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City Districts As Sites of Experimentation for Sustainable Department of Thematic Studies Environmental Change _______________________________________________________________________________ City Districts as Sites of Experimentation and Learning for Sustainable Development An Analysis of mid-sized Swedish Cities Mareike Oelrichs MSc Thesis (30 ECTS credits) Science for Sustainable Development Linköpings universitet, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden Upphovsrätt Detta dokument hålls tillgängligt på Internet – eller dess framtida ersättare – under 25 år från publiceringsdatum under förutsättning att inga extraordinära omständigheter uppstår. Tillgång till dokumentet innebär tillstånd för var och en att läsa, ladda ner, skriva ut enstaka kopior för enskilt bruk och att använda det oförändrat för ickekommersiell forskning och för undervisning. Överföring av upphovsrätten vid en senare tidpunkt kan inte upphäva detta tillstånd. All annan användning av dokumentet kräver upphovsmannens medgivande. För att garantera äktheten, säkerheten och tillgängligheten finns lösningar av teknisk och administrativ art. Upphovsmannens ideella rätt innefattar rätt att bli nämnd som upphovsman i den omfattning som god sed kräver vid användning av dokumentet på ovan beskrivna sätt samt skydd mot att dokumentet ändras eller presenteras i sådan form eller i sådant sammanhang som är kränkande för upphovsmannens litterära eller konstnärliga anseende eller egenart. För ytterligare information om Linköping University Electronic Press se förlagets hemsida https://ep.liu.se/ . Copyright The publishers will keep this document online on the Internet – or its possible replacement – for a period of 25 years starting from the date of publication barring exceptional circumstances. The online availability of the document implies permanent permission for anyone to read, to download, or to print out single copies for his/hers own use and to use it unchanged for non- commercial research and educational purpose. Subsequent transfers of copyright cannot revoke this permission. All other uses of the document are conditional upon the consent of the copyright owner. The publisher has taken technical and administrative measures to assure authenticity, security and accessibility. According to intellectual property law the author has the right to be mentioned when his/her work is accessed as described above and to be protected against infringement. For additional information about the Linköping University Electronic Press and its procedures for publication and for assurance of document integrity, please refer to its www home page: https://ep.liu.se/. © 2021 Mareike Oelrichs ii iii Table of Contents Upphovsrätt .............................................................................................................................. ii Copyright .................................................................................................................................. ii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. v 1. Abstract .............................................................................................................................. 1 2. Table of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 1 3. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 4. Background ........................................................................................................................ 4 5. Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................... 5 5.1. Transition Experiments ........................................................................................... 5 5.2. Urban Living Labs ................................................................................................... 6 5.3. The Importance of Evaluation and Learning ........................................................... 7 6. Methods .............................................................................................................................. 9 6.1. Case Study and Secondary Data Research .............................................................. 9 6.2. Interviews .............................................................................................................. 13 6.3. Validity and Reliability ......................................................................................... 16 7. Results and Discussion .................................................................................................... 17 7.1. District Characteristics and Aims of the Experimentation .................................... 17 7.1.1. Characteristics of the Districts Identified as Experimentation Site ............. 17 7.1.2. Aims of the Experimentation for Sustainable Development ....................... 21 7.2. Evaluation of Experimental Approaches ............................................................... 24 7.2.1. How are Experimental Approaches Evaluated? ........................................... 24 7.2.2. Which Characteristics of Learning are Displayed? ...................................... 25 7.3. Communication of Findings and Knowledge ........................................................ 28 7.3.1. Informal Networks ....................................................................................... 29 7.3.2. Formal Networks.......................................................................................... 30 7.3.3. Research Institutes and Universities ............................................................ 32 8. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 34 9. Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 36 10. References ........................................................................................................................ 37 11. Appendix .......................................................................................................................... 48 iv List of Figures Figure 1 Map of Sweden showing the location of cities studied and Sweden’s three largest cities for locational reference ................................................................................................... 18 List of Tables Table 1 Summary of the Internet and Literature Research on Swedish Cities ......................... 12 Table 2 City, Date and Position of Interviewee ....................................................................... 13 Table 3 Characteristics of the six cases studied ....................................................................... 20 v 1. Abstract In Sweden, it is expected that more than 90% of the population will live in cities by 2040. Therefore, cities have an important role in sustainable development to ensure high quality of life in the face of climate change and social challenges. This thesis uses the framework of Urban Living Labs as a form of experimentation to analyse how evaluation and learning in municipalities take place. Districts identified as sites of experimentation in the six mid-sized municipalities Umeå, Gävle, Jönköping, Borås, Örebro, and Lund are studied using a multiple case study approach. Secondary data is discussed together with findings from interviews. The results show that the aims and challenges of experimentation are similar in all cases. Municipalities aim at increasing their attractivity with these extraordinary districts, but they also contribute to sustainable development through innovation in different sectors (e.g., energy, construction, social life). The importance of structured evaluation for learning is recognized, but only few have (as of now) developed a framework for this. Double-loop learning (or reflectivity) is hinted at in the interviews, but for most projects, it is too early to identify whether it will take place. Experiments are contributing to sustainable development on a larger scale mostly through interactions in networks. Personal Networks, as well as international networks (e.g., initiated by the EU), have a special role as these provide incentives for experimentation, quick informal exchange, as well as spread findings and knowledge to municipalities outside of Sweden.1 Keywords: Urban Living Lab, Experimentation, Case Study, Sweden, Learning 2. Table of Abbreviations EnoLL European Network of Living Labs PBL Planning and Building Act ESS European Spallation Source PED Positive Energy District EU European Union SGBC Sweden Green Building Council GHG Greenhouse Gas TM Transition Management KTH Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan ULL Urban Living Lab ÖBO Örebro Bostäder AB 3. Introduction More than half of the worlds’ population lives in cities. In 2019 this share was already at 84% in Northern Europe. The United Nations estimates the urban population globally to reach 68% by 2050, with Sweden exceeding the 90% benchmark already in the 2040s (United Nations, 2018, 2020). The densification of urban areas allowed many to become hubs of production and wealth (Rode, 2013: 80). However, this also led the same areas to become a focal point of its negative consequences. Cities consume large amounts
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