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Papers Malmö: Towards a new social agenda Received (in revised form): 17th October, 2014 Christer Larsson is the director of Malmö City Planning Office in Sweden. He is responsible for, and has great knowledge of, the strategic development planning of the city, including the redevelopment of the Western Harbour site and the urban reconfiguration of Malmö. Christer is a member of the Governing Board of the International Urban Development Association, Chairman of Nordic City Network and a commissioner for a Socially Sustainable Malmö. Among other projects Christer is active in international architectural competition juries. Göran Rosberg worked as an Information Manager in Malmö from the end of the 1980s until 2012. His former workplace was the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Lund University. He has a clear understanding of the entire transformation process that the City of Malmö has undergone in the past 10–15 years, which includes the establishment of the university and the transformation of the development area of Western Harbour and the Bo01 area into a new sustainable city district. Göran followed these processes closely and has also presented the transformation of Malmö in international journals and conferences. Abstract Malmö has endeavoured to achieve greater equity for its residents and to view them as a resource and as a form of social capital. The work has proved to be a tremendous asset and has generated greater awareness by the city’s target groups, but the city still suffers from social and economic imbalances. In order to succeed, a shift towards developing human capital through network solutions is being made through increased participation of the population as a whole. Some approaches discussed in this paper include how spatial organisation can strengthen social sustainability, culture and collective knowledge and processes that generate participation and trust. The paper also stresses the importance of internal work in the city council and the value of action programmes. Keywords: Malmö, Copenhagen, Øresund Bridge, spacial reorganisation, social cohesion, social sustainability, consultation INTRODUCTION with residents from 177 countries. The city Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden has a new university with 24,000 students, with a population of 315,000 inhabitants. It and the UN World Maritime University is is an expanding city, with its population also situated in Malmö. Malmö covers rising for 29 successive years. It has a young 15,000 ha, and half of it is owned by the population with an average age of 36. It is city. Over the last 20 years, the city has been situated in the south of Sweden and, since run by a coalition between the Social Christer Larsson and Göran Rosberg the year 2000, has been connected to Democrats, the Left Party and the Greens. Malmö City Planning Copenhagen by a bridge (see Figures 1 and The city is a close and cycle-friendly water Office, Malmö 2), which has started a new region, city with 490 km of cycleways. E-mail: [email protected]; Copenhagen–Malmö, with a population of Malmö’s journey from ageing industrial [email protected] 3.8 million. Malmö is a multi-ethnic city city to the knowledge city of today, with Delivered by Ingenta to: Henry Stewart Publications 112 Journal of Urban RegenerationIP: 185.24.85.49 and Renewal On: Mon,Vol. 8, 2,27 112–121 Jun 2016᭧ Henry 08:50:23 Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2015) Copyright: Henry Stewart Publications Malmö: Towards a new social agenda Figure 1: The fixed link between Sweden and Denmark creating the new Copenhagen–Malmö region ambitions of high sustainability, has After this remarkable change, the focus is impressed and inspired both neighbours and now on social imbalance. The demographics guests from further afield. Malmö has been and business community of Malmö today used as an example in both the UK and have completely different requirements in China. Malmö is a role model for urban completely different basic conditions. It is a sustainable development in the world. multi-ethnic city with a very young Malmö’s urban development work has also population. Over half the population are 36 resulted in a number of international awards, or younger. New lifestyles, changes in jobs of which the UN Scroll of Honor is and the composition of the business perhaps the finest (see Figure 3). community mean new planning conditions The starting point of this journey was a and challenges for the city. The diversified city in economic and social crisis after the population offers the city both a challenge dismantling of its traditional industries and and potential. major demographic changes. The city found The infrastructure investments, both the it hard to compete with cities such as Øresund Bridge and the City Tunnel, have Copenhagen and Lund. Between 1991 and integrated and linked together not only the 1993, the city lost 27,000 jobs. This severe region, but also the city. Future transport crisis made it clear that the city was in acute initiatives, a metro to central Copenhagen need of a long-term development strategy. and trams for local transport, will allow the Sweeping vision work in 1994/95 indicated creation of even better links between that Malmö needed more qualified semi-central areas and the inner city. These education and a more diversified housing infrastructure investments are essential to the market. In a short space of time, strong continued development of the city in terms political leadership succeeded in creating a of attractiveness and sustainability. The city’s university and the Bo01, the International development strategy is to limit urban Housing Expo in 2001 at the former sprawl and, instead, concentrate the existing shipyard area of the Western Harbour (see city within the Outer Ring Road. Building figures 4 and 5), which had ambitious a dense, mixed city will also enable a sustainability targets and gained international reduction in transport work and improve attention. In a decade, the city succeeded in the city’s qualities for residents and the turning a weak position into successful business community. development. After twenty years of bold work, the Delivered by Ingenta to: Henry Stewart Publications ᭧ Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646IP: 185.24.85.49 (2015) Vol. On:8, 2, 112–121Mon, 27Journal Jun 2016 of Urban 08:50:23 Regeneration and Renewal 113 Copyright: Henry Stewart Publications Larsson and Rosberg Figure 2: Map showing Two Cities One Region: The Copenhagen–Malmö region Figure 3: Technical visits at Western Harbour with the residential tower ‘Turning Torso’ in the background major initiatives are in place. Now it is time and Zealand, between today and the future. for the next step. In the ever-changing Malmö has already started the spatial fabric of the city, the time has come to reorganisation of the city by densifying and weave the new structures together with the transforming the port and industrial areas existing ones. It is time to heal, densify and for other activities. The master plan (see connect. There is now the opportunity to Figure 6), adopted in 2014, lays down create a dense, mixed city with connections guidelines for an increase in population of and meeting places between eastern and 100,000 in 20 years, which assumes western Malmö, between new and old, continued densification and improvement of between city and region, between Skåne the quality of the city and further Delivered by Ingenta to: Henry Stewart Publications 114 Journal of Urban RegenerationIP: 185.24.85.49 and Renewal On: Mon,Vol. 8, 2,27 112–121 Jun 2016᭧ Henry 08:50:23 Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2015) Copyright: Henry Stewart Publications Malmö: Towards a new social agenda Figure 4: Aerial photo of Western Harbour with the European Housing Expo at the Waterfront Figure 5: Historical photo of a part of Kockums Shipyard with the slipways and equipment quay improvements to public transport. people have been implemented in recent In the following sections, Malmö’s work years. The vision work in 1994/95, which towards social cohesion, the citizens, the indicated the future direction of the city and human capital involved in the development, was extremely important, was followed up and, finally, three current attempts to achieve with a new approach aiming to increase the broader participation by citizens are welfare of socially and economically discussed. vulnerable groups. The action plan was called Välfärd för alla — det dubbla åtagandet VISIONS, ACTION PROGRAMME AND (‘Welfare for all — the dual commitment’) STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL COHESION and, as with the vision work, it was the city’s A number of programmes for social administrations that worked on these cohesion and reducing the gaps between objectives in parallel with their Delivered by Ingenta to: Henry Stewart Publications ᭧ Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646IP: 185.24.85.49 (2015) Vol. On:8, 2, 112–121Mon, 27Journal Jun 2016 of Urban 08:50:23 Regeneration and Renewal 115 Copyright: Henry Stewart Publications Larsson and Rosberg Hamnen Burlöv municipality Staffanstorps Kirseberg municipality Innerstaden Rosengard Husie Limhamn Hyllie Fosie Svedala municipality Bunkeflostrand Oxie Land use Existing mixed urban Klagshamn New mixed urban Existing areas of activity Tygelsjo New business areas Agricultural landscape Existing park and nature New park and nature Cemeteries Vellinge municipality Outdoor recreation areas Figure 6: Comprehensive plan for Malmö, 2014 administrative work. At the same time, the Welfare for all — the dual commitment city began an internal project called All eyes were now focused on the Engagemang Malmö (‘Commitment Malmö’) imbalances (demographic, economic, with the aim of educating all its civil business and educational) within different servants about the city’s journey and the areas of Malmö, as a result of the action factors playing a decisive role, and gaining programme.

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