Free Urban Design And Planning Tips | Urban Development Project Reviews February 26, 2020
Täby urban center alias Täby centrum is the commercial and administrative center for Täby municipality in Stockholm region. It is also a regional integrated transport hub. The urban center is defined by four streets, namely: Biblioteks Gången, Gustaf Bergs Väg, Stora Marknardsvägen, and Attundavägen.
Täby urban center was opened for business in 1968, and has undergone some physical expansion since then. It is a private/public sector investment that is owned jointly by Unibail-Rodamco and Täby municipality.
Spatially, Täby urban center's main spatial features are huge shopping center complex, two squares, commuter train station, and regional bus terminal. These spatial features are confined within Biblioteks Gången, Gustaf Bergs Väg, Stora Marknardsvägen, and Göran Elgfelts Gata. Some few commercial outlets and public buildings are located between Attundavägen and another street called Göran Elgfelts Gata. The urban center is well linked to surrounding residential areas and beyond by a system of pedestrian and bicycle ways through under/overpasses at some points.
We will now describe the above mentioned main spatial features of the urban center and their spatial organization. We begin with the shopping center complex.
Accommodating over 245 shops, cafes, and restaurants, as well as banks, some offices, and other commercial outlets, on an over 78 000 square meters of floor area, Täby shopping center complex is definitely one of Sweden's largest shopping centers. In strict urban design terms, the shopping center complex is an arcade complex alias galleria. As such, through out in this article, it will be referred to simply as arcade complex. It has three floors with a glass roof. The latter provides sunlight into the arcade complex making shopping in there rather exciting experience especially during the dark winter time.
The arcade complex consists of intersecting malls that are bounded by a continuous mass of urban solids that entail various types of commercial outlets. The malls are well furnished with smooth floors, ample seating places, electronic advertising boards, trash bins, plants and flowers in pots/beds, etc.
Spatially linked to the arcade complex by several of the complex's main entrances, are the two squares, one large and the other small. The large square, namely Täby Square alias Täby torg, is located on the southwest side of the urban center. It is bounded by a continuous mass of urban solids belonging to the arcade complex on three sides, and Göran Elgfelts Gata on one side. The bounding mass of urban solids consist of, among others, some restaurants and cafes that have outdoor serving areas facing the square. Also, three of the arcade complex's main entrances face the square.
Täby Square is well furnished with a colorful large children playing area and a fountain as its primary outfitting. Other outfitting include the following.
Trees and shrubs in fixed large planting beds. Circular edges of the beds also serve as seating places
Seating places under sun-umbrellas
Contemporary pure form seating places
Ample bicycle parking places
Dark steel and glass sheds that provide access to a large car park under the square
Black and cream white smooth floor that virtually matches the colors of the walls of bounding arcade complex, etc.
Täby Square has high utilization levels during the day especially on weekends. Spatial activities include, among others, the following: walking, passing through, sitting, talking, eating, children playing, reading, and even lying down on long pure form seating places.
The small square is situated on the northeast side of the urban center. To the largest extent, it is a transit urban space for commuters and other users to and from the arcade complex and the transport hub. Because of this spatial role, the square may be referred to as a plaza by some observers. The concepts of square and plaza mean the same thing and as such are often used interchangeably. However, when associated with modes of transport or individual buildings, the concept of plaza may be given preference.
Like the small square, the commuter train station and the regional bus terminal that constitute the regional integrated transport hub is located on the northeast side of the urban center. These facilities of the two modes of transport are efficiently and conveniently linked by the small square, and a roofed steel and glass pedestrian overpass that spans from commuter train station to the arcade complex. Users from the station using the overpass can move on to the regional bus terminal through one of the arcade complex's main entrances that faces the small square.
The video above presents observer spatial experience of Täby urban center, that begins from the commuter train station towards the arcade complex via the pedestrian overpass. Then go through some of the arcade complex's malls before getting out to Täby Square from where the visual sequence proceeds to the small square, and culminates at the regional bus terminal.
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All photos taken in 2018 & 2019 and owned by
JK Freelance Images
Video by
JK Freelance Productions for Jacob Kimaryo Consultancy
Article describing the video by
Jacob Kimaryo Consultancy
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