The purpose of this project is to create awareness and discussion about gentrification and to explore what role art plays in urban development. How can we use art and artistic processes in city making and in public spaces as a way of raising important social, political, and economic issues and developing a new understanding of built environments? How can art and urban development contribute to more equal, inclusive, and democratic societies?

Plants are a central part of making an area more vibrant and inviting, and an important element in the gentrification process. Because of this, they symbolize transition and change; social, economic, and cultural. The plants also represent the human aspect of gentrification. Houseplants are not something one would normally see in these industrial areas; they usually arrive first when people move into the area. When the old buildings are being demolished, new private apartment complexes are built and the people who used to live and work there, most likely, no longer can afford to do so. The plants, therefore, function as supporting actors in the development of the urban areas.  

Daniela Björkenstam Stenbäck’s works are based on spatial and material experiments in relation to places and to context. She explores how humans relate to physical environments and how we navigate different spaces.