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SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN MALMÖ – AREA BASED INITIATIVES AND
ROM
Malmö is dealing with many issues
similar to those faced by many other European cities, as it undergoes a
relatively fast and dramatic change from provincial Swedish industrial town to
cosmopolitan knowledge-based city. This change is not without
problems, but at the same time it offers Malmö huge opportunities.
The industrial base of the city disappeared in a short
space of time in the 1980s, followed by a large immigration into the city as a
result of the collapse of the Berlin wall and the conflict in the
Balkans. This has resulted in a Swedish workforce with redundant skills and a
large disenfranchised immigrant community. The struggle to develop the city’s
potential in this new situation has not borne fruit with sufficient speed, and
despite a decrease in unemployment rates there are still pockets of very high
unemployment, usually coinciding with areas of high immigrant population. Even
though there are skills within these areas that correspond to needs in the
labour market, there are still too many institutional and cultural barriers to
allow many people from ethnic minority backgrounds to break into the labour
market. There is a significant danger of a second generation growing up in the
city with few local or family role models and limited prospects to participate
in economic and community life.
Many of these areas of greatest need are located in
post-war housing areas in the city. Whilst housing standards are, from a
European perspective, high, there are still significant problems with the
living environment in these areas, which reflect some of the problems in the
social environment. These peripheral neighbourhoods suffer often from a poor
image, limited access to service, high-energy consumption and sometimes-poor
communications with other areas of the city.
At the same time, Malmö has committed itself to high
environmental targets, and whilst progress has been made, significant
challenges still remain in the fields of transport, energy, biodiversity,
land-use management etc.
New areas of housing, cultural and economic activity are
also under development in the city, as demand for housing increases, new
businesses start and companies with a base outside of the region relocate or
establish new offices in Malmö. The Western Harbour offers opportunities for locating
many such initiatives, but there is still pressure for development on the rich
agricultural land surrounding the city.
As the city attempts to utilise urban brown field sites,
increase urban density, provide new affordable housing, maintain viable
communities and attractive living environments and generate a vibrant cultural
life there are many contradictions and difficulties to deal with. Two areas
have been the focus of particular activity in addressing a broad agenda for
sustainability.
THE WESTERN HARBOUR: CITY OF TOMORROW
City of Tomorrow is an entirely new district in
the Western Harbour with 700 apartments as well as
offices, shops and other services.
The district has become an internationally leading example
of sustainable urban construction. It has become a driving force in Malmö's development towards environmental sustainability
and is setting the standard for the further development of housing and
high-tech industry in the former industrial harbour area.
A quality programme consensus document and a
ground-breaking urban plan set the stage for a cutting-edge development on the
sea front overlooking Copenhagen and Malmö’s
popular beach near the city centre. High demands for material use, energy
efficiency, green space and biodiversity, car-free planning etc have created an
environmentally efficient housing area. The unique and innovative 100% locally
renewable energy system designed and built by Sydkraft
has won international acclaim as a watershed in sustainable energy systems.
In the continued development of the Western Harbour there is a need to maintain and
develop the environmental planning and functioning of the area, to attract more
modern businesses to the district, provide more local services, shops etc and
create improved opportunities for affordable housing. There is also a need for increased dialogue
with local people and businesses in this continued development.
AUGUSTENBORG
ECO-NEIGHBOURHOOD (EKOSTADEN AUGUSTENBORG)
Ekostaden Augustenborg
is a programme to make Augustenborg into a more
socially, economically and ecologically sustainable neighbourhood. The Ekostaden
initiative has been developed as a partnership between several departments in
the City of Malmö, the MKB Housing Company, local
schools, businesses and local inhabitants.
Since 1998, Augustenborg has
been undergoing a transformation from a forgotten or notorious neighbourhood to
a flagship of sustainable urban renewal.
Groundbreaking initiatives to tackle flooding through the creation of
green roofs and open rainwater systems; innovation in public transport and
community-run eco-car-pools; building and green-space renewal to decrease
energy and increase amenity and biodiversity; and a major programme to recycle
over 70% of waste have all combined to demonstrate the feasibility of having an
environmentally friendly habitat in a post-war housing area. A second phase of
the project is currently under development and is based on the ideas of local
residents as well as being partly inspired by the Western Harbour development’s success in
decreasing energy use and increasing renewable energy production in the
neighbourhood.
Ekostaden has also worked closely with
other local initiatives such as the EU financed URBAN programme and a national
Social & Economic Development Programme. These initiatives have started to
work together with local people to tackle local socio-economic problems and
some progress has been made.
Unemployment is falling significantly, there are no more empty
apartments in the neighbourhood and it is increasingly being seen as an
attractive area to live.
In Sweden there is a high degree of
autonomy for the local authorities and a limited tradition of working in
partnership. The local development partnerships have been interesting
initiatives from this perspective. Both have developed with different functions
and aims. The Augustenborg partnership is made up of
relevant local authority departments (technical and social functions) the
school and the local housing company. All of these bodies have committed time
and financial resources to the implementation of the project and have
constituted the core of the management committee. Local people have been
involved at a later stage, in a consultative role, although there were initial
plans to establish a more formal role for residents in the management group.
The initiative for the project came primarily from the housing company and the
council-run industrial area in Augustenborg.
The partnership around the Western Harbour initiative was based around the
city’s expansion and the planned Housing Expo. The main organisational body for
the area was the developers group, co-ordinated by the Planning Department in
the city and involving all developers, the housing expo organisation and other
relevant bodies. The initiative came
from the City of Malmö.
The aims and objectives of the Augustenborg
initiative are clearly defined and the submissions for government funding
became the common documents from which the partnership operated. The aims of
the Western Harbour project were much broader in that
they focused on (i) the local concerns of developing
an attractive sustainable futuristic housing area (ii) the short-term concerns
of hosting the National Housing Expo 2001 and (iii) the strategic concern of
retaining high-income families and associated tax-revenues within the municipality of Malmö.
Both projects have had clear targets and quantifiable outputs, clearly
defined and reported often to external financers (national government, EU,
etc.).
Participatory processes in the two projects have been
significantly different due to the differing natures of the areas. In Augustenborg, a high priority was given to community
participation in the formation and development of the initiative and in supporting additional measures
initiated by local people. In the Harbour an innovative process with developers
to agree to a consensus Quality Programme has given all key stakeholders an
important voice in the development of the overall project, from strategic goals
to delivery. The Quality Programme has become the guiding document for the
development of the area, particularly with regards to sustainability criteria.
Ekostaden Augustenborg
was co-ordinated by a small management team, employed by the district council,
based initially in the Housing Company office in the neighbourhood and later in
another building which was developing as a community resource and focus for
sustainable development initiatives in the area (URBAN programme, social
development programme etc).
Both projects are focused on clearly defined geographical
areas – Augustenborg is an existing residential
neighbourhood with major road and rail infrastructure marking its boundaries;
the Western Harbour is focused on an area between the sea front and the
Exhibition Centre.
Contact details: Trevor Graham
Miljöstrategiska Avdelningen
(LIP Kansliet)
Nordenskiöldsgatan 17
205 80 Malmö
Tel +46 (0)40 345896
Fax +46 (0)40 6614332
www.ekostaden.com
Email: trevor.graham@malmo.se
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