List of Figures 118

Figure 1.2: Juxtaposition of the old residential buildings with the corn silos (Source: Authorship of Team Ila - UEP 2021)

corn silos form the backdrop to a quaint row of vibrantly colored, historic houses inhibited by warm and friendly faces. The ambience makes one feel as though they traveled back in time to an old Norwegian village, all while being in the heart of the country’s third-largest city. Located a few blocks to the west is the newer, denser development known as Ilsvika. The buildings in this section of Ila look like many of the other concrete residential complexes in Trondheim. The spaces between the buildings feel private, secluded, and disconnected from the welcoming aura of the original housing settlement. Despite the higher population density, Ilsvika’s residents are visibly absent from its many public spaces. The cause of this problem is not just the architecture of the area, but also the influence of its spaces on social dynamics. Nevertheless, the consensus is that the entire neighborhood of Ila is an attractive place to live. The initial exposure to Ila and UEP sparked questions that acted as guidelines for the fieldwork. What are the problems in Ila? How can the UEP approach be tailored to suit the designated project context? What do the residents of Ila want? How can the project team make use of existing resources for the benefit of Ila? What external factors should be accounted for when facilitating development? And finally, what can other neighborhoods in Trondheim learn from Ila? This report details how the project team used the UEP approach to guide its exploration and experimentation in Ila. It explains how opportunities in the neighborhood were identified through citizen participation and how a framework was developed to enhance community cohesion by magnifying existing strengths.