What does good leadership look like? Lessons from Bo01, Sweden 1 CONTENTS Page 2 Contents Page 3 Introduction Page 4 - 7 How change was brought about Page 8 - 11 Innovative leadership outcomes Page 12 - 15 Lessons for Scottish leadership Page 16 Conclusions Page 17 Next steps Page 18 Bo01 Profi le Page 19 Bo01 Aspects of development form Page 20 References PARTNERS FACILITATORS With special thanks to the following individuals: Ed Taylor, Sandy Morrison, Klas Tham, Jill Malvenan, Neil Stephen, Howard Liddell Nick Wright, Karen Esselmont, David Nicol, Ian Gilzean, Eric Dawson, Steven Tolson Graham Ross, Geraldine McAteer, David Chisholm , Keith Gowenlock, Karen Anderson, Sam Cassels, Riccardo Marini, Keith Gowenlock, Karen Anderson, Alistair Scott, Heather Chapple, Martin McKay, Paul Ballantyne, Courtney Peyton, Sandy Robinson SUPPORTERS Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), Royal Incorporation of Chartered Surveyors Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland, Historic Scotland, Transport Scotland Scottish Natural Heritage, Homes for Scotland, The Academy of Urbanism, Dundee City Council, Urban Design Group, TAYplan, Scottish Water, Scottish Environment Protection Agency 2 Report researched, written and produced by Kate Givan, A+DS 1| INTRODUCTION WHAT ARE CASE STUDIES? Case Studies aim to set out thinking, briefi ng or possible forward action on a specifi c topic or question. They provide in-depth information and can outline ways to tackle issues. This Case Study has been prepared by A+DS to support the Mixed and Sustainable Communities learning network which is managed by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration (SCR) in the Scottish Government. The views expressed in case studies are not necessarily shared by Scottish Government. WHAT IS THIS CASE STUDY ABOUT? The case study has been informed by the international masterclass given by Klas Tham at the Design Skills Symposium Scotland 2010. The Symposium took place at the Westpark Centre in Dundee on Aug 31st and September 1st 2010. Its purpose was to look at the need for the delivery of better places to meet the challenge of climate change. The Symposium was a collaborative initiative between A+DS, Improvement Services, and the Scottish Centre for Regeneration and Architecture and Place Division of Scottish Government. Klas Tham, the internationally renowned designer who led the design and delivery of Bo01 in Malmö was invited to address the design skills symposium with an ‘international masterclass’. Central to the Bo01 project are the ideas of ‘place’ and ‘sustainable development’. Through his leadership role on Bo01 Klas Tham has shown a way to meet the challenge of exemplary, sustainable development. The objective of this case study is to highlight key issues arising from the masterclass about how inspired leadership can enable the delivery of better, sustainable places, and draw out lessons for Scotland. 3 2| HOW CHANGE WAS BROUGHT ABOUT In this section the key factors that led to change being brought about at Bo01 are examined. The conditions that infl uenced the unique brief, with its focus on quality, are examined and consideration is given to how the emphasis on sustainability came about. ABOUT MALMO Malmö is Sweden’s third largest city, located at the southern tip of the country. The city is well connected to the European mainland by the Oresund bridge, completed in 2000, which links Malmö to Copenhagen in Denmark. The city has in the region of 300,000 inhabitants, which includes a high immigrant population of around 29%, and a higher than the Swedish average demographic of young people. Malmö is thought to have been originally founded at the end of the 13th century by the Danes. The formation of the harbour in the late 18th Century, and the subsequent arrival of rail improved Malmö’s trading prospects and assisted its continuing growth The city’s shipyards, formed in reclaimed land in 1840, went on to become among the biggest in world and Malmö evolved as a thriving industrial town. By the early 1980’s however, shipbuilding was in decline and the 1990’s saw the industry vanish completely from the Malmö dockyards. The city’s future was in crisis. 4 2| HOW CHANGE WAS BROUGHT ABOUT POLITICAL LEADERSHIP “The disappearance of traditional industries was so fast and so complete that we had noth- ing to be defensive about. We simply had to come up with a new approach. And we decided that the way forward was to create a modern city which was at the very top when it came to environmental issues” (Anders Rubin, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Urban Environment). Malmö’s period of industrial decline coincided with a number of environmental disas- ters that had a particular impact on Sweden (eg: acid rain, mass seal deaths). This was also a time that saw new political interest in issues of sustainability thanks to the 1992 Rio earth summit which highlighted, amongst other things, the important role for local government in tackling climate change. The conditions existed for this to have a particular impact in Malmö, since Sweden has a long tradition of political power being devolved to a local level. Another factor contributing to political will for change was the construction of the Oresund link road and rail bridge, completed in 2000. This 8km long bridge connected Sweden to Denmark, with just a 40 minute journey between Malmö and Copenhagen. The huge signifi cance of the bridge was that it linked Malmö directly to the rest of the European mainland, and so to a vastly wider network of potential population and busi- ness opportunities, at the very time that the city was looking to re-imagine itself. It was in these circumstances, with contexts of sustainability and place competi- “Malmö has worked to remodel itself as tiveness in mind, that the newly elected political leaders of Malmö began visioning a city of knowledge…one of the other exercises to rebrand and rebuild the City. City leaders wanted to see Malmö trans- central themes in the regeneration of the formed from a working city to knowledge city. Recognising the need to mark a defi nite city has been a focus on the environ- move away from industrial decline, they opted for what has been described as “a ment both from a broader sustainability radical vision of a modern eco city” (Hambleton, 2009, p24-25) to tackle the collapse perspective and also from an urban qual- of the city’s economic structure. A key component of the City’s emerging strategy ity perspective in order to shake off the was to focus on regenerating the reclaimed industrial site of Western Harbour (Vastra image of the dirty industrial town” Hamnen). The site had been bought by the Municipality of Malmö in 1996 with a view (Livable Cities, 2006, p1) to developing an entirely new district overlooking the Öresund strait. They began by building a campus for Malmö University on the site, which opened in 1998. The decision was subsequently reached to make the initial investment in residential development on the site by means of a housing expo focused on sustainability – Bo01 City of Tomorrow. The City was already developing experience of exemplary sustain- ability initiatives; for example, through the regeneration of the Austenburg area. Part of the appeal of an international expo was that it afforded the politicians an opportunity to promote their ecological commitments and to mark the re-branding of their city on a global platform. 5 6 2| HOW CHANGE WAS BROUGHT ABOUT VISIONARY CREATIVE LEADERSHIP Critical to the successes of the Bo01 City of Tomorrow project was the appointment “The urgent conversion of society to long of Klas Tham as its lead designer and programme co-ordinator. Klas’ reputation as a term sustainability will only be possible visionary architect / urban designer was well established at the time. He had worked when the sustainable alternative is re- with Ralph Erskine on the Byker housing project in Newcastle and had developed new garded not only as the wisest, but also as ‘villages’ himself in the UK. He was to have a defi ning role in shaping the place that is the most attractive one…The prevailing Bo01. His ideas and designs can be seen to have infl uenced the very essence of the quantitative standards for environmental place. Indeed, Malmö City’s website credits Klas Tham personally as a key part the sustainability, such as saving energy are process of creating Bo01. necessary, but insuffi cient…It will not be until people’s aesthetic, emotional Within the masterclass, Klas Tham describes how his approach to design has been and social needs are also met that the infl uenced by research into the form of all manner of European towns and cities. He is sustainable society can be attained” interested in how settlements develop over time, and how places can cultivate a sense (Bo01 City of Tomorrow, Klas Tham) of well-being in the people who inhabit them. He speaks passionately of his belief in placing human needs at the heart of designs. This is achieved by incorporating ele- ments such as reveals, surprises, richness, complexity and intimacy in his designs. In Klas Tham’s delivery, his absolute passion for humanity is apparent. It is clear that the form and structure of the plan for Bo01 could not have been developed without such sensitivity to the human condition. Klas’s holistic take on sustainability can also be seen at the very heart of the devel- opment of Bo01. His belief (quoted left) is that people must come to regard sustain- ability as not only the wisest option, but also as the most attractive one. This, he advocates, requires the very best in architecture and urbanism in order to balance the environmental and technical elements of sustainability with the individual’s social and emotional needs.