Lucy Chen

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suburb ∙ (noun)
“an outlying district of a city, especially a residential one”

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three stripes

The witty three stripes are the base for Melody Farshin’s stand-upp show about the Swedish suburbs. The show is staged in Husby, where Farshin herself is raised, an area which is defined by the police to be Particularly deprived. The title is both a a playful reference to the ”three stripes” of Adidas, a fashion trend strongly linked to the Swedish suburbs, as well as an extremely clear-minded formulation of the struggles of its inhabitants. 

I. MODERLAND 
– your mother’s land 

in this case culture which your parents identify with, 
… but also the land which they had to flee from 

II. FOSTERLAND
– the land where you’re fostered

in this case Sweden, where you’ve grown up
… but also the land where you feel disconnected from, doubted and unwelcome in, despite it being all you know.

III. MILJONPROGRAM
– your physical home

in this case the Swedish million program Suburbs, 
… but also a, by decision-makers, a deeply neglected area which has become dangerous and an end-station for dreams 

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police’s list of deprived areas

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Following the news stream in Sweden, it has been hard to miss the latest version of the Swedish Police’s list of deprived areas (Polisens lita över utsatta områden). All the way from the country’s biggest media houses on national level, to the local news papers– everyone are reporting about it and the comment fields are flooded with unsatisfied citizens. It seems to be an extremely engaging topic which hits close-to-home. 

Criminality + Million Program = Deprived Area? When talking about criminality and the suburbs, it is almost implied that the buildings were a part of the Million program. In the light of the updated list being released, I got curious to how many of the listed areas that actually were built during the record years. 

To me, theresult was surprisingly high; 85% of all deprived areas are built during the record years. In the highest classified areas, the number is as high as 95%.

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