Anja Heringstad wrote her master’s thesis on how Tjuvholmen’s surroundings help prevent crime. For that she received 20 000 kroner from Osloforskning.

- The use of signs gives an obvious signal about which people are considered welcome on Tjuvholmen, says Heringstad.

Last Wednesday she was one out of four master’s degree graduates who participated in a seminar at the city hall, arranged by Osloforskning. Osloforskning is a co-operation between the City of Oslo and the University of Oslo. The four students received scholarships because they wrote their master’s thesis about a subject related to Oslo, and they were invited to present their results at the seminar.

- The goal is to increase the interest in research on Oslo, both as a city and as a phenomenon, says the leader of Osloforskning and professor in sociology by the university, Lise Kjølsrød.

Benches control the people

In the fall of 2008 Heringstad handed in her thesis “From Panoptikon to Tjuvholmen – a thesis on the prevention of crime by means of the surroundings”. She found out that the design of the new urban area Tjuvholmen sets clear limits and controls who are considered suitable for staying in the area.

- All the benches that are set up invite people to sit down, but the benches are not for just anybody. The benches cause that people hang around in a specific area, in controlled surroundings, Heringstad explained in her speech.

- The point is that “the good city” is used to prevent crime. The control isn’t obvious, but rather replaced by positive elements like order, tidiness, light and overview. That is non-prominent crime prevention, says Heringstad.

Wrote about Oslo, got publicity

Another speaker at the city hall was Ingrid Wergeland. She received a scholarship for writing the thesis “Political integration among ethnic minorities. A quantitative sociological survey”.

- What’s good about receiving a scholarship is that it redeems students´ time, so a student won’t need to spend time on part-time work. In stead the student can focus on his or her studies, says Wergeland.

A consequence of her thesis was that she was contacted by the editor of the magazine “Prosa” and wrote reviews on Afshan Rafiq and Abid Q. Raja´s books. Wergeland also, along with her supervisor, wrote an article that was closely related to her thesis, and was published in “Samtiden”.

The arrangement is organized so that the student receives half the amount of the scholarship immediately, and the rest when the thesis is handed it.

- I would have handed in my thesis even without economical support, but sure, it was an extra motivation, says Heringstad.