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Social reproduction is a multifaceted concept that encompasses the practices, processes and places through which individuals and societies reproduce themselves. This thesis examines social reproduction by looking at restorative and relaxing practices and place experiences – what I dub re-creation – in urban parks in Stockholm. It traces how different park planning ideals regulate the practices that support individuals’ social reproduction. The study contrasts modernist parks of the early welfare era (planned throughout the 1930s and 1940s) to contemporary neoliberal, compact city parks (planned over the past two decades), using interviews with 34 park users in western Kungsholmen, as well as an analysis of planning documents and interviews with planning officials. 

The findings suggest that re-creation in parks involves long walks in nature-like parks that enable reflection, rest, and reproduction necessary for work and other obligations, which can reinforce dominant capitalist social relations. However, re-creation practices are also used to find relief from headwork and social media compulsions. Furthermore, a sense of self is supported by the affectionate bonds that park users develop with various features of the park environment. 

The study shows that modernist parks are designed to be interconnected and emulate regional landscapes and nature, and are regulated for active re-creation, while compact city parks are more constructed, programmed and delimited by city blocks, with regulation focused on specific activities that emphasize “city life”. The modernist parks are invariably appropriated for re-creation. By contrast, the current trend towards attracting more visitors, activities, and functions in parks, which decreases and fragments park space, compromises re-creation and risks making this form of social reproduction increasingly insecure as urban densification continues. 

By showing how different park planning ideals influence re-creation practices, the study provides insights that can inform a more nuanced approach to park planning supporting diverse reproductive practices. In particular, the study underscores the need to ensure that parks provide interconnected spaces for active as well as inactive re-creation practices, and that allow individuals to reflect, relax, and reproduce.