Umeå Neighbourhood Integrates All Aspects of Sustainable Urban Development

Everyone is talking about a smarter, more sustainable future. In Brunnshög, this future is being realized. And it is being created around the people who will live here, focusing on their future needs.

When the preschool ‘Hoppet’ in Gothenburg was to be built, the City of Gothenburg wanted to challenge and create a change in the construction industry; they wanted it to be built completely fossil-free throughout the building’s entire life cycle with regards to production, assembly and future operation.

In the small village, Kivik, in the southeast of Sweden, you find the new residential area, Tvärpilen, where the Beautiful, the Sustainable and the Responsible come together in perfect combination.

At Skellefteå Site East, close to Northvolt’s factory, conditions are created to create the most sustainable development project ever. By maximizing the cutting edge know-how of both Skellefteå municipality and external partners, Skellefteå Site East is a source of inspiration for the industry. Both in terms of the courage to dare to think and act in new ways around sustainability, and in working together with contractors towards a common vision.

The advances made in wood construction are attracting more and more attention from contractors and architects that are discovering the advantages of building in wood. In Skellefteå you can take part in something as rare as a wood safari. A learning experience in how creative wood ideas create climate-smart living environments and how sustainable building ensures that the city develops in an attractive way, in both the near and more distant future.

In times of more extreme weather caused by climate changes the downside with dense cities with fewer green spaces and more paved surfaces is showing. Extreme heat, flooding and reduced biodiversity, we all see it. However, blue green solutions have a positive impact. Blue Green City Lab is the testbed that evaluates new and proven solutions.

Renovating the run-down area Vårsången in Malmö has been a success. Previously Malmö residents moved to Vårsången because they needed somewhere to live. Now they move there because they want to live there. And at the same time the property value has increased significant. A proof that social and environmental measures make a good deal in the long run.

Cykelhuset Ohboy (Ohboy, the Bicycle house) is designed, built and owned by the architects Hauschild + Siegel. When owning the process from the sketch table to the finished product these architects really can follow up on their vision and align the product with their original plans.

With its 9500 sqm the Botanical Roof Garden of Augustenborg is an ever-evolving testbed of urban greening. Here you get to see more than 20 different solutions for greening a rooftop, from the most extensive green roofs to biosolar solutions and even a rooftop kitchen garden.

The island of Gotland has been chosen as a pilot region for Sweden’s transition to a future sustainable energy system. The main requirements for this transition are a safe, reliable energy supply that is both ecologically sustainable and economically competitive.

ReTuna Återbruksgalleria is the world’s first recycling mall, marking the start of a low-carbon shopping revolution. Old items are given new life through repair and upcycling. Everything sold is either recycled or reused, or has been produced organically or sustainably.

It is a big challenge with electric vehicles in northern Europe is to adapt them to the cold climate, both in regard to function and comfort for passengers and drivers. In Umeå in Northern Sweden there is a company that has managed to develop a technology that makes it possible to run the buses even during a very cold winter day as well as a hot sunny day with advanced air heating/cold system.