Märit Jansson is an associate professor working as a senior lecturer in landscape planning with focus on the use and management of urban landscapes. She is collaboration specialist in the theme urban environments, supporting collaboration between SLU landscape and other organisations and actors concerning her own expertise and more.
Main interests are the values of green spaces and their management with focus on socially sustainable urban development. Earlier studies have included children’s outdoor environments in playgrounds, school grounds, and neighbourhoods, children’s and other users’ perspectives on outdoor areas and their management and planning, the benefits of urban open space, effects of densification and perceived safety by vegetation.
Märit Jansson is theme group leader for Landscape Governance and Management.
During 2013-21 she was elected member of the LTV faculty board.
Main themes:
- Management of outdoor spaces: user-orientation, multifunctionality
- Child-friendly environments
- Children's perspectives and participation
- Places for children, such as school grounds and playgrounds
- Planning and development of environments for people: densification, perceived safety, participation, health and justice
Lecturing in several courses, particularly in parts dealing with children’s environments and qualitative research methods, and supervision of student theses to some extent.
Leading and participating in various research projects, mainly finansed by Formas. Currently focus is on outdoor office development, the welfare landscape, densification and sustainable greening of school grounds. Other studies have included child-friendly management and planning, perceived personal safety in residential areas with vegetation, Swedish playgrounds in history and today, children’s perspectives on school ground greening, and the value of urban open space.
From 2022 onwards, Märit Jansson has the role as collaboration specialist (lektor med samverkansuppdrag) in urban environments, with the possiblity to support collaboration between LAPF/SLU Landscape and other organisations and actors. Much of her work is done in collaboration with local governments, schools, organisations, national authorities, housing companies, architecture companies etc - in research projects or in the communication and utilisation of reseach-based knowledge. She is often engaged as lecturer about landscape management, child-friendly environments, school grounds, playgrounds, the values of urban open space, knowledge implementation in design etc.
See also profiles on ResearchGate, ORCID and LinkedIn
Books and reports:
Jansson, M., Schneider, J., Mårtensson, F., Kylin, M. & Fridell, L. (2021). Rum för skolans utemiljö - fördjupad analys krin gyta för förskolegård och skolgård. LTV
Jansson, M. & Randrup, T.B. (red.) (2020). Urban open space governance and management. Routledge.
Jansson, M., Vicenzotti, V. & Diedrich, L. (2019). Landscape design based on research: A methodological guide to design-oriented projects for students and teachers in landscape architecture. LTV Reportseries 2019:10.
Jansson, M. & Klintborg Ahlklo, Å. (red.) (2016). Plats för lek: svenska lekplatser förr och nu. Svensk Byggtjänst.
Jansson, M., Persson, A. & Östman, L. (2013). Hela staden – argument för en grönblå stadsbyggnad. Stad & Land 183. Movium, SLU.
Jansson, M., Bolin, M., Urde, I., Larsson Lindersköld, S., Enquist, K., Fehler, J., Laurin, N., Österberg, T., Karlsson, I., Sjöblom, J., Lemberg, J. & Gren, S. (2013). Hållbara städer – tankar från kursen Stadens utmaningar. SLU, Faculty of Landscape Planning, Horticulture and Agricultural Science, report 2013:11.
Jansson, M., Fors, H., Kristensson, E., Gunnarsson, A., Lindgren, T., Wiström, B. & Norlin, M. (2012). Trygghet i bostadsområdets gröna utemiljöer. SLU, Faculty of Landscape Planning, Horticulture and Agricultural Science.
Gunnarsson, A., Jansson, M., Fors, H. & Kristensson, E. (2012). Vegetationsstyrning för ökad trygghet. SLU, Faculty of Landscape Planning, Horticulture and Agricultural Science, report 2012.
Jansson, M. (2009). Management and use of public outdoor playgrounds. Doctoral dissertation. Acta Universitatis agriculturae Sueciae, nr 2009:46.
Jansson, M. (2008). Kommunala lekplatser i tider av förändring. Report. SLU, Faculty of Landscape Planning, Horticulture and Agricultural Science, vol 2008:9.
Scientific papers published in journals with peer-review:
Jansson, M., Mårtensson, F., Vogel, N. (2024). Developing outdoor spaces for work and study—an explorative place-making process. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities 6, 1308637.
Jansson, M., Sunding, A. (2024). Children’s everyday recreational mobilities–growing up in a densifying Swedish small town. Local Environment 29(6), pp. 705–721
Jansson, M., Schneider, J. (2023). The Welfare Landscape and Densification—Residents’ Relations to Local Outdoor Environments Affected by Infill Development. Land 12(11), 2021.
Randrup, T.B., Jansson, M. (2022). Integrated and long-term approaches to urban landscape development: the option of combined governance and management. Routledge Handbook of Urban Landscape Research, 2022, pp. 11–21
Qviström, M., Jansson, M. (2022). Tracing discourses: Learning from the past for future landscape architecture. The Routledge Handbook of Landscape Architecture Education, 2022, pp. 31–39
Jansson, M., Herbert, E., Zalar, A. & Johansson, M. (2022). Child-Friendly Environments—What, How and by Whom? Sustainability 14(8), 4852
Wales, M., Mårtensson, F., Hoff, E., Jansson, M. (2022). Elevating the Role of the Outdoor Environment for Adolescent Wellbeing in Everyday Life.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2022, 13, 774592
Randrup, T.B., Svännel, J., Sunding, A., Jansson, M., Sang, Å.O. (2021). Urban open space management in the Nordic countries. Identification of current challenges based on managers' perceptions. Cities 115, 103225
Wales, M., Mårtensson, F. & Jansson, M. (2021). ‘You can be outside a lot': independent mobility and agency among children in a suburban community in Sweden. Children's Geographies 19:2, 184-196
Klobucar, B., Östberg, J., Wiström, B., Jansson, M.. (2021). Residential urban trees – socio-ecological factors affecting tree and shrub abundance in the city of Malmö, Sweden. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 62, 127118
Jansson, M., Zalar, A., Sundevall, E.P. and Randrup, T.B. (2020). Governing for child-friendliness? Perspectives on Children as Users Among Swedish and Danish Urban Open Space Managers. Frontiers in sustainable cities. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2020.565418
Sundevall, E.P. & Jansson, M. (2020). Inclusive parks across ages: Multifunction and urban open space management for children, adolescents, and the elderly. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(24), pp. 1–17, 9357.
Jansson, M., Vogel, N., Fors, H. & Randrup, T. (2019). The governance of landscape management: new approaches to urban open space development. Landscape Research 44(8), 952-965.
Fors, H., Jansson, M., Nielsen, A.B. (2018). The impact of resident participation on urban woodland quality-a case study of Sletten, Denmark. Forests 9(11), 670.
Jansson, M., Abdulah, M. & Eriksson, A. (2018). Secondary school students’ perspectives and use of three school grounds of varying size, content and design. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 30, 115-123.
Jansson, M., Mårtensson, F. & Gunnarsson, A. (2018). The meaning of participation in school ground greening: a study from project to everyday setting. Landscape Research
Patching, G., Rahm, J., Jansson, M., & Johansson, M. (2017). A New Method of Random Environmental Walking for Assessing Behavioral Preferences for Different Lighting Applications. Frontiers in Psychology
Jansson, M., Sundevall, E. & Wales, M. (2016). The role of green spaces and their management in a child-friendly urban village. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 18, 228-36.
Morgenroth, J., Östberg, J., Konijnendijk van den Bosch, C., Nielsen, A.B., Hauer, R., Sjöman, H., Chen, W. & Jansson, M. (2016). Urban tree diversity – Taking stock and looking ahead. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 15(1), 1-5.
Jansson, M. (2015). Children’s perspectives on playground use as basis for children’s participation in local play space management. Local Environment 20(2), 165-179.
Jansson, M. (2014). Green space in compact cities: the value of urban ecosystem services in planning. Nordic Journal of Architectural Research 2014(2), 139-160.
Jansson, M., Gunnarsson, A., Mårtensson, F. & Andersson, S. (2014). Children’s perspectives on vegetation establishment – implications for school ground greening. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 13(1), 166-174.
Mårtensson, F., Jansson, M., Johansson, M., Raustorp, A., Kylin, M., Boldemann, C. (2014). The role of greenery for physical activity play at school grounds. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 13(1), 103-113.
Jansson, M., Fors, H., Lindgren, T. & Wiström, B. (2013). Perceived safety in relation to urban woodland vegetation – a review. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12(2), 127–133.
Jansson, M. & Lindgren, T. (2012). A review of the concept ‘management’ in relation to urban landscapes and green spaces: Toward a holistic understanding. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 11(2), 139-145.
Jansson, M. & Ramberg, U. (2012). Implementation and effects of user participation in playground management: a comparative study of two Swedish municipalities. Managing Leisure 17(1), 1-13.
Jansson, M. (2010). Attractive playgrounds: Some factors affecting user interest and visiting patterns. Landscape Research 35(1) 63-81.
Jansson, M. & Persson, B. (2010). Playground planning and management: An evaluation of standard-influenced provision through user needs. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 9(1), 33-42.
Jansson, M. (2008). Children’s Perspectives on Public Playgrounds in two Swedish Communities. Children, Youth and Environments 18(2), 88-109.
Multiple conference abstracts, debate articles and popular science publications.
