The Case of Hammarby Sjöstad - A model of the goals of the EU’s Urban Agenda?

The Case of Hammarby Sjöstad

A model of the goals of the EU’s Urban Agenda?

Nina Lindholm

European Studies: Politics, Societies and Cultures

Bachelor Level

15 ECTS

VT 2019

Abstract

Fast urbanization all over the globe has resulted in the need of sustainable urban development. The European Union that has been aiming to become a leader in sustainability globally, has answered to this need by creating an Urban Agenda that aims to guide the EU member states and cities to develop in sustainable matter. However, the document itself is not that powerful, since it cannot bind the EU member states to execute urbanization in sustainable matters.

Hammarby Sjöstad is one of the leading sustainable urban development projects in Sweden. This project has managed to draw attention globally. It is visited from different parts of the globe, and it’s one Stockholm City’s largest neighborhood projects. The project has even been part of creating a sustainability model on a Swedish national level, this model is called the Hammarby model. The case study of Hammarby Sjöstad is an interesting way to approach sustainable urban development in European level. With the theory of New Urbanism, the project neighborhood is scrutinized, to find out how sustainable it actually is and how well it relates to the EU’s Urban Agenda. From an environmental perspective, it has a lot of in common with the EU’s Urban Agenda, while from a social point of view, the Hammarby Sjöstad project has not managed to become as sustainable that it has been aiming to become.

Key Words: Hammarby Sjöstad, EU Urban Agenda, Sustainable Development, Urban Development, City Planning

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT ...0

1. INTRODUCTION ...3

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...5

3. RESEARCH QUESTION ...9

4. KEY CONCEPTS AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 10

4.1SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ... 11

4.2URBAN PLANNING AND NEW URBANISM ... 12

5. METHODOLOGY AND MATERIAL ... 14

5.1METHOD:CASE STUDY ... 14

5.1MATERIAL AND DATA ... 15

5.2ISSUES ... 16

6 CONTEXT SWEDEN – STOCKHOLM – HAMMARBY SJÖSTAD ... 17

6.1STOCKHOLM ... 17

6.2HAMMARBY SJÖSTAD ... 18

7 ANALYSIS ... 20

7.1THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS ... 21

7.2THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS ... 27

8. CONCLUSION ... 33

1.

Introduction

Today more than half of the world’s population live in urban areas. This means that all countries in the globe are becoming increasingly urbanized. Urbanization shortly means that people are moving from rural, dispersed settlements to the cities that are high density living areas. This phenomenon has been strongly linked to industrialization. “Cities and towns become hubs of trade and culture, and more people start moving out of the country to gain access to some of these social and financial benefits.” (O’Donnel, 2018). Urbanization has both positive and negative effects. When cities grow, it usually increases the employment level. Cities usually offer more access for the people, like access to schools and health services. However, when the urbanization becomes too fast and the cities grows out of their capacity, it has negative effects like environmental problems, inequality and lack of housing (O’Donnel, 2018). Urbanization is both a challenge in today’s world, and in the future. In 2006 at the UN World Urban Forum, held in Vancouver, nations from different parts of the world highlighted the importance of sustainable urbanization. This green urbanization would become one of the key concepts that would help to solve the global environmental problems (Beatley, 2012: 2). In May 2018 the United Nations published Revision of World Urbanization Prospects. In this publication it was highlighted that “Understanding the key trends in urbanization likely to unfold over the coming years is crucial to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including efforts to forge a new framework for urban development.” (United Nations, 2018). Sustainable development of the cities has become an essential part of the urbanization.

Europe is one of the most urbanized continents in the world. Its capital cities and regions have been developing fast in the recent years. The regional and urban growth has set up various challenges from environmental problems to housing crises (Eurostat, 2018: 13). Even though urbanization is one of the concerns of the European Union, it does not have a common binding policy considering the land use or urban planning. Rather, the EU has developed policies with urban dimensions like the Transportation Policy, Environmental Policy, and the Cohesion Policy (Purkarthofer, 2019: 88). These policies include some reference to sustainable urbanization, but cannot alone bind the member states to sustainable urban development. Further, in 2016, the Urban Agenda for the EU was established in Amsterdam. This Agenda, like its predecessors, was not binding but it highlights the importance of creating a common urban policy for the EU (European Union, 2016: 3). In 2018, The European Union published the Eurostat Regional Yearbook 2018, where the urban development in EU was described as: “The various dimensions of urban life – economic, social, cultural and environmental – are closely interrelated. Successful urban developments are often based on coordinated/integrated approaches that seek to balance these dimensions through a range of policy measures such as urban renewal,

increasing education opportunities, preventing crime, encouraging social inclusion or environmental protection.” (Eurostat, 2018: 19).

Like in other parts of Europe, in Sweden the urbanization processes started in the end of 19th

century, during the industrial revolution (Svanström, 2015). It happened quite fast. While in the end

of the 19th _{century, 15% of the Swedish population lived in urban areas, by the beginning of the 21}st

century over 80% of the population lived in the cities. Currently the largest city in Sweden is its capital Stockholm. It is estimated that in 2019 over 1 million people will be living in Stockholm City, and over 2 million people will be living in Stor-Stockholm which is the metropolitan area of Stockholm. It consists of the city of Stockholm and 25 municipalities located close to Stockholm (Stockholms Stad, 2018: 11). Sweden has been one of the frontrunners of sustainability and sustainable development. In 2018, RobecoSAM, which is an investment specialist company that focuses on sustainability and sustainable economic investments (RobecoSAM, 2018), published a Country Sustainability Ranking Update. This update revealed that Sweden is the leader in sustainability globally. According to this update Sweden has been successful developing sustainability in the three different dimensions of sustainability; environmental, social and governance sustainability. It has also been fairly successful in the sustainable urban development. Sustainable neighborhoods like Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm have been globally recognized for their sustainable urban planning processes (Folletta, 2014:32). Hammarby Sjöstad is a neighborhood that has been designed with sustainability in mind -focus. The planners of Hammarby Sjöstad have been working closely together with two other Nordic Capitals, Helsinki and Copenhagen and their urban planners that are creating similar neighborhoods to be able to find innovative solutions sustainable neighborhoods (Beatley, 2012: 300).

Like mentioned, Hammarby Sjöstad has been one of Stockholm’s flag ship projects of sustainable urban planning. It has been described as “an international role model / example” (Stockholms Stad, 2011) [my translation]. The Hammarby Sjöstad project started in the late 1980s when the planning started. Already then, the focus was on environmental and sustainable urban development in the neighborhood (Stockholms Stad, 2011). What makes it an interesting case is that it aims to be an international role model of sustainable urban planning and construction. There are 10 000 visitors from all over the world visiting the area yearly (Stockholms Stad, 2011). What is it that makes this area a model for sustainable urban development? Since Sweden and Stockholm are part of the European Union, how does the area relate to EU’s Urban Agenda, one of the main documents of European urbanization?

The case study that will be researched in this dissertation is based on Hammarby Sjöstad. The data from this case study will later be analysed with theory drawn from the theory chapter and will be compared to the goals of EU’s Urban Agenda. The research question studied in this thesis is: How does

The thesis is constructed in following way:

Chapter 2 discusses the previous literature, and what has been previously written about sustainable urban development on the EU level.

Chapter 3 scrutinizes the research question more in detailed and explains how it differs from the previous literature.

Chapter 4 introduces the key concepts and theories that will be used in the analysis of the thesis, like sustainability and the theory of New Urbanism.

Chapter 5 discusses about the case study method, data and material that is used in the analysis of the dissertation, and the issues related to the method and material presented in this chapter.

Chapter 6 explains why Stockholm and Hammarby Sjöstad were chosen for the purpose of this study. Chapter 7 analyses the method and material by using the concepts and theories discussed in earlier chapters.

Chapter 8 concludes and presents the findings of this dissertation.

2.

Literature review

To be able to go deeper into the research topic of sustainable urban development that is conducted in this dissertation, it is important to understand what has been written before about the topic of sustainable urbanization and its different dimensions on the EU level.

Rydin’s and Moore’s chapter, Sustainable Construction and Policy Learning in Europe: Cascades, Networks or Fragmentation? in the book Sustainable Urban development: Changing Professional Practice (2008) discusses the learning and development of sustainable construction in Europe (Rydin & Moore in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 27). More detailed, the chapter examines “…how policy learning about sustainable construction is being promoted across European and national levels, and reflects on the lessons for understanding European governance.” (Rydin & Moore in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 28). While sustainable construction introduces more of a technical aspect towards the sustainable urban development in Europe, it is a major part of it. Without sustainable construction and use of sustainable materials in the processes of building and creating neighborhoods, the urbanization cannot happen on sustainable terms.

In the beginning of the chapter, Rydin and Moore define what policy learning is and how it works on a European level. They highlight that policy learning is based on networks and their interactions (Rydin & Moore in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 29). Policy learning can be approached from two perspectives that are linked to multilevel governance. There are two types of multilevel governance mentioned in the chapter. The type I is a hierarchical approach, which means that the

policy learning processes are based on hierarchy, where the policies are set on a higher level and then shaped on a local level where the policies have most effect on (Rydin & Moore in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 30). The second type of multilevel governance, named as Type II, is a more complex and fluid model, where the jurisdictions and areas of responsibility are mixed. This type of multilevel governance makes it more effective to learn from the policies, since it breaks down the established barriers between different actors from governmental level to organizations and companies working on construction, and this way connects all of these actors closer to each other, where the knowledge of the policies can be discussed more effectively (Rydin & Moore in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 30).

The EU’s strategies and policies on sustainable urban development is based largely on networks. These networks contain members from different levels, from the EU, national and local level to also non-governmental and private sectors. These networks work with changing information and aim to create more sustainable approach of both urbanization and urban construction. However, these networks tend to have a limited access. Sometimes the actors like smaller construction companies that are an important part of the construction business all over Europe tend to be left out of these networks. This means that all the policies, strategies and knowledge that is shared in these networks don’t reach those actors effectively (Rydin & Moore in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 36). One other grievance that Rydin and Moore raise is the problem with transfer and translation. The problem with transfer is that the knowledge delivered to the EU considering sustainable construction can take a long time to get processed. The translation is also becoming problematic, since the EU is needs to deliver the policies and strategies in the main EU languages. “Documents are now translated into fewer (usually three) languages and are often reduced in length to keep costs of translation down…” (Rydin & Moore in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 38). This means that the documents are not available for everyone, since they are not translated into all of the EU’s official languages.

What is highlighted in the chapter written by Rydin and Moore is that the EU does not really have an urban policy or planning policies, since it does not have formal authority on that level. This is due to the principle of subsidiarity. The principle of subsidiarity is part of the Treaty of the European Union that states that the EU does not have exclusive competence over its member states. According to the principle of subsidiarity, the power that is exercised in the EU should be done on a sufficient level, and as close to the citizens as possible (Panizza, 2019). For example, the urban planning and construction policies are linked closely to the city or regional level, which means that the EU cannot really intervene with those matters with legally binding directives (Rydin & Moore in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 37).

While Rydin and Moore discuss about the policy cascades in urban construction on a European level, Thomas Scheck, Ivan Dejmal and Ger de Vries approach EU’s urban dimensions and construction

construction rules and policies could be more effectively executed, while Scheck, Dejmal, and de Vries emphasize the matter of member states own interest to implement, and put sustainable urban development in to action. Since, like mentioned earlier, the principle of subsidiarity steers EU’s ways to effect on local level, the member states need to have their own will to move forward with sustainable urbanization and construction (Scheck et al. in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 168).

In the chapter Sustainable Construction and Urbanism in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic: Challenges of Today’s Political and Professional Context, Scheck, Dejmal and de Vries point out that in Europe the sustainable urban development is in very different levels in the EU member states. The authors aim to show this by comparing two different EU member states, The Netherlands and Czech Republic. The authors start the comparison by stating that while The Netherlands and Czech Republic are politically and economically on a similar level, they are very different when considering the sustainable urban development in these countries and their cities. The Netherlands has been a pioneer on the sustainable construction and urban development (Scheck et al. in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 150), while in the Czech Republic the urban development has been very unsustainable. In Czech Republic the neighborhoods are mostly been built for residential usage, without any mixed functions like services or work opportunities. This kind of neighborhood development is linked to the socialist political ideology (Scheck et al. in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 162). However, these kinds of neighborhoods are very vulnerable to segregation. Also, the materials that were used to build the new neighborhoods in the Czech Republic were not as sustainable as in the Netherlands. Even after joining the European Union, the Czech Republic has not shown interest towards EU’s sustainable urban agendas or policies, while the Netherlands is one of the leading countries in this area (Scheck et al. in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 168).

While sustainable urbanization is highlighted in EU’s different policies and agendas, there still are big differences between how the EU member states are concerned about the sustainability of urban development. The Czech Republic was part of the Soviet Union and communism, which has had an effect of the urban development of the country. Before and after joining the EU, the Czech state has been focusing on developing its politics and economy to the EU level, so the sustainable urban development hasn’t been prioritized in similar ways than in the Netherlands. However, the authors highlight that maybe with the help from EU’s different urban dimensions, like partnerships and agendas, the urbanity in the Czech Republic might develop towards sustainability (Scheck et al. in Cooper & Symes, 2008: 168-169). EU member states own activity is very important in the matter of sustainability and urban development since the EU does not have the power to legislate binding law for this matter. The EU’s Urban Agenda was established in 2016 as a part of the Pact of Amsterdam. The aim of this document is to become one of the most important documents that would guide

sustainable urbanization on EU-level. Like Scheck, Dejmal and de Vries pointed out, the interest of the member states is important for developing sustainable urban development in EU level.

In an article Investigating the partnership approach in the EU Urban Agenda from the perspectives of soft planning, published in the journal of European Planning Studies, Purkarthofer discuss the Urban Agenda and the partnership tool that it introduces, and how the EU tries to develop urban development through this legally non-binding document. “The Urban Agenda is thus an intergovernmental policy paper at European level, which presents strategic objectives related to urban issues while being legally non-binding” (Purkarthofer, 2019: 86). In her text, Purkarthofer focuses on the different types of European policy interventions that are used in the urban context by the EU. This theory explains more clearly how the urban dimensions of the EU policies vary. Purkarthofer mentions the Vedung’s policy distinctions that is divided in to three different categories: ‘stick’, ‘carrot’ and ‘sermon’. The ‘stick’ category in the case of urban policies on the EU level means the EU directives that are legally binding and needs to be incorporated into the national law of the member states (Purkarthofer, 2019: 88). One example given by the author is the Environmental Noise Directive. The second category, ‘carrot’ means the different ‘rewards’ that the EU gives to the urban areas and cities that follow the guidelines of the different EU policies and agendas considering urban development. These rewards are for example, the funding of different urban projects (Purkarthofer, 2019: 88). The third category ‘sermon’ means the legally non-binding agendas that work more as a guideline of how to plan better cities (Purkarthofer, 2019: 88). The main goal for the European Urban Agenda is to create common European planning goals that focus for example, on the environmental sustainability and fairly priced housing in new neighborhoods (European Union, 2016: iii). The Urban Agenda was created by the Council of Ministers of the European Union. It was ratified in 2016. The Agenda is based on the Partnership tool. This kind of Partnership approach to the urban planning and development isn’t new on the European level. For example, EUROCITIES, founded in 1986, is a network of European Cities that aims to work together to develop the cities in innovative ways (EUROCITIES, 2019). The Urban Agenda partnership model focuses “…on cities and their surroundings, the involvement of urban authorities is regarded crucial for its successful implementation.” (Purkarthofer, 2019: 94). The difference between EUROCITIES and the Urban Agenda is that EUROCITIES works more as a platform for cities and local governments to work together, and it is also closely linked to the EU level strategic priorities (EUROCITIES, 2019). The Urban Agenda’s partnership model aims to bring both the cities, and other stakeholders, like construction and energy companies together, to work closely to develop and plan sustainable urbanization. The aim of the Urban Agenda is in the long run to create binding EU policies for urbanization. In her text, Purkarthofer criticizes the Urban Agenda, and states that the partnership model might be difficult to sustain. She uses the Austrian Federal system as an example, “In the

Austrian federal system, for example, the main responsibilities regarding planning lie with the federal states, leaving the national level in a situation not unlike that of the EU.” (Purkarthofer, 2019: 95).

According to the previous literature, currently the EU is not able to create proper legislation considering sustainable urbanization. This is due to the principle of subsidiarity, and the different planning functions of the states. Also, the member states own will and interest to create and construct sustainable urbanization is important. However, the EU clearly does try to guide the member states towards it with the Urban Agenda, and the different funding performances, and rewards for cities that develop with sustainability in mind. However, without binding legislation it is hard to get all the member states to develop this kind of urbanization. While some member states like The Netherlands, and Sweden are interested in creating city structures that are sustainable, countries like the Czech Republic are not as interested in creating these kinds of functions for their cities.

3.

Research Question

The literature mentioned in the previous chapter, about the EU and its sustainable urban dimensions, has been criticizing EU’s power on the matter. While sustainable development and green policies have been a large part of EU’s policies, on a city level this has not been so visible yet. While some of the EU states and cities have been working hard towards sustainable urban development, some of the states have not been doing so much. Like mentioned earlier, the EU’s Urban Agenda was established by the council of the European Union in 2016. It was highlighted, that the sustainable growth of urban areas in EU are important part of succeeding in the EU 2020 objectives (European Union, 2016: 3). While the EU cannot legislate the urban development effectively enough, the help of urban authorities is crucial for executing this kind of development (European Union, 2016: 3).

This thesis approaches the EU’s Urban Agenda and its goals from a perspective of ecological and sustainable neighborhood. The Hammarby Sjöstad project has been marketed as an international example of neighborhood and city development that focuses on sustainability and environment (Stockholms Stad, 2011). The aim of this thesis is to scrutinize how well the development of this project relates to the goals of EU’s Urban Agenda, to see if Hammarby Sjöstad actually can be seen as a both international and European pioneer of sustainable urban development. To be able to do this, a case study will be conducted to collect data for the analysis. The analysis will be divided into two parts to be able to approach the question from two different perspectives that are intertwined together. These two approaches are the structure and the performance of the neighborhood. Picture 1 below visualizes the construction of the research question. The structure focus on what is physically in the

neighborhood and how well it has been placed there in comparison with the EU’s Urban Agenda and in relation to the theory of New Urbanism. The performance part of the analysis aims to show how the neighborhood works and how the infrastructures in the area function, again in comparison with the EU’s Urban Agenda and in relation to the New Urbanism theory. By analyzing both of these approaches this thesis aims to sketch how well the neighborhood is actually planned, and if it is also working like a sustainable neighborhood should be.

(Picture 1, made by the author)

4.

Key Concepts and Theoretical Framework

This chapter will present the theoretical framework and key concepts for this thesis and how it supports the research that is conducted regarding the case of Hammarby Sjöstad and the sustainable urban development in Stockholm. The chapter will be divided in to two parts, the first part considers the concept of sustainability and the second part focuses on urban planning and the theory of New Urbanism that will later be used in the analysis part of the thesis.

4.1 Sustainability and sustainable development

Sustainability is a complex concept that has its roots back in the mid 1980s. In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development introduced sustainability as a concept that focuses on meeting the needs of today while not compromising the needs and conditions of the future generations (Portney, 2015: 2-3). Sustainability is closely linked to the concept of sustainable development, which also refers to the same idea of developing today’s society while keeping in mind the future generations and their needs. Sustainability and its importance are recognized globally, but the concept itself is not often discussed. The concept is socially constructed, which means that it is not value neutral. This means that the concept can be used and understood differently depending on the context where it is presented (Wagnel, 2013:4).

The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development have three elements that help to explain the concepts and their scope better. These three elements are: economic, social and environmental (picture 2). These three elements are independent, although in the long run they will not be able to exist without each other (Portney, 2015: 7-8). According to this model sustainability and sustainable development can be achieved only if all of these elements are in balance and taken care of both on regional and global level (Portney, 2015: 6-7).

(Picture 2, made by the author)

From an EU’s perspective sustainability and sustainable development have become important over the years. The European Union has been aiming becoming a leader in sustainable development. The EU has been creating sustainable development strategies for its member states that follow the model of three dimensions of sustainability (Rodríguez-Ariza et al in Prado-Lorenzo & Sanchez, 2013:

3-4). However, like mentioned, since sustainability is a socially constructed concept, its importance and execution differs between the member states. For example, the Nordic Countries, including Sweden, Finland and Denmark are highly developed in sustainable matters, while member states that are in transition states, like the countries that joined the EU during the Eastern Enlargement have not been managing to reach similar levels of sustainable development (Rodríguez-Ariza et al in Prado-Lorenzo & Sanchez, 2013: 20). This shows how the importance of sustainable development and sustainability is valued differently within the EU. However, even though the importance differs from a member state to another, still the three dimensions of the sustainability are present in the EU’s sustainability guidelines.

4.2 Urban planning and New Urbanism

Shortly, urban planning can be explained as political and technical processes that aims to develop the land use, build environment and other infrastructures like roads and public transportation networks in urbanized areas (McGill University, 2019). Like mentioned, today over 50% of the world’s population lives in the cities. This makes urban planning even more important. Cities are growing rapidly, and without proper urban planning mechanisms cities might grow to unwanted directions. For example, slums are an example of uncontrollable urban development. Urban planning changes the cities and their structures and guides the growth so that it meets the needs of cities and improves the quality of life in cities (Washburn, 2013: 5).

New Urbanism is an urban planning theory that focuses on how cities are planned and built. The theory originates from the 1980s United States of America, but it has been influenced by the old European cities that were quite small but at the same time were really centralized and included and mixed the residential buildings and different services. The theory emphasizes compact and walkable neighborhoods in cities where the public spaces like streets and parks would be accessible for everyone. Through this kind of planning, theorists from the school of New Urbanism believe that cities would become more sustainable and equal for their citizen, and urban sprawl, that means unrestricted urban growth without detailed planning can be avoided (Briney, 2019).

One of the most influential New Urbanism authors is Jane Jacobs. Jacobs was American-Canadian journalist, author and urban activist who has been influencing in different fields, like in urban studies, economics and sociology. One of her most known publications, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), is one of the seminal books in the field of urban planning that explains the basis for the New Urbanism theory. In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jacobs introduces new principles for urban planning and development. Before Jacobs published her book, the field of urban development was suffused by urban renewal -strategy. It was strong during the mid 1900s. The main

idea behind the urban renewal -strategy was to clear out the unlivable areas and slums in inner cities and turn them into opportunities for private businesses and higher-class housing. The urban renewal strategy is closely linked to economic gains. Jacobs criticized urban renewal strategy for segregation and gentrification, because it is based on the privatizing of neighborhoods and changing the neighborhoods so that the lower-class people can’t afford living in the areas anymore (Jacobs, 1961: 65). Jacob states, that neighborhoods should be diverse, both socially and from the usage of the neighborhood. The neighborhoods should be built for multipurpose, and they should size-wise encouraging people to walk or bike rather than use cars (Jacobs, 1961: 16).

While New Urbanism has been a successful theory in the field of urban planning that fits well to other important planning goals like urban revitalization, growth management and environmental protection, it has been criticized a lot as well (Ellis, 2002: 261). One main reason why New Urbanism has been criticized is closely related to urban sprawl. Urban sprawl means uncontrollable urban growth. Urban sprawl has been seen mainly as negative concept, that is based on private urban development. While New Urbanism encourages the planning politics to be open to everyone, the urban sprawl theorists believe, that privatizing the urban development processes are better for the economic development of the cities. The sprawl theorists believe that the citizen should be seen as consumers and tax-payers who consume the city (Ellis, 2002: 263). New Urbanism has also been criticized of being too ‘nostalgic’. Like mentioned earlier, New Urbanists have been interested in old European cityscape and style. However, the world and the cities have changed from those days. For example, cars have become a large part of today’s city life. New Urbanist planners use old patterns rather than create new and innovative urban plans (Ellis, 2002: 268-269). Regarding cars, which according to New Urbanism should not be part of the city life, the theory has been getting critique because cities are dependent on cars and car traffic. The communities and neighborhoods build by following the guidelines of this theory, where the car traffic is limited have been compared to “islands in the middle of ocean”. This means that these neighborhoods are hard to reach, and this might decrease the popularity of the neighborhoods (Ellis, 2002: 264-265). Other main criticism that New Urbanism has been getting is related to the social side of theory, that encouraged creating mixed neighborhoods to create socially sustainable neighborhoods. The criticizers have for example mentioned that today’s world is more individualist than before. People enjoy their private space and life. Also, the communication has changed drastically in the world because of the development of telecommunication methods and the internet (Ellis, 2002: 268). In addition, the New Urbanism planning has not alone managed to create socially sustainable areas. The research made of this matter has shown, that in socially mixed neighborhoods, people from different social groups don’t interact with each other that much. This shows that there are cleavages between different type of housing,

and social classes, which for example modifies people’s opinions about the neighborhood (Trudeau, 2013: 442).

While the New Urbanism theory is criticized and it has its weaknesses, it’s still one of the leading theories in the field of urban planning, that focuses on urban planning and development from the three different perspectives of sustainability, economic, environmental and social (Ellis, 2002: 261), which makes it a good theoretical tool to be used for the purpose of this thesis. Since it is such a seminal theory in the field of urban planning, it is very likely, that Hammarby Sjöstad is related to it and that also the EU’s Urban Agenda has some similarities with the theory as well.

5.

Methodology and Material

This chapter will demonstrate how the study in this dissertation is constructed and what methods and material is used. Also, the limitations and ethical issues will be addressed in this chapter.

5.1 Method: Case Study

The research that is carried out in this dissertation is done as a qualitative research. “Qualitative research is a research strategy that usually emphasizes words rather that quantification in the collection and analysis of data” (Bryman, 2012: p. 380). The aim of this research is to examine sustainable urban development in Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm and how it relates to the EU’s Urban dimensions and goals. The examination will be conducted by using qualitative material, that derives from the case study, like the written documentation, visual master plan of Hammarby Sjöstad and observations that were made in the area.

The research method that is used to conduct this study is case study method, more precisely representative case study -method. This method is strongly linked to the qualitative research strategy. Representative case study method aims to focus on phenomena, in this case the sustainable urban development in a real-life context, and try to analyze it from that perspective (Bryman, 2012: p. 70). This means that the method investigated the global phenomena on a very local level, to mirror how these phenomena really affect on the social systems on a very local level. (Perry in May 2011: 221). The strengths of case study method are that it really delves into the case that is studied and aims to find out all the details needed for the analysis. This kind of case study method can be divided into two different categories, generalizing - and particularizing case study method. The generalizing case study method aims to generalize the findings in case study research the global world, while the particularizing case study method aims to find the differences and make the case a unique example of

a global phenomenon (Perry in May, 2011: 221). This study is more a particularizing case study, since it aims to scrutinize the case of Hammarby Sjöstad, which is a unique neighborhood, and find out how well does it relate to an international document.

Like any research method, case study method has its limitations and it needs to be explored from a critical perspective as well. Even though case study method is strongly linked to the qualitative research strategy, it needs to be taken into consideration that case studies can be also based on quantitative research or even mixed method researches. The research approach can affect on the results of the study. While the aim of case studies is to go into detail in the different phenomena, it can be really hard to generalize the cases on a global level (Perry in May, 2011: 225). One other weakness that needs to be mentioned is the problem with interpretation and bias. The case and the results of the study are usually based on the interpretation of the researcher. This means that if the research would be done again by a different researcher, the results could be different, depending on how the second researcher interprets the case and the material used in the study. The interpretation of the researcher can also make the result of the case study biased. When doing a case study research, the amount of material can be large, and the more the case is being researched, the more it can affect on the research’s opinion about the case. If the researcher starts to approach the case from a personal level, the results can be biased (Perry in May, 2011: 225-226).

5.1 Material and data

The material and data that will be used to analyze and answer to the research question that is focused

on in this research is part of the case study.Material that will be used in the case study is based on

qualitative data. The data will be divided into two categories; the written/visual data and the observation data. The written data is the main source and includes all the material and documentation of Hammarby Sjöstad. This includes material like the environmental program of Hammarby Sjöstad (1999), the detailed comprehensive plan of Hammarby Sjöstad (1991), and the Hammarby model document (2011). All of these were found through Stockholm City’s archives. The visual data, more precisely, the master plan of Hammarby Sjöstad from 2016 that was found through the case study is also from Stockholm City’s archives. However, even though the 2016 visual master plan is much newer, than the environmental program and the comprehensive plan they are still related to each other. This is because the 2016 visual master plan is based on the documents from the early 1990s. Yet, what needs to be kept in mind when using these documents in the analysis is that, for example, the construction technology has changed from the early 1990s to this day. This may have effect on the plans of Hammarby Sjöstad today.

The second main source of the data is based on the observations done by the author in Hammarby Sjöstad. While observation is a functional data source, it needs to be taken into consideration that the observations are done by one person and it is based on personal reflections of the area. This means that the data could be different if the observations would be conducted by someone else. The observation data will be visualized by using photographs and this way showing and explaining the data for the reader.

The data from the European Union that is used to compare the planning achievements in Hammarby Sjöstad is the Urban Agenda of the EU. This document was chosen because it is one of the leading documents that gives direction to sustainable urban development in Europe.

5.2 Issues

To be able to conduct a fair research, the issues considering the material need to be mentioned and covered.

The first issue that might affect the result of this study is the language and translations conducted while doing the research. To be able to conduct the research, translations from Swedish to English needed to be made. While Stockholm City offers documentation both in English and Swedish, the Swedish documentation of Hammarby Sjöstad was more comprehensive. However, translations can be problematic when conducting a research. Since terminology and connotations can differ from language to language, some words and phrases can be hard to translate, which means that the translations can lose the richness of the original text when being translated from the original language to another (Temple & Young, 2004: 167).

Second issue has been mentioned earlier, and that is the issue of interpretation of the material and observations. The trustworthiness of qualitative analysis can be divided into three categories, proposed by Williams and Morrow in 2009. These three categories are integrity of the data, balance between reflexivity and clear communication and application of findings (Willig in Willig and Stainton Rogers, 2017: 283). The first category, integrity of the data, refers to the relationship between the data and how the data has been interpreted. This means that when interpreting the data, it needs to be understood what kind of basis is behind the data, like history for example. (Willig in Willig and Stainton Rogers, 2017: 283). In the case of this study it means that to be able to interpret the material, like the documentation, observations and visual material of the Hammarby Sjöstad, the purpose of the Hammarby Project, how it started and how it has developed to the level that it is at the moment, needs

to be understood. The second category, balance between reflexivity, means that the researcher needs

to keep in mind what the relationship is between what the data offers for the purpose of the research and researcher’s own perspective on the research subject. What this means is that the researcher

needs to be able to understand the pre-understandings of the subject, and be able to stay open-minded and being able to let the data and material to change the pre-existing ideas of the research topic (Willig in Willig and Stainton Rogers, 2017: 284). When reflecting this to the study conducted in this thesis, the researcher needs to be able to understand what are the existing understandings about Hammarby Sjöstad, and let the data shape the study without any prejudices. The third and final issue of interpretation, that needs to be considered is the clear communications and application of findings. This means that the researcher needs to be able to clearly communicate the results and applications of what is found in the research, because the value of the conducted study depends on its usefulness to society. This means that interpretation done by the researcher in the study can change how people approach the topic. This is why the researcher needs to be able to clearly communicate the results and own interpretations of the study for the readers (Willig in Willig and Stainton Rogers, 2017: 284).

6

Context Sweden – Stockholm – Hammarby Sjöstad

This chapter aims to explain why Hammarby Sjöstad was chosen as case study for this thesis. Sweden has an interesting history regarding urban development. While European metropolitans like Berlin, London and Warsaw were partly destroyed by the bombings, the Swedish capital survived both of the World Wars without damage. This is because Sweden managed to stay neutral during the World War I and II (Gilmour, 2010: 12).

6.1 Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. It’s one of the most attractive cities in Northern Europe that has been developing fast. It has successfully attracted both people and companies to relocate in it. The attractiveness of this city has been boosting both the Swedish - and Stockholm’s own economy (Stockholms Stad, 2018: 6). The rapid growth of the city has set challenges for Stockholm’s growth. The focus on the city development has been on creating high-density urban neighborhoods that are sustainable both environmentally and socially (Stockholms Stad, 2018: 7).

Stockholm became an EU capital in 1995 when Sweden joined the European Union. “Being a member of the EU means that Sweden has a direct influence on and is directly affected by EU decisions.” (Government Offices of Sweden, 2019). By becoming a member of the European Union, the legislation, and regulations of the EU affect not just on the Swedish governmental level, but also on the regional and city level. This means that Stockholm City also had to adjust to the new European Union era. While EU has fairly little legislation that affects straight on the city level, there is still regulations and

cities, that the local authorities has to take care of. Stockholm City has been adapting well to the EU regulations and policies. It is estimated that around 50% of the decisions that have been made in the municipality level in the city is somehow connected to the EU. Stockholm has been working actively to adapt to the EU rules and regulations, and it has been active on the European level, to both affect on the EU decisions, and develop the city planning in whole Europe (Stockholms Stad, 2019). For example, Stockholm became a part of the EUROCITIES, which is a city network that works closely with the EU to respond to common issues that affect the day-to-day lives of Europeans living in urban regions. “Our objective is to reinforce the important role that local governments should play in a multilevel governance structure.” (EUROCITIES, 2019). The EUROCITIES network aims to shape and influence on the EU decisions that affect on both the regional and city level, and try to make the city and regional governments part of the EU’s decision making (EUROCITIES, 2019). One other example of Stockholm working closely together with the EU, and also setting an example especially in the field of sustainable urban development, is that Stockholm became the first European Green Capital in 2010 (Stockholm Stad, 2019). The European Green Capital competition was launched by the European Commission in 2010. The main goal of this program was to encourage the European cities to face and find innovative solutions to the environmental challenges that come with urbanization. The winning cities work as example setters for the other European cities (European Green Capital, 2019). The reasons why Stockholm won the first Green Capital Award was that it had been working with integrating an administrative system that guarantees that environmental aspects are considered in the municipal level decision making, for example in budgets and city planning operations. Stockholm had also

managed to cut down its carbon dioxide emissionsby 25% per inhabitant since 1990. It is also aiming

to become one of the first cities that will be functioning without fossil fuels by the year 2050 (Stockholms Stad, 2019).

Stockholm City makes an interesting case worth of studying. It is one of the leading sustainable cities in European level that is investing on becoming even more sustainable, both socially and environmentally (Stockholms Stad, 2018: 11-12). It is agreed on fulfilling the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, and the sustainable urban development has become one of the focus points on Swedish national level (Stockholms Stad, 2018: 16). The Stockholm region is also committed to becoming one of Europe’s most attractive regions that would be a leader in sustainable development and construction (Stockholms Stad, 2018: 16).

6.2 Hammarby Sjöstad

Hammarby Sjöstad is an urban project in the South side of Stockholm city, as a part of the Södermalm district. Hammarby Sjöstad project is very unique on a Swedish level, which makes it an interesting

research subject. The project has its roots back in 1980, when the planning of the area was started (Stockholms Stad, 2011). Before that the area was working as an industrial site and as an old port. The first official plans of the area were presented in 1991. However, the first plans got a lot of critique on the municipality level, since it did not take in the consideration all of the co-operations that was needed to make the neighborhood work, like the co-operation between Stockholm City and Nacka municipality (Inghe-Hangström in BoStad02, 2002: 19). However, in 1996, a year after Sweden became an EU member state, the planning processes in Hammarby Sjöstad changed. Stockholm City decides to enter the competition for the Summer Olympics 2004, and Hammarby Sjöstad project became an important part of the Olympics project. The neighborhood was planned to become an Olympic village for the athletes competing in the Olympics, and a new sports arena was also planned into the area (Inghe-Hangström in BoStad02, 2002: 21). The Olympic project also introduces the environmental focus, and the area aimed to become the most sustainable Olympic village (Inghe-Hangström in BoStad02, 2002: 22). The Olympic village projects had been criticized for not being sustainable, and in 1994 the Olympic Committee attended the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where it was decided that the cities competing for the games needed to commit to “Green Games” -project, which aimed to make the world’s biggest sporting event a role model for sustainable thinking and development (Bideaux, 2016). In the spring of 1997 Stockholm City, together with four other cities, qualified to the final round of the Olympic Games-competition. This made the city’s sustainable and environmental investments even more interesting. Sadly, in 1998, the Olympic games were decided to be held in Athens instead (Inghe-Hangström in BoStad02, 2002: 23). After all the effort from Stockholm City to promote Hammarby Sjöstad as an environmental and sustainable area to win the Olympic games, the area was still decided to be built with the sustainability in mind -focus. The new plan was accepted by the city and the builders in Hammarby in 2000. (Inghe-Hangström in BoStad02, 2002: 30).

The plan has been, and still is to make Hammarby Sjöstad a continuum of the inner city of Stockholm and connect it to the already existing inner-city structures. Everything from materials to the land use plan is developed with the sustainability-in-mind focus. This method has resulted in something called Hammarby-model, which is an urban sustainability model that has been developed through the development processes of Hammarby Sjöstad. This is something unique on the national level of Sweden. The Hammarby-model focuses on integrating the energy production, waste- and water management so that all of those function would work in a cycle, and would be solved as locally as possible. (Stockholms Stad, 2011).

Hammarby Sjöstad is an interesting research subject since it’s so unique on both a national and European level. From a national point of view, Hammarby Sjöstad is the first neighborhood in Sweden that has been part of creating a sustainability model for future sustainable urban projects. From a European perspective the neighborhood is interesting since it aims to be an international

example for sustainable urban development. The area is visited by around 10 000 visitors from all over the world yearly (Stockholms Stad, 2011).

7

Analysis

In this chapter, the data and material collected through the case study of Hammarby Sjöstad will be analyzed and compared to the EU’s Urban Agenda to be able to answer the research question of How does the urban planning in Hammarby Sjöstad relate to EU’s Urban Goals? The analysis is divided into two parts.

1. The Structure of the neighborhoods 2. The Performance of the neighborhoods

In the first part the structure of the neighborhood will be analyzed by using the theory of New Urbanism. The structure of the neighborhood refers to the physical buildings and spaces that are present in the neighborhood. The analysis is conducted by using the master plan, other documentations of the neighborhood, and observation data to find out how Hammarby Sjöstad is structured and how it compares to the EU’s Urban Agenda.

In the second part, the performance of the neighborhood is analyzed by using the observations and the master plan and other related documentation. The performances of the neighborhood refer to the street and transportation network of the neighborhood, that is used daily to move in the neighborhood. The aim is to find out how the neighborhood performs as a sustainable part of Stockholm’s inner city, and how well it relates to the EU’s Urban Agenda. The Hammarby model is also scrutinized in this part of the analysis, since it’s one of the main products of the project, that is a key part of the infrastructure and performance of Hammarby Sjöstad. It will also be compared to the environmental goals of the Urban Agenda and the New Urbanism theory, to find out it works as a sustainable part of the neighborhood.

7.1 The Structure of the Neighborhoods

Housing

When taking a closer look at the master plan and the structures of Hammarby Sjöstad project from 2016 (picture 3), the color red seems to be the most captivating. The color red refers to the

residential buildings.

Housing is an important part of the structures of neighborhood (picture 4). The reason why the Hammarby Sjöstad project and its neighborhood are mainly for residential use comes from the need for housing in Stockholm. Stockholm City has been growing rapidly economically. This phenomenon is called urban agglomeration. It has both positive and negative effects. While agglomeration helps the city to grow and it develops the economy, it also has negative effects. Lack of housing being one (Glaeser, 2007: 26-27). The city of Stockholm has been fighting against lack of housing, already from the late 1900s. Like mentioned earlier in the context chapter, Hammarby Sjöstad area was used as an old port before, but since its use declined, the city decided to move the functions of Hammarby Port to other locations, and close it down to recreate the area for residential use. In 1991, when the first master plan of Hammarby Sjöstad was published, it was stated that the project would become one of the biggest residential construction projects in the history of Stockholm (Stockholms Stadsbyggnadskontor, 1991: 5). The plan included over 11 500 apartments of different sizes. The median size for apartments were three rooms and kitchen (Stockholms Stadbyggnadskontor, 1991: 44). The project area is aimed to be home for over 26 000 people by 2020 (Stockholms Stad, 2011).

According to the New Urbanism theory, housing opportunities in the neighborhoods should be variating, meaning that there would be different kinds of housing prices, and rental apartments from different price points, so that the area could be socially sustainable. Hammarby Sjöstad has been criticized of the social sustainability (Gaffney et al. 2007: 25). One of the arguments explaining the social equity of Hammarby Sjöstad is that the promises made about the target goal of apartment ratio of 50:50, meaning that 50% of the new apartments created to the area should be rental apartments, and the other 50% was going to be privately sold and owned. In the case of Hammarby Sjöstad this hasn’t happened. Some of the rental apartments that were rented through Stockholm City’s rental services, were sold out for the consumers instead of renting them out. The current ratio of Hammarby Sjöstad’s housing is 62:38 (Statistik om Stockholm, 2018). What needs to be mentioned that from this ratio, 1/3 is apartments rented by the municipality, while 2/3 are rented by private rental companies. These companies are not obligated by the Swedish national housing policy to develop affordable housing for everyone. This makes Södra Hammarbyhamnen, which is one of Hammarby Sjöstad project neighborhoods, an expensive area to live in (Gaffney et al. 2007: 25). Currently, it is also seen as a homogenous neighborhood. This can be also seen from the statics of the Södra Hammarbyhamnen.

These statistics are provided by Stockholm City (2018). According to the statistics,the average income

in Södra Hammarbyhamnen is 468 400 yearly (16 years and older) which is over the average income in Stockholm; 374 400SEK yearly. In addition, according to the statics from Stockholm City, 67,3% of the population living in the area is highly educated (Statistik om Stockholm, 2018).

The EU’s Urban Agenda has highlighted important goals considering housing in cities. These goals are:

I. Inclusion of migrants and refugees

II. Housing

(EU Urban Agenda, 2016: iii)

When analyzing Hammarby Sjöstad, and especially the Södra Hammarbyhamnen from these perspectives, the neighborhood project does not seem to be a model example of these goals. According to the Urban Agenda, city development should focus on including the migrants and refugees to the cities and local communities (European Union, 2016: iii). However, like mentioned earlier, Södra Hammarbyhamnen is fairly expensive to live in and it is also socially homogenous area. According to the statistics by Stockholm City, only 21,3% of the people living there have a migrant background (including people who are born in Sweden but both of the parents are migrants) (Statistik om Stockholm, 2018). The second goal, housing in the EU’s Urban Agenda does not fit in the case of Hammarby Sjöstad either. Even though the constructors of the project have been successful of making good quality housing in the area, it has not really been affordable, or focusing on state aid rules or general housing policies (European Union, 2016: iii). Like mentioned earlier the housing prices are fairly

high, and the ratio of municipality rental apartments is low in Södra Hammarbyhamnen which is a large part of the whole Hammarby Sjöstad project.

Mixed-Usage

Mixed-usage is one of the key parts of New Urbanism theory. The idea behind mixed-use is to make the neighborhoods livelier and more sustainable, by having everything in close range. This would encourage the people to move around in the area in sustainable ways, like by walking and cycling.

In the Hammarby Sjöstad’s plan (picture 3), colors violet and orange present industries, office spaces and services. Some of the services are integrated as part of the residential buildings, like stores, restaurants and coffee shops, but by doing observations in the area, they can be found and analyzed (picture 5). The color violet refers to industry and office buildings in the Hammarby Sjöstad project area. In addition, the color grey that also can be found from the plan, close to the violet areas, refers to heavy municipal technicality areas, like energy production and waste management facilities. Both the violet and grey colored buildings are centralized to the south-west side of the Hammarby Project. The reason for this is that the area was already industrialized, before the rebuild of the area started. Some of the industries were left, and some were taken down and replaced with office buildings (Ericson & Bodén in BoStad02, 2004:14).

The services that are planned for the area can be divided into three different categories, first being municipality services, like schools, elderly care and child care services. These services are mostly marked by the color orange to the master plan above (picture 3). The second category is the commercial services, like grocery stores, restaurants and cafés. These services are integrated to the residential buildings, by using the ground floors of the residential constructions as space for these functions. This can be seen from the picture above (picture 5). The main reason for this is that the planners of Hammarby Sjöstad emphasized the importance of not centralizing these services, rather spreading them all over the area, so that all of the residents have opportunity to access these. Centralizing these services for example by creating a shopping center was seen unnecessary since these kinds of centralized functions can be found by close proximity. For example, in Globen City which is an area nearby has a shopping center (Stockholms stadsbyggnadskontor, 1991:45). The third category of services is public commercial services, like libraries, museums and cultural houses. Some of these buildings are also marked by the orange color in the master plan (picture 3).

When looking at the area from a New Urbanism perspective, the neighborhood of Södra Hammarbyhamnen seems to be planned according to the New Urbanism theory. The area has mixed usages, like industries and other working opportunities as well as residential buildings, which was discussed above. And like discussed, the services are not centralized, rather they are diversified over the area.

The EU’s Urban Agenda’s goals also relates well to the mixed-usage of Södra Hammarbyhamnen. Goals like circular economy and jobs and skills in the local community fit well with what has been done in Hammarby Sjöstad. What circular economy means is that economic growth and job opportunities are created by sustainable matters, like creating sustainable waste management systems and resource efficiency. While the main goal of Hammarby Sjöstad project has been creating apartments for people to live in, the second goal of the project of creating jobs and skills to the local community has also been successful. It has been estimated that by 2020, there should be over 10 000 work opportunities in the project area (Stockholms Stad, 2011).

Public Space

The green and yellow color in the master plan (picture 3) are also important to analyze more closely. These colors refer to public spaces, like parks, and streets that are mainly for pedestrian use. The color yellow also contains the town squares of the area. Public spaces are an important part of the city structures. These places are open for all of the citizen of the city and neighborhood. Everybody should be able to use and enjoy of these areas. The parks and pedestrian areas on the waterfront of the Hammarby lake are described as an important visual part of this neighborhood. The waterfront of the area is in many of the documents named as “the Blue Eye” [Author’s Translation] (Menyes & Bodén in

BoStad02, 2002: 64) of the Project. The proximity of nature and water is a big part of urban planning in Stockholm (Menyes & Bodén in BoStad02, 2002: 64). Public spaces in Hammarby Sjöstad have also tried to made as including as possible. This means that there should be possibilities for people with mobility difficulties, that for example, use wheel chair could access the public space as easily as possible. In Södra Hammarbyhamnen, the planning has been done so that there are as little stairs as possible. There are still stairs in the area, but in close connection to the stairs there is also elevators. For example, by Sickla Channel, (picture 6), there is an elevator just by the stairs. This makes it easier for people with mobility difficulties to access the public parks and streets.

(Picture 6 by the author: Elevator by Sickla Channel)

As part of sustainable planning and urban development, Jacobs and the school of New Urbanism focus also on the parks as parts of cities. Jacobs highlights that too big parks are not part of sustainable urban planning. Big parks are considered as a safety risk. These big parks also take room from the city life, and are not functional. However, Jacobs mentions that if the parks are functional and specialized, the parks can be seen as a natural part of sustainable city life (Jacobs, 1961: 90-91). The Hammarby Sjöstad project includes parks as a part of the master plan. The parks are different sizes, some of them are quite big. One of the biggest parks of the project is blended with the Nacka

in city planning, some of the parks are smaller and have special functions. For example, the Luma park has a cultural function by working as an amphitheater during the summers, where different theater productions are played for the residents and people visiting the project area. New Urbanism also encourages the city planners to make streets and public spaces accessible for all. In this Hammarby Sjöstad project has been successful so far by also focusing on creating accessible public spaces for people that have mobility issues (Jacobs, 1961: 101).

When analyzing the Hammarby Sjöstad project and Södra Hammarbyhamnen’s public spaces from the EU’s Urban Agenda’s perspective, a goal that can be related to it is sustainable use of land and nature-based solutions. The idea behind this goal is to ensure that the developed areas are planned so that it is respectful for the environment and it improves the quality of life of the people living in the area. For example, making the urban areas green and renaturing them is one way to do this (EU Urban Agenda: 2916: iv). In Hammarby Sjöstad, this has been done well. The key point of the planning of the area has been sustainability and green planning. Since the nature, especially the waterfront has been one of the key elements of the area, the planning has been done so that the nature and waterfront is not been disrupted (Menyes & Bodén in BoStad02, 2002: 65).

7.2 The Performance of the neighborhoods

This part of the analysis focuses on the performances that are present in the neighborhood, like the transportation structures, streets, public transportation and other traffic infrastructures. Also, the environmental sustainability structures, that were briefly mentioned in the structures part of the analysis is analyzed in this part more thoroughly.

Streets and Traffic Infrastructures

Streets and traffic infrastructures are important parts of the city structures. Without these, moving and transportation functions in the city would be impossible. These structures are usually planned so that they both fit the needs of the neighborhood and work as a continuum of the other parts of the city. Walking and cycling possibilities are an important part of the performances. New Urbanism encourages the city planners to plan cities that are as walkable ad possible, and where cars wouldn’t be such a large part of the streets (Jacobs, 1961: 7). According to Jacobs sustainable cities encourage people to walk and keep the streets busier, which will help with the social mixing of the neighborhood (Jacobs, 1961: 72) Walking and cycling possibilities are also better for the environment since those forms of transportation do not affect on the carbon emission levels, like driving a car does. When looking at master plan of Hammarby Sjöstad above (picture 3), it can be seen that the walking and cycling possibilities have been well thought through. In the documentation of the planning of

Hammarby Sjöstad, it is stated that walking in the area is aimed to be organized in a safe way. For example, in the close proximity of schools and day cares, the space should be mostly reserved for walking opportunities, so that any bigger accidents would not occur (Stockholms Stadsbyggnadskontor,1991). This is also something that has been emphasized by Jacobs in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961: 87).

Cars are a big part of the street view today. Transportation is the third largest source of carbon emissions in Europe that contributes about 27% of the emissions in the EU member states (Transport & Environment, 2017: 8). The car traffic and roads in Hammarby Sjöstad have been planned environment in mind. The idea behind the planning of road network has been to encourage people to use the public transportation rather than own cars (Hammarby Sjöstad, 1999: 7). The road network in Hammarby Sjöstad is composed of main roads, that are also used by the public transportation, including tram and busses, and smaller roads that are planned in the residential areas. However, the car traffic in the area has been tried to minimize, and the area is built so that cars should not be able to drive on high speed. This is done by planning the area so that the roads don’t connect to each other on the residential areas, which means that driving through residential areas is not possible (Stockholms Stadsbyggnadskontor, 1991: 48-49). In addition, the traffic in the area is planned so that the people with mobility-issues are taken care of, there is both parking space for handicapped and a possibility to drive close to the doors of residential buildings (Hammarby Sjöstad, 1999: 7). Like mentioned before, the New Urbanism theory does encourage the city planners to aim to make areas that would not be car-friendly. This is both due to security reasons, and to make the areas more sustainable with less carbon emissions. One other factor that is highlighted in the New Urbanism theory is that there should not be big parking lots in the neighborhoods. These take space from other city structures, and they are not that beautiful either (Jacobs, 1961: 234). In Hammarby Sjöstad, there is not big parking lots in the area, rather the parking space is planned by the side of the streets and to the underground garages (picture 7). This makes the parked cars less visible in the street view and gives space for different city structures, like public parks (Stockholms Stadsbyggnadskontor, 1991: 49).

(Picture 7 by the author: Parking on the streets in Hammarby Sjöstad)

Public transportation is also important part of the transportation in cities. The public transportation network in Hammarby Sjöstad project is organized by SL (Storstockholms Lokaltrafik). SL together with the planners of the area have focused on the placement of bus stops. The maximum distance between a bus stop should be only 350 meters, to make sure that everyone should be able to access a bus stop (Stockholms Stadsbyggnadskontor, 1991: 49). On the main road of the area, there is also a tram traffic between Hammarby Sjöstad area, and Gullmarsplan, which is one of the traffic hubs of South side of Stockholm city (picture 8). The public transportation has been aimed to done so that it’s as easy as possible for the people living in the Hammarby area to access, and connect themselves to the central of Stockholm city. While the bus and tram connections are working, there isn’t any straight connection between Stockholm City and Hammarby Sjöstad. People living in the area need to switch to metro or another bus line to connect themselves to the central. While the time of travel stays around 25 to 30 minutes, the straight connection between downtown Stockholm and Hammarby Sjöstad is currently missing (SL, 2019). This would probably encourage people to use public transportation more, and make it more effortless to travel between city center and the Hammarby Sjöstad. The New Urbanism theory does not discuss about public transportation that much. However, in Jacobs’ book it is mentioned that big public transportation hubs disturb the city life, and take space from other city structures and separate the different parts of the cities (Jacobs, 1961: 264). But at the