for sustainable urban development by the year 2037, and is led by an interdisciplinary committee of municipal officials along with residents, NGOs, and entrepreneurs of the Näsby area.

As a part of the project of changing the local view of Näsby, there have been many efforts to encourage more people to visit Näsby. Last year, the bridge for bikes and pedestrians was renovated and decorated with art and lights, to encourage people to cross the bridge more. This was a successful project which has inspired Kristianstad’s activity for the European Mobility Week. To make more people visit Näsby, along with an urge from the local art gallery to reach out to a wider audience, the Municipality of Kristianstad and the Kristianstad Municipality Art Gallery will be a part of the European Mobility Week with an activity called Planket Kristianstad.

Activity Details
Planket Kristianstad is an art exhibition that will take place on Saturday the 20th of September, on a fence that runs along the pedestrian and bicycle road that starts at the aforementioned bridge, called Bangårdsbron. The exhibition starts at the fence after the bridge and continues on the fence along the small road that ends at the tunnel under Härlövsängaleden. Considering that this street can only be frequented by bikers or pedestrians, we want to highlight this road to make the people in Kristianstad feel more comfortable with travelling this road along its bridge, inspiring them to travel more sustainably within the city.

Anyone over the age of 18 will be able to sign up for Planket as an artist, with any kind of art that is able to hang on the part of the fence that is distributed to all participants. There will be a jury which elects a winner, which will receive a gift card at a local art shop, but the artist will also have the opportunity to showcase their artwork in the Municipality Art Gallery of Kristianstad. Visitors will be able to see various forms of art from locals of Kristianstad, and a sports organization from Näsby will be standing at a tent, selling food.The event takes place between 12:00-17:00, and at 14:00 the jury will elect the winner.

As a part of another project within the Municipality which focuses on sustainable transitions and citizen participation on the theme of transportations, and along with the public art exhibition Planket Kristianstad, the Municipality has decided to arrange an art tour on bike. This project is a collaboration with the University of Kristianstad.

On the 20th of September, the Municipality will be hosting an art tour where the participants get to see some of the public, local art works in Näsby and hear the story about them. The tour will start at the library of Gamlegården, an area within Näsby, where participants will gather with their own bikes for a 45-minute tour that ends at the exhibition of Planket. There will be two tours, one at 13:00 and another one at 15:00.

The guided tour is free, and there is no sign up needed, to encourage more people to participate on the day of the exhibition. If one does not have a bike, it will be possible to borrow two from the Municipality which will be standing there ready for spontaneous participants. The Municipality will also provide bike helmets available for all participants, to encourage safe biking.

After the art tour, the participants will gather with a professor from the University of Kristianstad to conduct a survey about their habits of sustainable traveling. This is to create a conversation with the citizens of Kristianstad, to learn more about their habits of sustainable traveling as well as their attitudes towards the topic. The results from the survey will help us further in our understanding of how we can make it easier for our citizens to travel sustainably.