Exploring Local Governance in Urban Planning and Development The case of Lindholmen, Göteborg Doctoral dissertation Åsa von Sydow Stockholm 2004 TRITA-INFRA 04-026 ISRN KTH/INFRA/--04/026--SE ISSN 1651-0216 ISBN 91-7323-090-1 Royal Institute of Technology Department of Infrastructure Division of Urban Studies Unit of Urban Planning SE-100 44 Stockholm Telephone: +46 8 790 60 00 http://www.infra.kth.se/SP/ © Åsa von Sydow, 2004 Printed by Universitetsservice AB, Stockholm. ii Exploring Local Governance in Urban Planning and Development The case of Lindholmen, Göteborg Åsa von Sydow Royal Institute of Technology Department of Infrastructure Division of Urban Studies Abstract In the late 1970s the city of Göteborg was faced with massive job loss as well as an empty urban waterfront (Norra Älvstranden) due to the closing down of the shipyards. Since then Göteborg has been struggling to transform itself into a successful post-industrial city. The political leadership has worked diligently at promoting Göteborg as a knowledge and event city with the goal of creating growth in the region. After the shipyard crisis an area on the waterfront called Lindholmen was planned for housing, green areas and the preservation of an historically valuable building. In 1997, however, this all changed when the pri- vate company Ericsson started to look for a new office location and showed interest in the area. The company demanded the establishment of an IT-cluster consisting of 10 000 workplaces on the pier. This started a process which re- sulted in Lindholmen Science Park, a growth environment for knowledge in- tensive, high-tech companies. The urban planning and development process of Lindholmen is described and analyzed here. Specifically, the focus is on how public and private actors collaborate to create a capacity to govern and thus achieve their agenda. The purpose of the dissertation is to investigate and analyze the governing process of Lindholmen in order to contribute to the knowledge of conditions for and processes of urban planning and development in Sweden. The disserta- tion utilizes the governance perspective as a general conceptual framework that provides a perspective on the relationships between public, private and volun- tary actors in the process of governing in contemporary society. Urban regime theory is applied to understand the processes of governing, as it focuses on how actors seek collaboration with the purpose of achieving a capacity to gov- ern as well as identifies different forms of power in the urban context. Today, as Swedish cities compete in a global arena, urban policy and planning face the challenge of how to balance demands of market efficiency with the need to allow time for democratic processes in order to secure legitimacy, transparency and accountability. Key words: Governance, urban regime theory, urban planning and development, governing process, agenda, coalition, power, democracy, Lindholmen, Norra Älvstranden, Göteborg. iii iv To mum v vi Contents Abstract iii List of Figures x List of Tables x List of Pictures x Acknowledgements xi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Purpose and Structure of the Dissertation 2 The Post-Industrial City 3 A shift in Urban Policy 4 Expanding Urban Politics 5 Regenerating the Waterfront 7 An Overview of Urban Policy and Planning Research 9 Chapter 2 Local Governance Perspective 13 A Broad Concept 13 Changes in Society Influencing Governance 16 Defining Governance 19 Normative Approaches to Governance 20 Governance and Government 21 New Theoretical Perspective, Old Empirical Phenomenon 24 Governance and Democracy 25 Conclusions Local Governance 27 Chapter 3 Capacity to Govern in an Urban Context 29 Urban Regimes 31 Regime Characteristics 32 Regime Typologies 35 Agenda and Governing Coalition 37 Urban Power 39 Community Power Debate 39 Urban Power Expands 41 Forms of Urban Power 43 An Approach to Analysing Lindholmen 45 vii Chapter 4 Method and Material 49 Theoretical Approach 49 Different Contexts 51 Regime Theory Concerns 53 The Case Study of Lindholmen 54 Single Case 56 A Unique as well as Representative Case 57 Qualitative Method 57 Material 58 Abduction – Induction and Deduction Combined 60 Generalization of Case Studies 60 Validity and Reliability 61 Chapter 5 Göteborg: Historical and Political Context 63 The History of a Shipyard and Harbour City 64 Göteborg as a Knowledge City 69 Politics in Göteborg 71 The Chairman of the City Executive Board 73 Göteborgsandan - The Spirit of Göteborg 76 Local Debates on Urban Planning and Democracy 80 Conclusions Göteborg 83 Chapter 6 Lindholmen: From Shipyard and Harbour to Science Park 85 Waterfront Regeneration Takes Off 90 The First Initiatives for Urban Regeneration 90 A Vision for Norra Älvstranden 92 The City Creates Capacity for Regeneration 94 Planning to Enable Economic Development 97 Ericsson is on the Move 99 The Attraction of a Cluster 100 Handling Demands From a Private Company 101 A Learning Process 104 Programme Work and Ericsson Takes Time 105 Any Objections? 107 Dock Shed 178 109 Growth Environment to Fight Global Competition 112 A Science Park Begins to Take Form 113 The Board 117 Agendas and Tensions 118 Focus Areas 118 The Science Park Grows 119 viii Norra Älvstranden and Göteborg Today 123 Conclusions Lindholmen 125 Agenda and Governing Coalition 125 Forms of Power 128 Chapter 7 Urban Planning and Governance Between Efficiency and Democracy 133 Governance and Government 133 Governance and Planning 140 Governance Between Democracy and Efficiency 142 References 151 Appendix A: Interests and Actors Related to the Case Study 167 Appendix B: The Swedish Political and Administrative System 169 Appendix C: The Swedish Planning System 170 ix List of Figures Figure 3.1: Different Governance Concepts 30 Figure 3.1: Urban Regimes and Governing Coalitions 46 Figure 7.1: Regime in Göteborg and Governing Coalition in Lindholmen 137 Figure 7.2: Governance in Göteborg from the Perspective of Lindholmen Science Park 139 List of Tables Table 2.1: Common Usages of the Concept Governance 14 Table 3.1: Stone’s Regime Typology 35 Table 3.2: Stoker and Mossberger’s Regime Typology 36 Table 3.3: Urban Power According to the Community Power Tradition 40 Table 3.4: Forms of Urban Power 43 Table 6.1: Norra Älvstranden 87 Table 6.2: Course of Events Planning Process of Lindholmen Pier 98 Table 7.1: Lindholmen Science Park – Actors and Considerations 134 List of Pictures Picture 5.1: Göteborg, on the Swedish West Coast 64 Picture 5.2: Eriksberg, Lindholmen and Götaverken Shipyards 66 Picture 5.3: The Shipyards at Norra Älvstranden 67 Picture 6.1: Norra Älvstranden 86 Picture 6.2: Different Areas on Norra Älvstranden 86 Picture 6.3: Shipyard Eriksberg 91 Picture 6.3: Lindholmen and its Pier 100 Picture 6.4: Programme Area Lindholmen Lundbystrand 105 Picture 6.5: Dock Shed 178 and Grain Silo 108 Picture 6.6: Drawing of Ericsson's Building 110 Picture 6.7: Drawing of Ericsson's Building From Within 111 Picture 6.8: Lindholmen Science Park 114 Picture 6.9: More Companies Join Lindholmen Science Park 119 Picture 6.10: Ericsson's Building on the Lindholmen Pier 121 Picture 6.11: Lindholmen Science Park’s Hub: Navet 122 x Acknowledgements Today it is almost impossible to write a dissertation without funding. Therefore I am deeply grateful to FORMAS (grant BFR 970318-8) for providing this es- sential prerequisite to embark on this journey. Writing a dissertation cannot be done without the help and contribution of many people. To begin with I have had the privilege to work with two encour- aging and committed supervisors: professor Göran Cars, KTH, Urban Studies, and professor Ingemar Elander, Örebro University, Department of Social and Political Science. I am forever grateful to both of you for sharing your knowl- edge with me and for guiding me from the first day to the last. Göran – thank you for having more faith in my capability to accomplish different tasks than I have had myself. Ingemar – thank you for insightful readings of draft after draft, never ending support and a friendship that I value dearly. Thank you to Professor Folke Snickars, KTH, opponent at my mid-seminar, and Professor Arvid Strand, NIBR, opponent at my final seminar for valuable, constructive comments. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my col- leagues, Associate Professor Lars Orrskog and PhD Karolina Isaksson, who have read and discussed my research along the way. I am grateful to PhD Bo Öhrström, Chalmers University of Technology, for providing me with com- ments on chapter six. Thank you also to PhD colleagues Mikael Granberg and Karin Perman, as well as Associate Professor Stig Montin, for comments on early drafts during seminars at Örebro University, Department of Social and Political Science. Dying of nervousness, since I have based a lot of my work on his, I presented a paper before professor Clarence N. Stone in December 2001. To my astonish- ment the result was an invitation to George Washington Institute of Public Policy, George Washington University. It was an amazing semester for me! My sincere gratitude to Professor Stone for showing such an interest in my research and giving me such brilliant comments. Thank you to Professor Harold Wol- man for making my stay formally possible and providing me with such a warm welcome and inspiring academic environment. xi My D.C. girls: Lindsay Clark, Christi Fanelli, Carrie O´Regan and Maria Polis, from day one you treated me as your best friend, amazing - thank you! I am also grateful to the wonderful Clark family who took in a lost Swedish soul and treated her to a real American thanksgiving celebration. Thank you to my flat- mate Marissa who brightened everyday life on 5th str, and to Clarence and Mary Stone who kindly invited me to various social activities.