urban density done right - boverketurban density done right ideas on densification of cities and...

Urban Density Done RightIdeas on densification of cities and other communities

Building a city is like doing a puzzle and densifying the city is like finding the missing piece. But you have to pay attention since you cannot squeeze in just any piece at the site. The key is to choose the best — the one that really fits.

This publication was produced by the Swedish National Board of Housing, Buildning and Planning to provide examples of how densification can take place and to highlight some important things to think about.

The publication is available as a pdf on the web site. You can also order printed copies. This publication can be obtained in alternative formats, upon request.

BoverketBox 534, 371 23 KarlskronaPhone: +46 455 35 30 00Website: www.boverket.seE-mail: [email protected]

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The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning May 2017


Title: Urban density done right – Ideas on densification of cities and other communitiesEdition: 200 copiesPrinting: E-print ABISBN print: 978-91-7563-466-1ISBN pdf: 978-91-7563-467-8Ref. No. 1523/2015Keywords: Cities, communities, neighbourhoods, expansion, densification, housing, jobs, challenges, examples

Cover illustration: Elin Normann Bjarsell/BoverketThe publication can be ordered from:Boverket, Publikationsservice, Box 534, 371 23 Karlskrona, SwedenTel. No.: +46 455-35 30 50Fax: +46 455-819 27Email: [email protected] site: www.boverket.se

The publication may be downloaded as a pdf from www.boverket.se. The publication may also be ordered, upon request, in an alternative format, such as Daisy, as a cassette voice recording, etc.

Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning 2017

Contents1. Creating the right density................................................................... 6

2. Challenges .......................................................................................... 10It is essential to have a strategy for the expansion of the city ...................11

More housing increases the need for public services ....................................15

Include vegetation ...............................................................................................19

A denser city is a louder city ..............................................................................24

Light is enormously important for human beings ...........................................30

Daylight in a dense city .......................................................................................32

3. Examples ............................................................................................ 38Housing and jobs where needed .......................................................................39

Complementary form of housing in the area

of the Million Homes Programme .....................................................................40

Densification without claiming new ground ....................................................42

Development connecting city districts .............................................................44

Supplementing in an environment of cultural and historical value ...............46

New parking garage creates meeting point ....................................................48

Literature ................................................................................................ 50

The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning has produced this document in response to public debate on the densification of our cities and communities, and to provide inspiration and guidance regarding ways to supplement the existing environment. Densification is not only about building housing. It is also about creating a good built environment for the people who live, work and spend time in the city. Supplementation is intended to create added value, while at the same time making good use of existing values and qualities.

This document consists of three parts. In the first part, we present our views and arguments concerning some of the challenges and opportunities of densification. In the next part we explain some of the challenges and give inspiration to readers to think in new ways, by presenting interviews conducted with a few people about how they approach the challenges that exist. For example: how people’s needs for sunlight and daylight can be satisfied, how disturbing sounds in a dense city can be handled, how vegetation can be used as a resource, how room for

public services can be created, and how a densification strategy for the entire city might be developed. Finally, in the third part, we highlight a number of examples of municipal densification projects, all of which have added value over and above new housing. We hope that these three parts will spark new ideas and inspire people who are involved in urban planning or are simply interested in the development of cities and communities.

Mirja Ranesköld, planning architect, was the project leader and Elin Normann Bjarsell, landscape architect, was a member of the project team. Other coworkers contributed with their views and suggestions during the course of the project. The interviews were conducted by Elisabeth Klingberg at PratMinus. A big thank you goes out to our interviewees and those who provided examples.

Karlskrona, March 2016 Sofie Adolfsson JörbySection Manager

Densification is about morethan just building housing

6 URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNINGCHAPTER 1

City and community development is a core issue for the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning and densification has been adopted as a development strategy in the two Swedish-language documents “Vision Sverige 2025” [Vision Sweden 2025] and “Förslag till strategi för miljökvalitetsmålet God bebyggd miljö” [Proposal for a strategy to achieve the environmental quality goal of a good built environment].

There is a great difference between physical density and perceived density. Having buildings placed closely together is not the same thing as feeling that everything is close at hand. In other words, it is not the density in itself that is sought after, but rather the quality that the dense urban environment provides, in the form of proximity to work, cultural offerings, activities, parks, and so on. The experience of having a short distance between activities and one’s home is precisely what is considered to be the primary comfort factor for the city-dweller, according to surveys about urban living. It is the bustling city with a

high degree of interaction between people that is attractive and this requires places where people can meet.

SEEING DENSIFICATION AS AN OPPORTUNITYSo it’s a matter of creating density in the right way. We need to build densely enough that the in-between spaces remain and provide space for the very qualities that create a good living environment. When the existing environment is to be changed, we have an excellent opportunity to start from the current circumstances of a place and find out what it lacks. What supplementary values might the densification bring? Here is an opportunity to redo and improve. How might we design the supplementation so that both men and women are invited into the urban space? How might we create space for children and young people, both boys and girls? How might we create accessible environments for individuals with functional impairments and for an increasingly elderly population? How can we better conserve storm water in our built environments? In the dense city, more

Creating the right density 1.A city is more than its buildings. Buildings, in turn, are more than

just housing. Yet, the discussion on densification is often about constructing as much housing as possible, as quickly as possible. It is not that odd, considering the great need for housing that currently exists; however, in the rush to build quickly it is important to slow down and ask ourselves: What kind of environments are we creating? For whom are we building? How will we ensure that the cities are sustainable and comfortable for everyone? Will the structures we are adding to the existing urban space contribute to a good built environment and provide pleasant living environments?

7URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNING CHAPTER 1

inhabitants are required to share the public spaces and free spaces that exist. This can lead to crowding and wear, as can be seen in some parks where the grass had to be replaced with artificial turf.

WHY DENSIFY?So why exactly has densification become such a planning trend? There are several reasons for that. We have a rapidly growing population in Sweden’s cities and larger communities, and there are housing shortages in many municipalities. Many cities and communities have developed by growing outwardly, which has led to an increased car dependence and to the disappearance of natural land and agricultural land. Densification, that is building the city inwardly, is then seen as a strategy for building housing while combatting the tendency for cities to spread out and claim valuable land. Increased density is said to lead to reduced emissions through shorter travel routes and opportunities to provide good public transport, which thus promotes sustainable development.

Densification has recently become synonymous with sustainability. In public debate, densification is presented as something good – not just for ecological sustainability but also for social sustainability, as it increases access to different activities and the likelihood of spontaneous encounters. In comprehensive plans densification is framed as a means by which to connect different parts of the city, to reduce segregation and increase security. Isolated pockets of densification also occur to fill gaps in the urban weave. Common for several municipalities is that they have the goal of being attractive. They want to increase their populations and share of visitors, in order to create a foundation for better service and cultural offerings.

DENSIFICATION ENTAILS SEVERAL CHALLENGES The challenges are many in our quest to achieve a good built environment. In media and other different contexts we often see reports that green space is being sacrificed for development and free space is disappearing. The daylight requirements for housing are difficult to fulfil and sunlight in residential courtyards is sacrificed in favour of other priorities. There are not enough preschools and schools being built to fulfil the need and the housing that is built is designed for a small group in society. There has also been a major change of scale in the past few years. In the new residential areas, new development is denser and higher than in the stone town that is said to be the model for the densification we are now witnessing. New buildings are tall to efficiently utilise the land, but tall buildings can lead to a shortage of views in the buildings that lie in the shadow of other buildings. It can also lead to windy small inner courtyards where the sun rarely reaches. Individual tall building blocks also have limitations when it comes to creating good acoustic environments.

Studies show that there is a divide between what people value and what is actually built. Densification is said to lead to a mixed city, but densification projects in central locations often result in high land prices. This is then reflected in high housing prices, which can lead to gentrification and social inequality. The activities and inhabitants of the areas can sometimes no longer afford to stay there and end up moving out. Another common argument for densification is that it leads to a more pedestrian-friendly city with fewer cars. But car traffic does not automatically decrease in response to building for density. Driving convenience must be reduced at the same time as more space is given to pedestrian and bicycle traffic and public transport. A well developed public transport system in combination with densification


in locations close to train and bus stations can enhance smaller communities’ competitiveness and reduce the pressure on the larger communities.

A further argument for densification is that the dense city better utilises technical infrastructure. Many densification projects, however, take place on industrial land, in port areas and in parks, which can be problematic since there is not always infrastructure or public transport ready to be further developed in these areas. In the case of densification in green areas it is important to ask whether the environmental gain from a denser city where more people walk, cycle and use public transport outweighs the loss of the green space as a place for recreation and as a tool for climate adaptation. So we need to carefully select our priorities to achieve sustainable urban development.

Historically, the depopulation of cities occurred when they became too crowded and unhealthy. Even in the present time, it is conceivable that there is a limit to how dense we can build before life in the city, neighbourhood or community deteriorates. How much densification can be made before the living environment and quality of life become poor, the attractiveness of the environment declines and the citizens begin to move away from the cities? When it becomes too noisy, too dark and there is too little access to free space?

APPROACHING DENSITY IN THE RIGHT WAYThe right density requires that the municipality takes a long-term approach and has a strategy in place to guide

the city’s or the community’s expansion. A strategy provides information to interested citizens and facilitates the dialogue between the stakeholders who participate in the city’s development. It is the municipality that has the overall picture of how the supplementation will impact the city. Through the planning process in accordance with the Planning and Building Act, the citizens are invited to have their say in the development of their environment. This is an essential aspect of democracy. The building stakeholders cannot be expected to have the overall picture of what is necessary for a good built environment. Space is required to satisfy the land requirements of public services and the various functions and demands that comes with an increased number of inhabitants. Supplementary activities such as school, sports facilities, playgrounds, libraries, medical centres and other facilities should be incorporated early on in the planning. Moreover, daylight and sunlight must be taken into consideration to ensure pleasant courtyards and housing. Free space and green space are necessary for social exchanges, play and recreation, and to respond to climate changes. By identifying and analysing what already exists and what is needed, we can create a better mix of building types, forms of tenure, street space and free space, which strengthens social life. Preserve what is possible to preserve and see it as a resource. Focus on the function and circumstances of the site and the area first. Then, build housing.


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There are a few aspects that are easily overshadowed when the city or community is densified, but that are important for building healthy and comfortable environments. In this chapter we will describe some of these aspects with the help of interviews. The interviewees describe how they approach the work of developing a strategy for the expansion of the city, the need for land for public services, opportunities presented by acoustic design, the need for sunlight and daylight, and the need for vegetation.

Challenges2.


Örebro has twisted and turned the two most common words in today’s city planning: densification and mixed use areas. The result is an action plan that identifies the best locations for infill projects, attics and really tall buildings.

Örebro is one of the country’s fastest-growing cities. Since 2007, the population of the municipality has risen by an average of 1,700 people every year. Over the past few years, in-migration to the municipality has accelerated rapidly, and along with the population increase more housing, schools and workplaces are required.

To show how and in what order the community is to grow in the next ten years, Örebro has prepared a first version of an action plan for construction in the city.

“The primary purpose is to make the more long-term perspective of the comprehensive plan concrete. Örebro is to grow through the addition of new urban areas to the existing city, as well as through the densification of the existing city”, says Peder Hallkvist, City Architect in Örebro.

The action plan shows the order in which new urban areas are to be built, but it also clarifies how the municipality views two important principles of Swedish city planning: densification and mixed use areas.

“The word ‘densification’ is used fairly carelessly and it connotes such different things. For some, it is something positive that may be associated with sustainability. For others, it implies more concrete and asphalt at the expense of trees and vegetation. Even professional practitioners have different images of densification, despite it having

become almost a mantra in planning”, says Peder Hallkvist.

Just as densification, mixed use is a concept with many different angles. In order to achieve a highly varied and dynamic city, most things should be mixed: functions, building types, forms of tenure and the socio-economic composition of the population.

“The actual essence of densification is to create a more varied and rich environment, one that offers more for everyone at close proximity”, says Peder Hallkvist.

– It is essential to have a strategy for the expansion of the cityPEDER HALLQVIST, ÖREBRO MUNICIPALITY

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Municipal civil servants and municipal politicians, from both the majority and the opposition, were included in the working group. Thorough discussions preceded the different positions taken in the plan.

“Much time was spent on defining the meaning of words for one another. What do we mean when we talk about a ‘garden city’ or a ‘town house’? Having the opportunity to discuss complex issues in depth was incredibly educational. It teaches us how to be clear in our external contacts”, says Peder Hallkvist.

MANY WAYS TO DENSIFYÖrebro believes there are good opportunities to undertake densification in the city as it exists now. Construction is prioritised within a radius of three kilometres from the center, or within a radius of five kilometres in locations where the access to public transport is very good.

The action plan names eleven ways to den-sify an existing built area, and they are largely in agreement with the most common building suggestions received by the City Planning Office. One of these ways – building on the edge of a park – is very rarely considered in Örebro. It will take a lot before we undertake any building on inner courtyards, in green spaces and close to water.

However, building in areas that are being used inefficiently, is welcome throughout the city. This might involve over dimensioned parking areas and impediments of green spaces. Regarding other densification opportunities, such as adding additional floors, furnishing attics, unused building plots, tearing up and building new, taller buildings in general and really tall buildings - the

location in the city is crucial. “We are careful with the resources we have: the water space, cultural and historical buildings and urban silhouettes. On the other hand, there are centrally located areas that are suitable for densification. In these cases we encourage construction stakeholders to do everything possible for both mixed functions and architecture. We also point out traffic routes in which densification is extremely positive. A larger scale would be quite

appropriate for new construction there,” says Peder Hallkvist.

In the action plan, the city’s densification and transformation areas have been divided into five groups: city center, locations close to the city center, existing activity and transformation area, areas of the city dominated by multi-residential apartment buildings, and areas dominated by single-family houses and duplexes.

“It isn’t always easy to make such divisions – the areas don’t always have such a distinct character. The division into

distinct areas is an attempt to create a comprehensible overview, but eventually the groups flow into one another and locations close to the city center become the city center”, says Peder Hallkvist.

Örebro has great opportunities to steer how the city grows. The municipality owns a lot of land and the municipal non-profit housing company is one of the largest in the country. This permits greater influence on issues that relate to mixed use.

CAREFUL SUPPLEMENTATION OF EXISTING BUILDING STOCKMixed use areas is a key ingredient of the sustainable city,

“What do we mean when we

talk about a ‘garden city’ or a ‘town house’?”


where most things should be within walking or cycling distance. The strategy for achieving a more mixed built environment and residential structure is based on adding building types and forms of tenure that are missing. But it has to be done carefully.

”There is a value in areas of the city that have a cohesive character. Örebro has unique residential areas built in the 1950s – Rosta and Baronbackarna. This also applies to residential areas with houses from different periods of

time. Here, the socio-economic mix takes place on a different scale, through changes in adjacent areas”, saysPeder Hallkvist.

Örebro has also found that maximum mixingis not always worth striving for.

“Sometimes clashes arise in the building environment which results in a poor living environment. We need greater awareness about the types of buildings and

Summary table showing which type of densification is possible in different parts of the city. Illustration: Boverket, based on a table in the Örebro plan of action.

Unused building plot

Build in inner courtyard

Adding on of additional floors

works may work does not work is not relevant

Furnishing of attic

Tear down, build new

Build on the edge of a park

Build on green space

Build on inefficiently used space

Build close to water

Taller buildings in general

Really tall buildings

Supplementation �e inner city Locations close to the inner city

Existing activity and transformation area

Neighbourhoods dominated by multi-storeyapartment buildings

Neighbourhoods dominated by single-family houses and duplexes

Symbols:


functions that can be mixed and in what manner”, says Peder Hallkvist.

The action plan is a political assignment but in a way it is also a response to market demand.

The building stakeholders want clarity. Interest in building in Örebro has grown very rapidly in the past 4-5 years. But we cannot satisfy all wishes. We must be able to explain why we can no longer plan for free-standing single-family houses in central locations, even if there is strong demand. An action plan makes us better prepared and gives us some support for our decisions”, says Peder Hallkvist.

The current version of the plan of action is the first. A revision of the comprehensive plan is currently under way, at the same time as the plan of action is being evaluated. Reprints will be produced in conjunction with the next updated version.

“I believe the city’s public spaces will be given greater emphasis and I believe we will also address the relationship between city and countryside. We will also continue work on the maps, which are fairly rough and simplified in the first version”, says Peder Hallkvist. To date, the plan of action has been used in several different ways. It is primarily aimed at external stakeholders, but also functions as a foundation when a new detailed development plan is to be prepared. It is also useful for the city to refer to in its communication with the public.

“We have noticed that the builders read it – they will typically refer to various paragraphs. It also helps by adding nuances to the discussion. We do not just build because more housing is needed – we build a city of the future.

The action plan "På väg mot vårt framtida Örebro, del 2. Handlingsplan för stadens byggande" is available in Swedish at the website of Örebro.

Read more:


Malmö is to become dense, flexible and make efficient use of its available surfaces. This is a focus that requires new, creative solutions to ensure that there is room for public services. The answer to the need for land is joint use, three-dimensional planning and flexible use.

Densification is the very essence of Malmö’s new comprehensive plan from 2014. The city shall develop into a heterogeneous, vegetation-rich city of short distances, and an overall priority is that Malmö will primarily grow inwards, inside its outer ring road, Yttre Ringvägen.

“This makes the question of public services particularly critical. Building in a densified city means that the competition for land will increase. In the past few years, for example, it has been a major challenge to rustle up space for preschools”, says Kristoffer Arvidson, project manager for the Plan for Public Service Land Requriements in Malmö.

The population of Malmö has grown every year since the 1980s and growth has been particularly sharp in the past ten to 15 years. Even though the planning of public services is in harmony with the population trend, the municipality has difficulty predicting where in the city the needs will arise.

“Since housing construction is steered by private stakeholders it is difficult to make prognoses, particularly in areas of expansion. The municipality is forced to proceed in a reactive manner rather than a proactive one,

to provide premises for public services”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

In order to offer a growing population both sufficient and high-quality public services in a dense city, the municipality must test new innovative solutions.

“Joint utilisation is the primary focus, but we also talk about three-dimensional solutions and flexible use. These three strategies overlap, but the basic idea is to share resources. Both the physical resources, such as premises and green space, and perhaps also staff and administration”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

– More housing increases the need for public services

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KRISTOFFER ARVIDSON, CITY OF MALMÖ

16 URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNINGCHAPTER 2The Fullriggaren city block in the Västra Hamnen district of Malmö. The green building is a preschool, the outdoor environment of which can be seen in the foreground. The white building, which is integrated with the preschool, contains group homes. The buildings have separate entrances. Photo: Bojana Lukac


The Plan for Public Service Land Requirements in Malmö is meant to be a bridge between the long-term focus of the comprehensive plan and the more concrete issues of the detailed development questions. The strategies encompass large parts of the public services for which the municipality is responsible, with a particular focus on preschools, schools and sports facilities.

“This is where the greatest problems lie. Other public services, such as housing for the elderly and group homes, do not require such large areas and are simpler to integrate with other buildings”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

The time perspective is five to ten years into the future, and the hope is that the plan will contribute to increased preparedness in physical planning. It is easier to proceed in a structured manner with different types of solutions if there are politically secured principles and priorities.

“When the plan is finished it is meant to work as a reference book containing guidelines on planning public services. It could be used by both detailed development planners and service requesters – both as support and inspiration for driving issues relating to, for example, joint use”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

MAXIMUM USE OF SPACE Joint use refers to premises and outdoor environments being used not only by those involved in the basic operations, but by others as well. In evenings and on weekends, for example, the preschool yard might become a public playground while the school classrooms might provide space for club meetings. Having parts of the school playground be designed as a park is one way of using space flexibly – thus making joint use possible.Copenhagen has served as a source of inspiration.“The Lord Mayor, Frank Jensen, made an election promise of fixing preschools, and Copenhagen has been successful at finding smart solutions for joint use. When it

comes to space however, they are not such a good example: the children have very small areas in which to move around”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

Public services need to be space efficient, but this does not mean that the activities have to get by with fewer square metres of floor space and outdoor areas.

“The research is unanimous in that there are health associations with the size of children’s outdoor environments. And there is room for large school playgrounds, but they should not be allowed to be single-function. The areas must be designed for the core operations – their needs are prioritised – but we have to be able to use them in other ways as well”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

Malmö has experience of joint-use schools since earlier. At Lindängeskolan, the school building is used as an all-activity building outside school hours.

“Schools are excellent as social hubs – often all that is needed are minor physical adjustments, and hence, small investments. One example is Hermodalskolan, a school which was divided into sectors in which separate alarm systems were installed. It would have worked even better if the premises had been adapted to shared use right from the start”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

SEVERAL CHALLENGES IN PLANNING AND COLLABORATION To optimise the premises – and indirectly also prepare them for public services – joint use needs to be discussed at the planning stage. Space-consuming services such as schools and sports facilities should be included in an in-depth comprehensive plan or planning programme. In detailed development plans, “S” for school should be used along with designations that allow for other types of activities.


In all projects, three-dimensional solutions should be considered.“Certain combinations are more suitable than others. For example, it is better to place a preschool on the ground floor of an office building than in a residential building. That way, the preschool can use the entire surrounding grounds. Safety aspects, such as the need for separate entrances, must also be considered when different service activities are to be accommodated in the same building”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

There is greater focus on land and contract issues in the dense city with mixed functions. Since Malmö is to grow inwardly, the need for services will be greatest in the existing city, and it is already clear that the buildable land in the central areas currently owned by the city is insufficient. The municipality has to collaborate with private landowners and stakeholders in order to expand the public services, but how this should be done is both a political and an economic question.

“An active discussion is currently under way between the municipality and private property companies. The municipality might, for example, have some other party build, either on its own or on private land, and then acquire a finished object, or rent premises in it. Three-dimensional property development could be a solution in this case as well”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

Another challenge is how the cooperation between different affected administrations should work.

“There are many inherent difficulties, particularly depending on how the municipal economy is structured. The administrations have different core assignments and budgets, which makes joint use more complicated. The

more a place is used, the greater the wear and tear on it. Who is to pay for the wear and tear that occurs in the primary school after school hours? If a school uses an adjacent park that is owned and maintained by the Traffic Management Office, how should the costs be distributed?

THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS HAVE TO COOPERATEWhen work on the plan started, the approach was a broad one and was based on the idea that all city operations would have to adapt to the joint use of resources.

Eventually the assignment of the City Planning Office acquired a clearer focus – on land requirements and the planning process.

But Kristoffer Arvidson still wants to advise other municipalities to pay particular attention to the issue of public services.

“It gets people thinking and gets employees to think in new ways, about both processes and methods. That’s when you find solutions that work. I would say that including the entire administration is essential for success. It’s absolutely fundamental”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

So far, Malmö has not found any structured model of cooperation for the municipal administrations with regards to joint use.

“But it’s something we’re working on. Several political assignments address the question of joint use – for example “Living Malmö” and the new educational strategy for school activities.

Malmö has begun to realise what the new planning orientation in the comprehensive plan entails for city operations”, says Kristoffer Arvidson.

“To optimise the premises, joint use

must be discussed at the planning stage”.


Cemeteries are used as fitness tracks and the lawns of the residential areas are transformed into garden plots. In a densified city, all existing green space acquire new functions while the climate-smart role of vegetation becomes ever more important. The people and the buildings are becoming more numerous in Swedish cities, but the amount of green space remains constant or is declining.

“The risk of densification is that the green space that is needed for people, plants, animals and water are chipped away at the edges. Suddenly we find we’ve taken away too much vegetation and we’re left with an imbalance between the different functions of green space”, says Carola Wingren, Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Alnarp.

She is the project manager and editor of the book Urbana nyanser av grönt that tries to discover and develop ideas about urban vegetation in a densified city. The basic idea is that vegetation in the city serves several different functions and can be highly varied in appearance.

Tree-lined promenades and parks are natural fixtures in the city, fixtures that many want to preserve. Often the large parks also have an established value as cultural heritage sites with aesthetic aspects.

“It would take a lot before you’d go and build in a park. But the park is just one form of urban green space. We need to be better at explaining the differences and valuing

green space in terms of function, quality and time aspects. The ditch is needed just as much as the park”, says Carola Wingren.

THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF URBAN GREEN SPACE IS CHANGINGIn a sustainable city, the well-maintained grass-covered expanses and the tidy perennial flower beds are accompanied by more untamed areas, which benefit the biological diversity. At the same time, a change in how green space is used is occurring. City dwellers tend individual garden plots in parks, they have picnics in

– Include vegetation

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CAROLA WINGREN, SWEDISH UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (SLU), ALNARP


cemeteries and do parkour in the city’s in-between spaces. When social patterns, behaviours and needs change, the planning and design of green space must keep pace with development. “A good example is cemeteries. At present, they are used as parks, where people go jogging and walk their dogs. So the site designation in the city’s planning no longer fits. Certain parts that are less popular places in which to bury one’s relatives are also a resource. Eventually, something completely new could be created there”, says Carola Wingren.

An elastic view of the city’s green space – that forms and functions change – implies that the city needs to be ready to reconsider its plans for both green space and development.

“Above all, it is essential to be observant of all areas on standby: at the edge of the city, at demolition sites and at the edge of the sea. If a plan remains undeveloped for a long time, the site may have developed into a fantastic natural environment”, says Carola Wingren.

Access to untouched land in the urban environment is important for several reasons. In the urban environment, it is important to have places for fundamental natural processes such as photosynthesis, pollination and soil formation. In places where plants are allowed to grow wild, a biological diversity develops that benefits many ecosystem services.

Oases of untamed natural vegetation provide nature experiences and can also be useful in educational contexts.

“It has become more common for families with children to live in an urban environment and in light of this it feels

important to ensure that nature is close by. Especially since one of the points of a densified city is that most things are within walking or cycling distance” says Carola Wingren.

Thanks to the widespread interest in urban gardening vegetables are nowadays being grown in more or less unexpected places in the city. It is a phenomenon with many expressions: guerilla gardening of public garden beds, gardens being established on roofs, and neighbours

jointly tending a common garden plot. “The social perspective on urban gardening is the primary one – it is not possible to produce vegetables to any great extent in a city. At least not using current methods. The general interest in gardening is great, but health issues must also be dealt with. What soils are involved and how are food safety issues being observed?

GREEN STRUCTURE FOR WATERA key issue, for climate-smart cities, is the ability to divert storm water where green space can play a major role. But creating a green structure that can withstand heavy rain requires knowledge of what the city looks like underground. Over the years, watercourses have been built over and culvert solutions are adapted for the water quantities that prevailed at earlier times, leading to major problems during torrential rainfall.

By deliberately employing many small, cohesive green points that collect and distribute water quantities, we reduce the risk of flooding. One example of this is Augustenborg in Malmö, which a few years ago implemented a number of measures to unload the municipal sewerage system: ditches, dams, bowl-shaped grass-covered spaces, and canals that during certain periods of the year are dried up.

“In a densifiedcity, existing green space acquire new functions”.


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Example of surface that can withstand periods of increased quantities of rain. Photo: Johnér


“When Malmö experienced extremely heavy rain that caused extensive damage, Augustenborg managed it very well. Swales take a whole lot more water than large underground pipes do. I believe we could build much more densely by thinking along these lines”, says Carola Wingren.

An often overlooked problem is the trend of installing stone paving in parts of private home lots. An aerial photo of Malmö shows that paved surfaces in private home yards have increased markedly. This is a development that could eventually represent a threat to climate adaptation.

“It creates areas that cannot absorb the rain water. Instead, the water flows onto common streets and surfaces, with major flooding as a result. This is something that the municipalities must start paying attention to. In Germany, fees based on how the property owners deal with their storm water have been implemented”, says Carola Wingren.

PLANNING REQUIRES MORE GREEN WORDSThe book Urbana nyanser av grönt points out the need not only to promote green issues, but also to develop the way in which urban green space is viewed and described.

“The discussions about densification lack nuance regarding urban green space, despite the fact that it is more complex than building development. We talk about densification in development terms, but no calculations are done on leaf mass”, says Carola Wingren.

Urban densification is not only about buildings. In early documents, such as the comprehensive plan and the planning programme, green space is given considerable attention. In the detailed development plan, however, there are neither the tools nor the vocabulary to convey a more complicated description of the form and function of green space.

“Detailed development plans specify building height, roof slope and facade material for the development. Then it might say: ‘tree’. Few details about soil, size or time aspects are described. But a tree can of course mean anything from a stick to a huge tree canopy, says Carola Wingren.

One way to ensure the inclusion of green space in building projects is the tool “the green surface factor”. This is a method that identifies and quantifies green space based on different categories. Another system is ecosystem services, which describe the benefits of green space. These might involve, say, the ability of vegetation to dampen noise, purify the air, reduce the temperature and handle storm water. In Malmö and Lund, a programme called the Environmental Building Programme - South has been implemented, which requires that the builder works with green space factor.

“This type of tool is helpful, but it is not sufficient. In order not to restrict the character of the vegetation – it is so easy to get stuck on parks – we need to be better at expressing different values and quality aspects”, says Carola Wingren.There are types of nature that planners and landscape architects usually don’t think about. So far, the urban landscape has been formed with soils that essentially have the same characteristics and moisture content.

“The city of the future needs surfaces with vegetation that can tolerate becoming wet, while at the same time other places must be able to withstand drought. This requires vegetation of an entirely different character than what we are used to. Dampness is a key parameter to bring in, in addition to untamed natural growth”, says Carola Wingren.


Urban gardening on a building wall in Seved, Malmö. Photo: Peter Kroon

FACTS:

• Green structure – all the green areas in the built environment, such as private gardens, tree-lined boulevards, lawns, parks, green areas and natural areas close to communities.

• Ecosystem services – the services that nature provides to humans and that are essential to our welfare, health and well-being. One example of an ecosystem service is pollination. In order for the bees to be able to pollinate our crops, the bees’ ecosystems must work. Another system is storm water retention, or the ability of a green area to manage and purify the water in the event of flooding.

• Green infrastructure – a network of natural areas for functioning ecosystems and human living environments.

• Green space factor – a planning tool by which to express a desirable relationship between the entire space of the plot and the eco-effective space. By awarding points to various physical elements, such as lawn, green roof or tree, the eco-effective surface can be summarised in a number that is then divided by the entire plot.

Urbana nyanser av grönt – om grönskans roll i en förtätad klimatsmart stad. Available in Swedish.Joint project of SLU, Ramböll, Lund University andthe City of Malmö. The project has received support from the Sustainable Cities Delegation. The book is published by Movium.

The project also developed the inspirational film “Green City”– on alternative uses of green environments in the city. The film is on YouTube. Search for "green city Slu".

Read more:


The sounds of the city have long been synonymous with noise from which the inhabitants need to be protected. Now, the design of the acoustic environment is starting to become part of the planning process instead. A city should not be silent – but there should be sounds in the right places, sounds that reinforce the experience of a place. When cities are densified, there are more buildings, more people and more functions in the same place. It is a development that entails more life and movement, as well as higher levels of sound. So far, the urban acoustic environment has mainly been handled defensively, with measures such as traffic control, noise protection, and insulating glass. What is less common is an approach that primarily considers the sounds of the dense city as an asset.

“Instead of noise, we should think about sound quality that supports the function of the place. The sound is part of the architectonic shaping of the city”, says Björn Hellström, professor of acoustic art at Sweden’s University College of Arts, Crafts and Design (Konstfack), lecturer in architecture and acoustic designer at Tyréns AB.

Within the framework of the project “Sounds of the City”, which was carried out a few years ago, he developed an interdisciplinary toolbox for acoustic design, to be used in the planning process. The toolbox consists of various acoustic design solutions that dampen unwanted noise while at the same time accenting the qualitative, desirable sounds that help ensure that the place works as intended. The design solutions in the toolbox are divided into six groups: building types, buildings, screens, ground, traffic and sound quality. Each group has a unique icon, to

facilitate the practical collaboration of different competence areas in the planning process.

“The icons function as an interface at which different disciplines meet: it is a way for planners, architects, designers and acousticians to communicate with each other. There shouldn’t be any need for special documents for each measure”, says Björn Hellström.

Acoustic design shapes the city’s sound signature and encompasses all parts of the planning process. The urban typology scale, meaning the character of the buildings collectively, is determined early on. If the plan is to build housing on a plot with known noise sources, selecting

– A denser city is a louder city

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BJÖRN HELLSTRÖM, TYRÉNS AB AND THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS, CRAFTS AND DESIGN (KONSTFACK)


building type becomes more complicated, since the building must have one quiet side in order to meet the guidelines.“The solution in this case might be an apartment block with a courtyard. However, in the programme for the Stockholm neighbourhood Norra Djurgårdsstaden we were able to show that when acoustic design is applied there are also other solutions that work equally well. The costs of the measures could also be defrayed with higher site coverage ratios”, says Björn Hellström.

GREEN OR PERFORATED FACADES AS SOUND INSULATORThe design of the facades has a major effect on the city’s acoustic environment. As a result of sound reflection between building facades, city streets might have elevated sound levels, for example. This problem can be reduced with insulated, angled facades. The use of perforated facades that have a backing of sound-dampening material gives the architects greater freedom.

“The holes may be designed as desired, in different sizes and patterns”, says Björn Hellström.

BUILDINGS SCREENS GROUND TRAFFIC SOUND QUALITY

Green facades Facades with balconies

Perforated facades Protecting roof

Shielded building Glazing

Angling of the roofGreen roof with

sedum plants

High screen vegetation Low screen vegetation

High screen perforated Low screen perforated

Shared space

Speed

High screen dynamic

Smooth dense road surface

Acoustically soft ground

Grass alongside tram tracksLow screen dynamic

Sound installation

Sounds of nature - leaves rustling

Sounds of nature – water fountain

Screen designed as street furniture High screen - gabion

All the tools in the acoustic design toolboxThe method was developed as part of the “Sounds of the City” project with help from Tyréns AB. Illustration: Tyréns AB Translation: Boverket

26 URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNINGCHAPTER 2Newly planted plant wall on Södermalm in Stockholm. Photo: Magnus Lindqvist/National Board of Housing, Building and Planning


Facades with plant cassettes and soft roofs with sedum plants not only reduce the sound levels and provide the urban space with vegetation. They also contribute to the city’s ecological sustainability, by taking care of storm water, among other things. Even the angling of the roof affects the sound proliferation. It is a matter of reducing the diffraction over the roof – that is, how sharply the sound waves are bent. This reduces the noise on the leeward side.

One obstacle is that architects and planners do not use these design solutions to any great extent. This is partly because the professional education programmes do not highlight the role of acoustics, either in urban planning or in architecture. Another problem is parallel processes in the planning.

“Many people also have an unjustified fear of moisture problems. Regarding green facades, there is a concern as to what they will look like during winter. There are, however, some twenty different Swedish evergreen plant types. None of the design tools are a mere desktop product, all of them are applied and in practical use already”, says Björn Hellström.

ACOUSTIC SCREENS AS SPACE SHAPERSIn the street environment, urban acoustic screens are an effective way to control the soundscape. This is not a matter of traditional noise barriers, but rather screens that are integrated in the urban environment and that meet acoustic, functional, architectonic and aesthetic requirements. Just as the facades they can have greening or perforating surfaces.

“High and low screens serve as furniture in the urban space and are designed to blend into the environment. Almost every public space in the city exceed the

recommended noise values. In order to reduce noise levels, you need to create space within the space, which also has a social effect”, says Björn Hellström.Certain sounds have qualities that are appreciated in the city. These sounds may be used consciously to support the social function of the place.

“The desirable sounds are often softer: running water, leaves rustling in the wind, footsteps on gravel or the chirping of the birds. If the square is to have a calm place

where you can sit and read the paper – how could the design give the place serenity? And how could sound contribute?

The ground treatment also has an impact. Soft ground such as grass, is sound-absorbing. Placing tram tracks on grassy surfaces works well because the measure is carried out close to the sound source, but even gravel can be made acoustically soft if the underlying soil has the right properties.

On streets in an urban environment, asphalt with a small stone size is preferable from a

sound point of view.

“In some parts of Europe, the asphalt used is dense, smooth asphalt. The reason we do not have it is because the studded winter tyres wear out the asphalt and increase the particle content of the air. But the friction from the studded tyres also impacts the sound environment. A ban on studded tyres, as exists on Hornsgatan in Stockholm, creates not only better air quality but also conditions for lower sound levels”, says Björn Hellström.

Tyre friction is the dominant sound on streets with traffic speeds of over 50 kilometres per hour. On city streets with speed limits of 40 kilometres per hour or lower, the dominant sound is engine noise.

“In order to reduce

noise levels, you need to create space

within the space”.


“With ‘shared spaces’ – streets without any hierarchy between cars, cyclists and pedestrians – it is possible to lower the sound level. The prevailing speeds here are very low – under 30 kilometres per hour”, says Björn Hellström.

SOUNDS OF THE CITY A HOT TOPICThe need for acoustic design is great. Often densification occurs in places in which it is difficult to build housing with good sound environments. Such places might be infill projects in city blocks, transformation of industrial areas or new neighbourhoods in central port areas.

“We are now at a turning point at which the sound environment of the city is increasingly important. The densification requires that we actively incorporate acoustics in the planning process”, says Björn Hellström.

Even at an early stage of planning, it is possible to use calculation models to determine how the sound environment in the current project can be changed using acoustic design.

The basic principles are to absorb and screen off, but the solutions that have the best effect on the city’s soundscape vary.

“It has to do with the circumstances of the site. In general, much can be accomplished through the use of urban acoustic screens. They do not need to be that high – it is sufficient to have them between 70 and 80 centimetres to dampen the sound of the friction from the tyres. But even individual buildings with facades that employ acoustic design have an effect on the urban environment”, says Björn Hellström. Now, research on sustainable urban development has also begun to consider the sounds of the city. Citylab Action – a support concept for the creation of qualitative and effective work processes in urban development projects – was recently introduced. The concept is the brainchild of Citylab, a forum for shared knowledge in sustainable urban development organised by Sweden Green Building Council.

“Municipalities and builders can access help in creating an organisation in which all fields of competence, including acoustics, are included. We are also now beginning to see certification systems that encompass the sound environment. Five or ten years ago there was nothing”, says Björn Hellström.

Stadens ljud – samexistens och metodutveckling för ökad stadskvalitet. The report is available in Swedish at the website of Helsingborg.

Read more:FACTS:

Regulations that concern noiseThe Planning and Building Act and the Environmen-tal Code apply in parallel. As of 2015 there has been an exception regarding noise whereby a noise exposure that has been approved in the planning and building permit stage is also approved in later assessments, under the Environmental Code.

As a basis for the determination of acceptable noi-se levels, the government enacted the Ordinance on target values for traffic noise in conjunction with housing construction (2015:216).

29URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNING CHAPTER 2Sedum roof at bus stop contributes to a better sound environment. Photo: Creative commons


During the period of modernism, daylight flooded into the rooms, and there was plenty of space between buildings. Today, dense cities are in fashion. Architectural trends change, but human beings’ need for sunlight and daylight does not.

“For thousands of years, human beings needed the body’s day and night clocks to survive. The past few centuries of electricity have changed our diurnal rhythm, but our genes have not adapted yet. The body’s cells are still programmed to work in daylight”, says Marie-Claude Dubois, daylight expert at White and lecturer at the Engineering Faculty of Lund University.

Our diurnal rhythm is regulated by daylight, which controls the production of the hormones melatonin and cortisol. Alertness is affected most by blue light, which stops the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. The blue light in daylight is unbeatable even on cloudy days – neither screens nor lighting reach the same strength.

“Daylight also has great significance for our visual perception ability. This is because it contains the entire spectrum of colours – all the wavelengths. Our eyes and our brains perform better in daylight”, says Marie-Claude Dubois.A functioning diurnal rhythm is the foundation of health and well-being, but daylight also contributes to a more effective immune system. When skin is exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun, vitamin D is formed. Low levels of vitamin D are associated with several of our most common illnesses: cancer, depression, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. UV radiation also has an antibacterial effect.

“The lack of daylight leads to ill-health, but so does stress and a sedentary lifestyle. The body has not yet adapted to modern society”, says Marie-Claude Dubois.

Architecture can help to optimise daylight in a dense urban environment in several ways.

“It is important to have vertical variation in the amount of windows.

– Light is enormously important for human beings

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Despite the cold February day, the sun creates a pleasant warmth on the wall of the building. Photo: Mirja Ranesköld/Boverket

The lowest floors need to have more glass than the highest floors do. The lower parts of the facade should also have light, reflecting colours. The depth of the building is also significant, as is the layout. A bedroom might need less daylight”, says Marie-Claude Dubois.

Urban planning must also consider access to daylight throughout the year. The darker months of winter make tall buildings and narrow streets a bad combination.

Read more:The Light Revolution: Health, Architecture, and the Sun. Hobday, R.


Cities are becoming more dense, the energy performance of the buildings is improving and balconies are growing in size. Several of today’s building trends also work to limit access to daylight. This highlights the need for simpler and more flexible daylight requirements and new routines for urban planning and for issuing of building permits.

Over the past decade, there has been a greater focus on environmental and climate issues in urban planning and building.

“This is a positive development in many ways, but there are limits to how densely and energy-efficiently we can build before the supply of daylight is suffering”, says Paul Rogers, architect and daylight specialist at the Bureau of Architecture and Urbanism.

Increased building costs means that the price per square metre hits a record and that motivates builders and property owners to maximize area, both inside of buildings and in the areas that surround them.

“In Liljeholmen in Stockholm there is an apartment building that is built directly against a large rock outcropping with windows facing onto the rock face. Another example is inner courtyards being sacrificed to make room for more office space, the result in both cases being a drastic loss of daylight. Often in an office landscape people sit far from a window”, says Paul Rogers.

In well laid out flats, the balcony can become a valuable extra room. In the 1950s, the balcony was rarely deeper

than 1.4 metres, whereas today, the balcony depth of newly produced flats can be more than two metres. “That such large balconies entail less daylight in the flat is something not many people think about. The trend of glazing balconies also affects the amount of daylight coming into an apartment”, says Paul Rogers.

DAYLIGHT REQUIREMENTS NOT APPLIEDThe existing regulatory structure reinforces the problem. Included in the EU’s strategy to address climate changes is the requirement to reduce buildings’ energy consumption. But the measures that the construction industry takes in order to satisfy the requirements also lead to less daylight in the buildings: solar control glass, low-emission coatings, triple-glazed windows, greater room depth, thicker outer walls and reduced amounts of façade glazing. At the same time, environmental

– Daylight in a dense city

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34 URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNINGCHAPTER 2Daylight simulation over Hagastaden in Stockholm showing amount of daylight from a standardized cloudy sky reaching building facades. The dark blue areas are unlikely to meet the daylight requirement. This type of 3D simulationis appropriate to do early in the planning process. Illustration: Paul Rogers, Bureau of Architecture and Urbanism


certification systems set requirements on access to daylight. In order for a building to be ecolabelled according to Miljöbyggnad (a Swedish system for certifying buildings in relation to energy, indoor climate and materials) basically all of the rooms in the building must be in compliance with the government requirements, a rule which many people consider unclear and outdated.

“Ecolabelling has made the building industry more aware of the daylight requirements; however, uncertainty regarding the rules has cost a lot of time and money”, says Paul Rogers.

Historically speaking, daylight has had a special position in Swedish urban planning and architecture. Light, air and hygiene were key words for functionalism, when the standard of housing in Sweden was improved in the post-war period. During a large part of the twentieth century there was simply no need for daylight regulation.

“Then came the oil crisis of the 1970s and window sizes decreased. A minimum level for daylight was then introduced – a daylight factor of one percent – to ensure there would be “satisfactory daylight”. The method, however, was awkward, and the result was that most people did not bother to calculate for daylight. There are many dark buildings from the 1980s with small windows”, says Paul Rogers.

The requirement is still a daylight factor of one percent, even if the current Building Regulations (BBR) also makes reference to a simplified method of calculation. If the conditions – room sizes, window glass, window dimensions, window placement – are according to standard, the room’s window glass area should be ten

percent of the floor area, to comply with the one-percent factor. Window area must be increased however depending on the proximity of surrounding obstructions. Daylight levels in existing buildings are currently unprotected under the current legislation – for example, when new buildings are built that reduce the amount of daylight reaching an existing property.

INCLUDING DAYLIGHT IN DETAILED DEVELOPMENT PLANSAt the EU level there is an initiative under way to establish standards for daylight and sunlight views. Paul Rogers is involved, developing proposals for an improved and modernised interpretation of the Swedish daylight

requirement. He believes the threshold values on what is a sufficient quantity of daylight should be flexible.“We need to distinguish between best practice and minimum requirements. One percent is easy to remember, but there are no scientific studies that show that it is exactly there that human health starts to be affected. Many of us grew up in homes with rooms where the daylight factor was about 0.6-0.7 percent. In cities’

core areas, almost all buildings have several rooms that do not meet the requirement”, says Paul Rogers.

He believes a reasonable minimum level would be significantly lower than one percent and that the rules must also take into consideration the function of different rooms and buildings.

“For example, it’s okay to have darker bedrooms, but preschools and housing for the elderly should have significantly greater access to daylight. Any exceptions

“When the conditionsare already clear in the detailed development

plan, it is easier to impose demands

in the building permit process”.


must be justified – for example, with reference to security and privacy”, says Paul Rogers.

A properly functioning daylight standard that is easy to apply would not only make things easier for the construction industry, but also for the municipalities that must ensure that the building regulations are followed.

“As it looks today, the municipalities are not comfortable with the issue. There is strong interest when you start talking about it, but the level of knowledge about daylight is low. I would like to see planners create their proposals in 3D and run computer simulations for daylight. It doesn’t take many hours to get an idea of the performance of a city block”, says Paul Rogers.

When the performance of a block is already clear in the detailed development plan, it is easier to impose demands in the building permit process.

“Then the building actors can already see in the plan what type of building and layout is required to satisfy the daylight requirements. It is possible to integrate environmental considerations, energy conservation and light considerations, but it has to be done at an early stage”, says Paul Rogers.

Daylight Requirements: Facts

According to the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's general building regulations, chapter BBR 6:322, rooms in which people spend time must have good access to direct daylight, and the recommended methodology for demonstrating this is a daylight factor of one percent. The daylight factor indicates the proportion of daylight from a cloudy sky that reaches a point at half room’s depth. According to SS 91 42 01, a simplified calculation yields a standard value for glass area to floor area. If the standard is met, the window glass area should be 10 percent of the floor area.

Miljöbyggnad: Facts

Miljöbyggnad is administered by the Sweden Green Building Council, SGBC, which both manages certification and maintains the certification system. The certification system is based partly on Swedish building and other government regulations, and partly on Swedish standard practice. The Miljöbyggnad system provides confirmation of key qualities relating to energy use, indoor environment and building materials. It is applicable to both newly produced and existing buildings.

Byggnadsutformning – Dagsljus – Förenklad metod för kontroll av erforderlig fönsterglasarea. Svensk standard, SS 914201

Räkna med Dagsljus. Löfberg, H. A.

Site Layout planning for Daylight and Sunlight.Littlefair, P. J.

Average Daylight Factor: A simple basis for daylight design. Littlefair, P. J.

Daylighting Architecture and Design. Tregenza, P. and Wilson, M.

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Examples3.

LINDÄNGEN IN MALMÖMore and larger flats are being built here to meet the needs of the citizens. At the same time, new job opportunities are created for those living in the area.

FRÖLUNDA IN GOTHENBURGThe Million Homes Programme was supplemented with a different type of housing.

KARLSHAMNRow houses were built in the center of the city without requiring the use of any land.

UPPSALANew urban development will connect parts of the citythat were previously separated by a power line corridor.

MIDSOMMARKRANSEN IN STOCKHOLMThe high cultural-historical value of the site was well integrated in the design of the new residential buildings.

PITEÅLand was released to a new social gathering spot, when an old parking deck was torn down.

When supplementations are made in cities and communities, it is obviously important to take advantage of existing qualities and values. It is also important that what we add brings added value to the site – or perhaps to the city or the community as a whole, depending on what type of addition we make. In this part, we present municipal projects that have contributed to more than just physical structures.


LINDÄNGEN, MALMÖBuilding stakeholders (the construction industry) often consider it unprofitable to invest in Million Homes Programme areas. However such areas often include extensive space to be developed. In Lindängen, no new housing has been built in over 30 years, despite the fact that the population there has grown by a few thousand inhabitants. The area is in great need of larger flats for families with children, who today are often living in cramped conditions.

The City of Malmö has utilised the tool of subsidising land prices to make certain areas of the city more attractive. When Vårsången in Lindängen was to be expanded, the City of Malmö elected to lower the site-lease rent for the first few years, and then gradually increase it in a stepwise fashion. This made it possible to build new multi-dwelling buildings in a former parking lot. In total the AB Trianon property company will build 156 flats, of which 92 will be rental flats that will be completed in 2017. People who already live in Vårsången

will have priority for the new flats. Most of the flats will have four or more bedrooms, to meet the need for large flats.

Over and above building more residential units, the City of Malmö has the goal of developing the sense of social engagement in the area. The goal is that one-quarter of those who will be working in maintenance and upkeep at Vårsången will be hired from Lindängen. The idea originated in a model developed as part of the project Bygga om dialogen [the dialogue of re-building]. The project received funding from the Sustainable Cities Delegation (DHS). The project ran from 2012-2014 and was aimed at creating community participation in the area, as well as creating jobs in premises and property management among unemployed young people in Lindängen. The project reduced vandalism and increased residents’ involvement in the local neighbourhood. The City of Malmö found that both economic and social long-term gains are dependent on the residents’ having employment and quality of life.

Housing and jobs where needed

The four projected residential buildings can be seen at the right in the photo.Aerial photo: Ingvar Nilsson Photo montage: Andreas Frykman, Panorama arkitekter


Complementary form of housing in the area of the Million Homes Programme*

Frölunda in Gothenburg The placement of the row houses in the surrounding environment. Photo: Kalle Sanner

FRÖLUNDA, GOTHENBURGThe Frölunda district was largely built during the years of the Million Homes Programme. It is a typical suburb, organised by function, with an industrial area, sports facilities, cultural buildings, parks, commercial and public services.

Multi-unit apartment buildings and rental flats dominate the district, and two-thirds of the units are one and two-bedroom flats. Characteristic is the large scale, with9 to 13-storey buildings.

In Frölunda, slightly over 29 percent of the population is older than 65 years. That is almost double the proportion for Gothenburg as a whole. Frölunda is facing a generation shift and needs housing primarily for families with young children to achieve a mixed-age population structure.

In 2005, the City of Gothenburg created a planning programme for large parts of Frölunda designed to supplement the existing buildings with a different type of housing, forms of tenure, and varying flat sizes. The densification in Frölunda is also intended to strengthen the customer base of the

local squares and the public services, and to increasesafety in the area.

The City of Gothenburg sold a gravel parking lot to the Äppelträdgården company, which was formed by White and FO Peterson & Söner Byggnads AB. They wanted to create an attractive residential structure on a site without identity and a green complement to the otherwise monotonous environment of the district. The idea was to build atrium row houses with their own gardens, as well as to create common areas. The company wanted to achieve a mix of different housing types and forms, to enable people in the area to choose how they wanted to live and to move according to their changing needs.

The first phase of Äppelträdgården, which was completed in June 2011, consisted of twelve rental row houses and seven full ownership atrium row houses. The buildings have a high sustainability profile and are environmentally certified as meeting the requirements Miljöbyggnad Gold. The rental units were let relatively quickly, whereas sales of the freehold units did not take off until the units were completed. Äppelträdgården will consist of four small-scale residential city blocks when completed in 2017-2018. In total, 75 residential units are projected, of which 40 are to be rental units.

41URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNING CHAPTER 3The new row house area in the foreground and the old Million Homes Programme in the background. Photo: Hans Wretling

* The Million Homes Programme (“Miljonprogrammet”) is a commonly used expression for all homes built in Sweden between 1965 and 1974. More than a million homes were built during this period.


Densification without claiming new ground

The view from the row houses and their placement on the roof. Photo: Emina Kovacic

KARLSHAMNThe demand for housing in central Karlshamn is strong, but the available land is scarce. The comprehensive plan states that the city center, which is of national interest as a cultural environment, is to be developed, and that the city’s mix of housing and commercial premises shall be both preserved and strengthened. The Municipalityhas allowed the possibility of vertical densification of centrally located three-storey properties that have no elevator. If the property owners add a few more stories, they may take the opportunity to install elevators, thus making the properties more accessible.

Such vertical densification has been done on the roof over a shopping mall. In 2013, four duplexes were built facing Drottninggatan in the central part of Karlshamn, with direct access to a varied range of services such as shops, library, preschool and school. The surrounding buildings are mainly from the 1800s and are one to three storeys high. The shopping mall, which was built in the 1970s, has large window panels and a flat roof, and therefore differs from the neighbouring buildings – but it has similar material and colour. The new duplexes are adapted so as to blend into their surroundings with regards to material, scale and volume.

Phase 2 was begun in 2015 with three more duplexes and one stand-alone house built on the roof. It was the property owner that took the initiative for the project in consultation with the Municipality, and succeeded in

carrying it out with the help of three-dimensional property formation. Since there was already access to essential infrastructure and the structure had good technical properties, the building process was straightforward. Interest from potential buyers was cool at first, but with the help of a real estate brokerage this soon changed. The second phase was fully sold well before construction started.

The new residential units have made the area safer, as there is now movement in the building even after the mall is closed. The project has also served as marketing for the Municipality. Many people have been interested in finding out how to successfully add buildings in a city that is of national interest as a cultural environment. Many Swedish cities have buildings that are similar to the shopping mall – big-box department stores with flat roofs. Consequently, similar projects could easily be carried out in other locations as well.

Karlshamn also has several other projects under way in which they are building on top of existing buildings, and they recently took inventory of all of the detailed development plans to find out if there were any unutilised building rights. The work is still in its early stages, but the hope is to densify areas close to the city by informing property owners that they have unutilised building rights and if so to pair the property owners up with potential stakeholders.


View of the row houses on top of the shopping mall. Photo: Emina Kovacic


ÖSTRA SALA BACKE, UPPSALAUppsala has a vision to re-unite the city and heal a rift. On a narrow strip of land that was previously a power line corridor, they are now building a new neighbourhood, Östra Sala backe. The power line used to be a barrier between the neighbourhoods of Sala backe and Årsta, but the removal of the power line in 2010 released a large area that given new development could serve to re-integrate the neighbourhoods. Along with the new development, new values are being added to the existing areas and existing qualities are being highlighted.

The development will take place in four phases, which will be ongoing until the middle of the 2020s. Phase 1 was commenced in 2015. The intent to develop the land in the power line corridor was already in Uppsala’s comprehensive plan from 2002, when the Municipality, Svenska Kraftnät and Vattenfall started discussing relocating the power line. The new buildings will supply slightly more than 2,500 new flats, and new premises for activities, preschools and workplaces. The Fyrislundsgatan thoroughfare that cuts through the area is to become a city street to reduce the barrier effect. This way, contact between areas and with the rest of Uppsala will increase. Two existing neighbourhood parks, in Årsta and Sala backe, are being upgraded and will acquire new functions that will hopefully attract other inhabitants and thus create new social hubs. The existing neighbourhood center, Årsta Torg square, is to be developed so that it will be the area’s new center for business, services and activities. There is a strong focus on achieving a good dialogue with the inhabitants of the area, with regards to public spaces and social hubs.

What distinguishes the project is a great focus on architectural and sustainability issues. In the dialogue-based land allocation process a number of quality and

sustainability criteria were developed and were then incorporated into the land allocation agreement. During the detailed development plan process, these criteria were further developed ahead of the sale of the land. The land prices were fixed and the Municipality selected developers based on how well they achieved the aims of the programme. The builders were required to describe how they would contribute to realising the criteria. The detailed development plan, which included everything from building heights to volumes, was then developed jointly with all of the architects and builders. In order to achieve variation in architecture, forms of tenure and operations, the planners wanted a small-scale ownership

Development connecting city districts

Bostad

Främst lokal

Förskola/vårdboende

Grönt torg

Årsta

Sala backe

Källparken

Knäckepilen

Daggvidet

Bäckrosen

Nattviolen

Grönt torgGC-tunnel

sekundär tvärgata

sekundär tvärgata

Alrunegatan

Fyrislundsgatan

Johannesbäcksgatan

Östra Sala backe etapp 1Illustrationsplan

Skala 1:1000 (A1)Förhandskopia 2012-12-17

Gräslöksgatan

Källparksgatan

Gröna gatan

VY 3

VY 4

VY 2

VY 1

Illustrative plan, Phase 1 Photo: Uppsala Municipality

Dwelling

Primary premises

Preschool/ Nursing home


The perspective on the new urban development along the stretch of the former power line corridor.Photo: Uppsala Municipality

within the block. However, it has been difficult to allocate small plots for approximately 20 flats.

One success factor for the setting of high quality requirements has been that the project took place in cooperation with the Land and Development Office and the City Planning Office. This ensures that the implementation questions have been present from the start of the planning process, and the city building issues and design expertise have been present during the land

allocation stages. The fact that the plan was developed in an early dialogue involving the builders and the architects contributed to the successful result. Moreover, the quality and sustainability programme motivated and encouraged the builders to come up with better sustainability solutions. A further success factor is that the land allocations were evaluated on quality and not price. Significant advantages have been won from continuously learning from the experiences made and then developing the lessons learned, before the next phase.


MIDSOMMARKRANSEN, STOCKHOLMLM-staden, which lies in the Midsommarkransen area south of Stockholm’s city center, is of great cultural and historic value. The buildings were erected as housing for the workers at the end of the 1930s when the LM Ericsson company moved to its new plant at Telefonplan. The buildings in the LM-staden are placed on natural land and oriented in parallel to each other in order to let in as much light as possible. The buildings are typical for the functionalist style, with facades of brick overlaid with plaster in pale yellow and red tones. The area contains much vegetation and the natural growth extends right up to the building facades. North of the Kransbindarvägen road, which winds around Midsommarkransen, lies a residential area with three-storey apartment buildings from the 1940s. This area is characterised as a community of small buildings.

In the comprehensive plan Midsommarkransen is identified as an area with a fairly dense building profile that is part of the expansion area of the city center. The overall aim is to create a denser and more cohesive, multifaceted, and dynamic urban environment with opportunities for a broader supply of housing, operations, services, etc. To enable the building of 38 new urban row houses and a preschool, a detailed development plan was made. The buildings were completed in 2014, and include both rental flats and tenant-owned flats. The rock faces and the trees have been preserved to the greatest possible extent. The transition between the buildings and the park has low supporting walls and steps in the same material as the buildings. The buildings vary in height so as to connect at the top with the steep terrain. The buildings have the same colouring as the LM-staden and are adapted to the smaller scale and character of the area.

Supplementing in an environment of cultural and historical value

Illustrative plan showing row house placement in the area. Photo: Realarchitektur

47URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNING CHAPTER 3The building proportions, facades and colours are adapted to the surrounding area called LM-staden. Photo: Felix Odell


PITEÅPiteå Municipality has an urban environment programme under way for its city center. They are careful to ensure that all new additions have both architectonic quality and contribute to the development of Piteå’s city life. When the old parking deck, Löjan, came to the end of its useful life, the Municipality was therefore anxious to ensure that the new structure would be something more than a traditional parking garage. The Municipality arranged an architect competition, and in December 2012, a winning proposal was presented: “Pite dances and smiles” by Henning Larsen Architects and White. The Stadsberget parking garage, which was inaugurated in summer 2015, contains 230 parking spaces, distributed over five levels.

It also includes parking for bicycles and facilities for charging electrical cars. The builder is Piteå Municipality. Stadsberget, however, is much more than just a parking garage: it is also a new public space. The slope down from the “mountain” can serve as a tobogganing slope in the winter, and the amphitheatre-like steps can be used as seating for different arrangements. In 2016, the Municipality expects to finish off the project with the addition of a roof. The top of the “mountain” will then be a place to visit to enjoy a fine view or the evening sun, and where there is room for various activities.The parking garage has a concrete frame with a facade of louvres in larch wood of varying depths. The design

New parking garage creates meeting point

The steps served as bleachers at the inauguration of Stadsberget. Photo: Piteå Tidning


produces a flexible, soft facade, while also ensuring that the building is airy, as it is ventilated with natural ventilation. The airiness combined with the lighting ensure that it feels safe to be in the parking garage. When it is dark out, the light wanders and sweeps over the facade like the Northern Lights.

The city blocks around the Stadsberget area are designed to form a new urban hub. The old parking deck impeded the movement pattern of the city center but once it was torn down a route opened up toward the church. The new parking garage only occupies half of the land surface compared to the old deck, which creates room for a new city square. New places to hang out at are precisely what’s requested by Piteå’s young people in particular.

When the Municipality was preparing to launch the planning programme for the adjacent blocks, they arranged a workshop to gather potential suggestions for development. The Municipality, property owners and consultants were then assigned to evaluate the suggestions in terms of three themes: connections, city life and function mix. The planning programme has now been adopted and in the consulting document, there is the unanimous intention to keep the height of the future

development low, in consideration of the light conditions and the small-scale cityscape that are typical for Piteå. In Piteå, the sun is very low in the sky during the winter, which produces long shadows. Surfaces that do not receive sunlight become cold and unhospitable and are unsuitable as squares or places that are supposed to encourage activity and invite people to “hang out”. To enable the stakeholders to discuss the effect of tall buildings, a height analysis was carried out.

The Municipality expects to get under way with the creation of the detailed development plan in spring 2016. The basic idea of the plan is to mix areas for social interaction, flats and commercial and public premises. The focus is on small flats that are suitable for the younger members of the population. The buildings are to be placed so that they frame the square.

The challenge that the Municipality faces is to go from idea to completion, so that the Stadsberget hill and the square may create an exciting space that will appeal to many. Until then, Piteå plans to use the site for temporary arrangements.

Montage showing what Stadsberget might look like during winter. Photo: White

50 URBAN DENSITY DONE RIGHT – SWEDISH NATIONAL BOARD OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNINGLITERATURE

LiteratureRead more at boverket.se and at PBL Kunskapsbanken. (In Swedish only)

Amcoff, J. (2015).Rekordsnabb urbanisering av Sverige är en myt. Dagens nyheter, 15 June

Andersson, T. (2015).Förtätningen har sina gränser. Svenska Dagbladet, 21 July

Bengtsson, G. (2015).Ta till er av internationella exempel. Göteborgs-Posten, 7 April

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Berghauser Pont, M. and Haupt, P. (2005).The Spacemate – Density and the Typomorphology of the Urban Fabric.Nordisk Arkitekturforskning, 2005

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Building a city is like doing a puzzle and densifying the city is like finding the missing piece. But you have to pay attention since you cannot squeeze in just any piece at the site. The key is to choose the best — the one that really fits.

This publication was produced by the Swedish National Board of Housing, Buildning and Planning to provide examples of how densification can take place and to highlight some important things to think about.

The publication is available as a pdf on the web site. You can also order printed copies. This publication can be obtained in alternative formats, upon request.

BoverketBox 534, 371 23 KarlskronaPhone: +46 455 35 30 00Website: www.boverket.seE-mail: [email protected]

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