During the last decades, cities around the world have been growing at a rapid pace. This has put pressure on the lived environment and little time and effort have been put into combining multiple uses into liveable communities.
This is why Sweden has put a big focus on a holistic view and an integrated process. We know that this is the very formula we need to achieve liveable and attractive cities.
Architecture can play a big role in the attractiveness and with a variety in public spaces, as well as creating a sustainable city.
Annelie Mårtensson and Olov Schultz from the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning talked about how to create an attractive and liveable city where people feel belonging, and the importance of green rooms in public spaces.
– Working with architecture and public spaces can have an important unifying effect between actors and at the same time offer multifunctional solutions, said Annelie Mårtensson from the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning.
Malin Klintborg, Commission leader at Lantmäteriet, talked about how digitalisation in the planning process and digital twins can help do simulations and create smarter buildings and districts. Malin discussed how a national standardized process can help fit the solutions with the municipalities. This can help increase the legal certainty when everyone is using the correct data, make the process more efficient and save money.
Next up was Carina Aschan, Development Strategist from the City of Umeå presented Social Progress Innovation Sweden, an index that measures social development and quality of life. The city of Umeå focuses on inclusion and have created spaces where people feel safe and relaxed. One example was the ‘Station of Being’ – a bus stop designed with inclusion in mind.
The last speaker was Anki Weibull, Policy advisor at the Urban Planning Unit at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Anki presented multifunctional nature-based solutions in urban areas and the importance of green spaces, both to reduce things such as pollution, heat and noise, but also for outdoor recreation and help with problems of flooding. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has created a guideline for nature-based solutions, which covers examples and solutions of nature-based solutions.
The presentations were followed by a Q&A with the speakers. Watch the whole webinar here:
