City of Gothenburg Annual Report 2015
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CITY OF GOTHENBURG ANNUAL REPORT 2015 www.goteborg.se The City Executive Board Chairman summarises 2015 2015 has been a dramatic and turbulent year, with terrorism, civil war in Syria and many refugees fleeing their countries. The vulnerability and tragedies in the Mediterranean have affected many, and galvanised people into helping others. In Gothenburg, many people have done an amazing job to make sure the reception has gone as well as possible. While crisis has characterised the wider world, Gothenburg’s labour market has developed strongly and the city is in a development boom with far-reaching urban development. A sustainable city as the first city in the world to issue green bonds. It was Gothenburg aims to be a sustainable city, open to the thanks to the city’s prominent position in this area and world, where everyone can feel at home. The mission the high level of ambition in the city’s climate strategy from our citizens is the very core of the City’s work. The programme that we were voted ‘Swedish Climate City of key is to secure education, meeting-places and a rich the Year’ by WWF. social and cultural scene, which enable people to devel- Gothenburg continued to attract tourists during the op. To make a difference through service, support and year. The number of international visitors and the num- care. It is important to ensure that developments benefit ber of guest nights continues to increase. The finishing everybody, and the City has a challenge here in reduc- line of the Volvo Ocean Race was the single biggest ing the differences in health and living standards. We event carried out during the year, with 335,000 visitors. place particular emphasis on children in Gothenburg, a Liseberg launched Halloween at Liseberg, which was a perspective that permeates all our decisions. great success and contributed to yet another record year. Gothenburg Culture Festival attracted 1.5 million Gothenburg in the world visitors to 53 venues across the city. One important With terrorism and civil war in Syria, flows of refugees goal of the Culture Festival is to make everybody feel and tragedy in the Mediterranean have been promi- welcome in the city centre and ensure they enjoy the nent features of 2015. More than a million refugees range of culture. So it was particularly pleasing that this have come to Europe, and Germany and Sweden have year, the festival was awarded the Equalisters’ prize for assumed the greatest responsibility. In Gothenburg, its firm conviction in welcoming everybody in an equal many people have made a tremendous effort to welcome and inclusive society, where culture is a door-opener for those who have come here. We could never have coped new meetings. with the reception so well without such great input from civil society. An important foundation was the agree- Lower unemployment, but not for ment with seven organisations regarding an ‘Ideas-borne everybody public partnership’ (Idéburet offentligt partnerskap, or Gothenburg and its surrounding region have seen some IOP) which the City signed in 2015, and which aims strong development. Unemployment decreased during to provide combined support for child refugees arriving the year, more quickly than in Sweden as a whole. Dur- alone. ing the autumn, unemployment fell below the level in Gothenburg stands up for the equal value of all peo- the Stockholm region for the first time in many years. It ple. Our work on human rights has mainly focused on is particularly pleasing to see unemployment in Gothen- receiving refugees, but minority issues have also become burg decreasing most among young adults. more visible during the year, and several operations have November saw the opening of the city’s first Skills improved their systematic work. The fact that there were Centre in Östra Göteborg. Skills Centres are intended record numbers of participants at West Pride and the for people who receive some form of social services in the ‘Human Rights Days’ (organised by the Swedish Forum city districts, and who need further support to find work for Human Rights) in Gothenburg are positive indica- or start an education programme. Today we can see that tors that there is widespread dedication to human rights. many companies need to employ people but have a hard One bright spot during the year was that the world’s time finding the right skills, even though unemployment nations agreed on a climate agreement at COP21 in is high. This is an important challenge for Skills Centres Paris in December. The vital role played by cities and moving forward. companies in tackling the climate challenge came to the A crucial matter when it comes to promoting growth fore, and the City of Gothenburg took part in seminars and more jobs is enterprise. The business climate has im- and a large mayors’ meeting. Gothenburg was recognised proved during the year with greater customer satisfaction 2 City Executive Board Chairman Anneli Hulthén reflects on the past year. Photo: Peter Svensson with the City’s service, although we are still not achiev- one of the flagships for Gothenburg, city of innovation. ing our goal of being the best among Sweden’s cities. The ElectriCity has attracted a lot of attention, also online, key now is to maintain and intensify our efforts to make where Silent Bus Sessions have more than 2.6 million it simple to run a company in Gothenburg. YouTube v iews. Children and young people are a common theme in Gothenburg is growing the City’s work in the culture and recreation sector. Ac- Gothenburg is on the verge of a major development cessibility to culture and recreation has increased during boom, and Vision Älvstaden and West Sweden Package the year, and this is partly evident in the two sports cen- are strategic initiatives that permeate this development. tres and three artificial pitches that have come into use. In 2015 a total of 2,298 homes were completed, and it is The football and athletics arena Rambergsvallen, built now evident that housing production and infrastructure in 1935, was demolished and replaced by the Bravida expansion are truly gathering momentum. Measures to Arena. Also, in the early summer the Prioritet Serneke increase housebuilding have begun to yield results, and Arena was opened, now the biggest multi-purpose arena in the coming years the tempo will continue to increase in the Nordic region. from around 2,000 homes a year at present to around And finally, Gothenburg was delighted to see Svetlána 3,800 a year from 2019 onward. Alexiévich win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015; Implementation of the West Sweden Package is she has a special relationship with Gothenburg as a continuing, and new steps have been taken as part of the ‘sanctuary author’ in 2006–2008. In 1996, Gothenburg National Negotiation on Housing and Infrastructure in was the first city in Sweden to become a sanctuary for planning for a new main line for high-speed trains be- persecuted artists and writers. Gothenburg will remain a tween Stockholm and Gothenburg. Sustainable travel is city open to the world, and will welcome people fleeing continuing to increase, although the trend has now been war and oppression. bucked as road traffic is now increasing once again. ElectriCity was launched in 2015, and completely electric, silent, exhaust-free buses are now running on route 55 between Chalmers and Lindholmen. The bus service was developed in a collaboration between Anneli Hulthén (Soc. Dem.) industry, academic research and the community, and is Chairman of the City Executive Board, Gothenburg 3 How to read the City of Gothenburg Annual Report The City of Gothenburg Annual Report is submitted by the City Executive Board to the City Council. It is also intended for external stakeholders in the form of lenders, suppliers and other public authorities, as well as for residents of the city. The Annual Report is produced by the City Management Office for the City Executive Board. By way of introduction in the Annual Report the Chairman of the City Executive Board, Anneli Hulthén, gives a summary of the past year. This is followed by an outline of the City of Gothenburg’s organisation, mission and future challenges. The City of Gothenburg Annual Report is then divided into four blocks: BLOCK 1 BLOCK 3 Administration Report Gothenburg Municipality The first block contains the Administra- Financial analysis and accounts tion Report, which must be included in the Annual The block begins with an in-depth financial analysis Report in line with the Municipal Accounting Act. of the Municipality’s accounts and a presentation is It comprises a summary of the Annual Report with made of good financial management, the balanced a focus on the essential parts of the City’s finances budget requirement and the earnings equalisation and activities. The City of Gothenburg’s Administra- reserve. The term Gothenburg Municipality refers to tion Report comprises a strategic analysis, followed the committees and central municipal items. With by an assessment of the future which highlights the the analysis, there is an account that shows what City of Gothenburg’s opportunities and risks based sponsorship exists within the City of Gothenburg. on known conditions. It then goes on to present a In the “Financial operations and risk management” summary financial analysis of the Municipality and section, an analysis is then made of the Municipali- combined accounts. There is also a presentation ty’s financial commitments in the form of borrowing looking at how work on the City Council’s priori- etc. This section is followed by the Municipality’s tised goals is deemed to be going, and a follow-up financial statements, notes and accounting princi- of the City Council’s mission.