Cramped spaces between buildings

Are my absolute favorite. Old town, or Gamla Stan in Stockholm, Sweden, has plenty of these spaces to satisfy me. There is even one "street" that is barely 3' wide separating two blocks. Its really great. The "new town" is definitely different, and less charming, though still full of people, public squares populated with tent stands and interesting things to eat and look at and buy.

We visited a nearly completely self sustaining neighborhood of Stockholm, Hammarby Sjostad where they use waste to extract energy and use it to power the dwelling units. Every block is structured around a public green courtyard, and diverse living situations are available for families, single people and the elderly. Recycling stations are set up, daycares are available and grocery stores, retail and transportation hubs are nearby, or on the ground levels of main streets. Hammelby, is the ideal place to raise a family. The way people live is clearly considered, as is access to air, light, trees/nature and necessary services. The neighborhood is open, but totally safe, courtyards for kids to play, patches to grow vegetables and recreation areas are abundant. There's a waterfront view, south facing windows, interesting formal characteristics and materials, and on top of all that, it is one of the most sustainable, energy efficient neighborhood that exists to date. It is almost too good to be true, but in Stockholm, it is hard to find anything to critique. Even the outlying suburbs are not slums in any sense of the word. They still have the same basic design principles, public spaces, access to transportation and grocery stores/retail on the ground floors, south facing windows, pedestrian friendly. Perhaps the only difference is the building block's age and aesthetic appearance. The older suburbs are built in the 1960's, slightly date, but still well constructed. Maybe not the most interesting to look at, but still very functional and livable. I was surprised to find a sizable african muslim population living in the outskirts of Stockholm in these older more suburban neighborhoods.

The went to a really cool sky bar to start the night. 360 degree views of the city at night were completely mesmerizing. It was quite a swanky place, so we ended up at a more local and low key bar called Karmen for most of the night, where there were hipster locals and cheap beer.