The conference was arranged by Formas, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Mistra and Delegation for Sustainable Cities. During two days, researchers, practitioners, authorities, ministries, entrepreneurs and stakeholder organisations listened, talked and debated. Under Secretary of State Elisabeth Falemo from the Ministry of Environment had the first word. Since the development of cities is coupled with sustainability, the government has resolved on the "Climate Billions". Some spearhead projects in sustainable urban development have received some of this money.
- Cities can pose problems, but they can also be the solutions, said Falemo.
Reduced vulnerability
Nor was this unfamiliar for Professor Thomas Elmqvist of the Stockholm Resilience Centre who talked about The (un)sustainable city.
- One innovative solution is Urban Vertical Farming, vertically in the middle of the city, said Thomas Elmqvist and showed pictures of imaginative architecture where nature takes over on roofs and the storeys. Ecosystem services can enhance people's health, and they can reduce vulnerability when the city is facing the climate change, he said. In New Orleans, wetlands are restored so that at the time of future cyclones they may reduce the height of waves.
Architect Jerker Söderlind from KTH was the next speaker. He sees the modernistic regulations of the 20th Century as an obstacle to innovative, sustainable solutions.
Tensta energy. Planners, local politicians, researchers – all were given an injection of reality when the fantastic fabrics of the knowledge and design centre Livstycket were taken out of Birgitta Notlöf's bag. All with an exciting history, all with a message about humans. Photographer: Jonas Förare
- It is time to tear up some of the truths of the last century. But dare we? Will we? he asked.
There were not enough fingers when he counted up the drawbacks: noise standards, coastal protection, traffic safety, environmental requirements, cultural reservations, nature reserves, bypasses, etc. According to him, Barcelona where palms wave about is superior to Atlanta with five-lane motorways, in view of the three measurable indices of sustainability: energy efficiency, material efficiency and time efficiency. The next comparison met opposition. When Söderlind made the Old City of Stockholm represent the wise and sustainable option, while the Tensta suburb was made to represent the unsustainable, Birgitta Notlöf drummed on the floor with her sharp heels. She founded the design centre Livstycket at Tensta 18 years ago. She now took over the stage with a lively video programme, but chiefly her own energy, and she put people before the facades of the million dwellings project. For her, Tensta is love, nearness, sweat and blood.
Christer Larsson, Director of Planning from Malmö, described how a "spaghetti city" will be created, with densification and integration, in which the structures can coalesce.
- We are strongly concept driven in Malmö. And we need to reintroduce the municipal property tax, he emphasised.
Future in due course
Per Lundin from KTH talked about the car ownership society – its growth and consequences.
- Towns have been designed to suit the car and have created car dependency. We must not be too fast in creating visions of the future, he said, and issued a warning about the phenomenon of a frozen ideology.
It was difficult to choose among the workshops of the seminar. For example, there was Child centred perspective in planning – why is it so difficult? which dealt with children being considered in
relation to the economy of land use. The green-blue infrastructure of the town concerned greenery and water. Mobility and accessibility – how to facilitate sustainable behaviours? discussed people' journeys in all directions.
One of the conclusions drawn by Lars Berggrund, Moderator of the Conference, senior adviser at the Rail Administration and also a Bellman interpreter, was as follows:
- Ways of managing conflicts, a long term view and the social dimension must be developed.