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European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research - COST Action C11 |
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Spatial Planning in Netheralnds National
data on planning systems Spatial
Planning Sweden Bjorn Sweden The Swedish
Planning System A THE
SWEDISH NATIONAL CONTEXT A1
Introduction
A1.1 Presentation
of the country Sweden is
a very large country covering an area of
some 450 000 square kilometres, and
extending over nearly 1 600 km from north
to south, and 500 km at its broadest
point. The considerable north-south
differences in latitude bring about a
varied climate, providing special
conditions, for instance, for farming and
forestry. With only nine million
inhabitants, the country has a very low
density of population, with large
differences between the north and the
south, and between the urban and rural
areas. Figure 1: Swedish
population geography. The heights indicate
population density. (National Atlas of Sweden 1991,
vol. 3) Sweden is divided
into 24 administrative counties (l‰n), and 284
local authority areas or municipalities (kommun).
The names of the counties, as a rule, are related
to the names of the provinces (landskap), which
since medieval times have had no administrative
function. The history of the provinces traces back
to prehistoric times, with some of them becoming
independent kingdoms by the beginning of the middle
ages. There is still a deep-rooted feeling for the
provinces among the Swedes. The counties date back
to 1634. In each county there is a provincial
capital where a county governor appointed directly
by the central government is responsible for the
work of the county authority. The number of
municipalities the counties are divided into varies
from 1 to about 50, the latter being the case for
V‰stra Gˆtalands l‰n, which is a
recently implemented amalgamation of three of the
counties in the Gˆteborg region of western
Sweden A2 Spatial
development A2.1 Urban growth,
demography and space From being an
almost totally agrarian society, the nation has
become increasingly industrialised during the 20th
Century. In the early 1900s, 70% of the population
lived in rural areas. Today this figure has been
reduced to approximately 15%. (Nystrˆm 1996,
p.9) The Swedish
definition of a built-up or 'urban area' is that at
least 200 persons must live within an area with a
maximum of 200 m between buildings. This means that
many 'urban areas' in Sweden might appear to be
rather rural for observers from elsewhere in
Europe. The main centres of
population have always been in the southern part of
the country, with the region around the capital
city of Stockholm being the largest. Other major
centres of population are the regions around
Gˆteborg on the west coast, and
Malmˆ-Helsingborg in the far south. The
increasing population of immigrants and their
descendents is also largely concentrated to these
three regions. The average population density in
Sweden is low in comparison with the rest of
Europe, with a density of only approximately 20
inhabitants per km2 (http://www.boverket.se/). This
ranges from 3 persons per square kilometre in the
northernmost county (Norrbotten) to 95 in the
southernmost county (SkÂne) and 248 in the
capital city county (Stockholm). (Sveriges
Nationalatlas 1999; vol. 1 Sveriges kartor, p
10ff). Figure 2: New
production of flats and single-family houses
1955-2000. (http://www.scb.se/) About half the
households live in flats and half live in
single-family houses, flats being more common in
the larger towns and cities. A large percentage of
the urban population live in effectively designed
apartments as opposed to more spacious traditional
single-family housing, which dominate the smaller
towns and rural areas as well as some suburban
housing districts. Living space has increased
constantly during the 20th Century. With regard to
flats, in 1960 the average figure was 31 square
metres per person, and about 30 years later had
risen to 46 square metres per person (Nystrˆm
1996 p.33-34). The total figure including
single-family houses today is 2.2 persons per
dwelling (1.9 persons per dwelling if second homes
are taken into account). Due to the more stringent
social welfare policies of the past decade, and the
increasing gap between low- and high-income groups,
this trend is unlikely to continue. High-density living
in urban areas is to some degree compensated for by
the large proportion of second homes (600 000
cottages or chalets - Nystrˆm 1996, p.9).
These are situated in rural places, especially the
coastal archipelagos and the forested regions of
southern Sweden, and are extensively used by the
urban population in the summer period. During later
years the number of foreigners, mostly from Germany
and Norway, has increased among the ownership and
tenants of these leisure time homes. A2.2 Land use,
economics, green spaces Extensive forests
mostly coniferous cover roughly 70% of the total
land area of Sweden, and these interspersed by
rugged crags and ridges, swamps, lakes and rivers
characterise the landscape of the country. In
Lapland, and the far north, high mountains border
this landscape. Farmland accounts for only
approximately 6% of the total land area
(Nystrˆm 1996 p.9), but there are however a
number of regions in southern Sweden where
agricultural land predominates. These include the
plains of E and W Gˆtaland, but perhaps the
most notable is the southernmost province of
SkÂne where the landscape is more
characteristic of nearby Denmark. On the whole,
agriculture in Sweden is continuing to undergo
major rationalisation changes, with increasing unit
size, and a correspondingly decreasing number of
farming units. Figure 3: Migration
to and from Sweden 1851-1999.
(http://www.scb.se/) Large tracts of
virgin or semi-virgin terrain, especially in the
sparsely populated regions of the north, are
designated as national parks. Similarly, there are
designated nature reserves mostly situated nearer
to the towns and cities. The forested areas
have increased by 1 million hectares since the
1920s. This has mainly been brought about through
the afforestation of disused farmland. At the same
time some forestland has been lost, among other
reasons due to urban expansion. 40% of all farmland
that was abandoned during the 1960s has turned into
woodland, 10-15% has been built on with houses,
roads etc and the remainder has become overgrown
with bushes, which says something about the
pressure on land utilisation outside the cities.
At first sight the
low density of population and the abundance of
untouched land may appear misleading. In practise,
in the urban regions where there is any kind of
market pressure, there is a shortage of land
suitable for development. In the major cities of
Stockholm and Gˆteborg the topography of the
landscape presents a major problem. In the case of
Malmˆ, the third major city, development is
hampered by the desire to conserve prime
agricultural land. Many urban
dwellers, even younger persons, have their roots in
the countryside and in a way substitute their
desire for green spaces by leaving the towns and
'returning home' in their leisure time. However,
there appears to be a small but gradually
increasing number of citizens that seldom venture
into the countryside. These are mostly young people
born and bred in an urban environment, as well as
people of all ages with immigrant
backgrounds. The ratio between
public and private green areas is undoubtedly
extremely high in favour of the areas with public
access. In Sweden there is a unique 'law by custom'
known as the Right of Common Access, which among
other things allows more or less free access to
walk across privately owned land including forests
and farmland not currently under cultivation. This
concept has of tradition been commonly accepted, so
the issue is not really one of private as opposed
to public ownership, as in the case in almost all
other European countries. Figure 4: Land use
in Sweden 1995. (http://www.scb.se/) In a national
context, the quantity of urban green areas does not
constitute any real problem. While the immediate
local environment may occasionally lack green
spaces, there are almost always such areas near at
hand. Comparing the quantity of green areas
accessible to the public in Swedish towns
illustrates the major difference between the
southernmost towns surrounded by arable farmland
and the more commonplace Swedish town surrounded by
forests. Interesting to note is that Malmˆ,
Sweden's third city, which is called "the city of
parks" does not have any surplus of green areas,
but it may be that those that do exist are of high
quality. Another possible explanation is of course
conscious and skilful marketing by the city
administration. Figure 5: Publicly
accessible green areas in percentage of the total
area within 5 km from the ten largest cities in
Sweden. The difference between Malmˆ on one
hand and Gˆteborg and Stockholm on the other,
is explained by different geographic situations.
While Malmˆ is located in an agricultural
productive landscape, Gˆteborg and Stockholm
are built on clay and rock in coastal landscapes.
(www.scb.se/) However, this
seemingly idealistic state of affairs is under
threat from different causes. One is the acid rain
with pollutants originating from the heavily
industrialised regions of Western Europe that is
already damaging many pine forests, especially in
regions where the indigenous levels of acidity in
the soil have always been high. Acid rain has also
led to the disappearance of fish from many lakes
and rivers, and in certain regions considerable
amounts of lime are required to reduce the levels
of acidity in the watercourses. Increase in road
transportation within the country also contributes
to this acidification. Not to be forgotten here are
also the after-effects of the 1986 Soviet nuclear
power disaster at Chernobyl in the Ukraine. The
radioactive fallout left an elongated 'florescent
green' zone which included much of the eastern
coast and a large segment of northern Sweden. Among
other things the high content of caesium rendered
large quantities of freshwater fish and venison
unfit for human consumption (Bernes & Grundsten
1991, p.16-17). Another main threat
to the environment is the high priority given to
the private car in urban planning, which involves
the construction of huge traffic facilities. The
difficult nature of the topography often presents a
problem for road building, and where possible to
cut construction costs these are planned through,
or on, areas of open agricultural land. These
operations, on the one hand result in the
fragmentation and destruction of existing green
areas. On the other hand, this expansion of road
transport facilities in and around the towns and
cities gives rise to considerable green zones,
which are not often apparent in planning documents
as being 'green', because they are included in
traffic zones. As a result of this, the potential
of these green spaces, from ecological, social or
cultural points of view, is very seldom manifested.
Their 'invisibility' in planning and the lack of
knowledge about their resources, together with
their scale and inaccessibility, result in an
apparent qualitative problem. A3 Government and
governance A3.1 Development of
spatial planning (1950-2001) Urban planning has
a long tradition in Sweden. Strong governmental
machinery, and an important public sector with
self-governing local authorities helped to create a
system geared to providing social welfare in the
form of good housing and transportation, social
services, education and health-care, public service
facilities etc. This system of
planning became greatly criticised during the 1970s
and 80s. Increasing building costs, cuts in public
expenditure and privatisation had a profound
influence, and laid the foundation for a so-called
planning by negotiation. This kind of planning
concept paves the way for large housing
corporations and other vested interests to 'buy
their way' into the system, and also strongly
affects where building can take place. However, at
the same time these new concepts of planning also
provide for a broader dialogue with local
inhabitants, and new more process-oriented
municipal planning methods have been
developed. This shift in
planning policies was implemented legally through
the 1987 'Planning and Building Act' (PBL), which
replaced the former planning statures. The
fundamental difference here was that the previous
strongly descriptive legislation, with legally
binding Municipal Plans, turned into a policy
legislation, stipulating what to be achieved
instead of what to do. Broader opportunities for
participation through the exhibition of planning
proposals and consultations with citizens were
emphasised, as well as the obligation to produce
plans covering the entire surface area of each
municipality including water areas. A3.2 Institutional
setting of planning The Swedish
planning and building legislation points out that
land and water shall be used in a way that
encourages good long-term and sustainable
management in ecological, social and economic
terms. The correct term used for this new kind of
policy instrument is Comprehensive Plan
(ˆversiktsplan ÷P), which indicates its
strategic rather than descriptive character. For
certain parts, or districts, of the municipal
territory In-Depth Comprehensive Plans
(fˆrdjupad ˆversiktsplan F÷P) may be
drawn up. Here more detailed strategies and
guidelines are formulated, and when approved by the
City Council they become part of the Comprehensive
Plan (÷P) replacing previous more general
policy statements for that part or district. These
two levels of the Comprehensive Plan will here be
called the Municipal Plan (÷P) and the
District Plan (F÷P), respectively. The
Municipal Plan shall cover the whole municipal
territory, including water areas. It is compulsory
and has to be reviewed regularly and adjusted
according to prevailing policy. The control of land
use and development within a municipality, takes
place through Detailed Development Plans
(detaljplan DP). These plans, here called Local
Plans, cover only areas to be developed in the near
future, and are obligatory when developing a new
area. Apart from being more detailed, they include
the legislative rights to develop in accordance
with the plan. The Local Plan includes a
description of how to implement the plan
(genomfˆrandebeskrivning). It states who is
responsible for the construction and maintenance of
common ground and other common properties of the
area, as a result of the negotiation of the
planning process. For limited areas not covered by
a Local Plan, Area Regulations
(omrÂdesbest‰mmelser) may be adopted if
they are required to achieve the intentions of the
Municipal Plan, or to ensure the safeguarding of
national interests. Area Regulations make it
possible to regulate only some aspects of the
Municipal Plan. Property Regulation Plans
(fastighetsplan) may further be adopted in order to
facilitate the implementation of Local Plans.
Regional Plans
(regionplan) may also be adopted for the
co-ordination of the planning of several
municipalities. Only the Stockholm region has a
formal regional planning institution. Elsewhere,
the government can approve the making of formal
regional plans following voluntary applications
from the municipal authorities
concerned. For the
construction of buildings, as well as for the
excavation or filling in of a site, or the felling
or planting of trees, a permit is required either
in the form of a Building Permit, Demolition Permit
or Site Improvement Permit. The PBL describes very
concisely where and when a Local Plan shall be
adopted, which applies especially in the case of
new continuous developments and new buildings the
use of which will have a significant impact on
their surroundings. Area Regulations grant
exception from building permit requirements, and
permits may be granted for individual buildings in
the countryside without any Local Plan or Area
Regulations. Although planning
is a municipal responsibility, the central
government has the right and is obliged to take
part in and supervise the planning process from a
very early stage through the County Administrative
Board (L‰nsstyrelsen) as well as the Swedish
National Board of Housing, Building and Planning
(Boverket). Figure 6:
Environmental and planning legislation in Sweden.
The white letters describe the 15 environmental
objectives for sustainable development to be
implemented through the planning system. The planning
process passes at least three phases. Firstly, the
programme stage where the ideas are gathered, and
the project is outlined in rather broad terms.
Secondly, the consultation stage, which is still at
the beginning of the process, and the opportunities
for the public to make their voices heard are
considerable i.e. at least if they are familiar
with the planning process. Thirdly, the exhibition
stage, where the project begins to take firm shape,
but the public has still the possibility of
influencing the project. After this the municipal
council takes the plan for approval. A3.3 Environmental
awareness Environmental
awareness is relatively high throughout the
population. Unlike in many other countries a number
of the issues raised by environmentalists in the
1970s and 80s have, in the typically Swedish
manner, been 'absorbed' by the establishment. Now
in the early 2000s, a broad scale of involvement
has started to become evident, and both within
local councils and private enterprises a range of
environmentally friendly practices is in the
process of being adopted. In the Agenda 21 epoch,
since the UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro 1992, the
one time 'activist' environmental movement has in
many ways started to become 'respectable'!
One of the most
distinctive features of Swedish towns and cities is
that they are small and have a close relationship
to the surrounding terrain. Parks, green zones and
lakes are often of significant cultural and
historical value. Green zones have as elsewhere
traditionally been treated as areas for new
development. However, in recent years many
Municipal Plans have pointed out the importance of
conserving certain areas for the protection of
plants and wild life, and for recreational
purposes. Furthermore, since 1995, the Natural
Resources Act has facilitated the prevention of
exploitation within such areas by an amendment for
safeguarding landscapes of natural and cultural
importance in cities. Many local
authorities produce different types of basic
documentation for their Municipal Plan. During
recent years, special green plans in which the
local authority decides the future development and
conservation of green zones, have become
increasingly common. Since 1999, a so-called
'Environmental Code' (Miljˆbalken) has been
brought into commission, and this is legislation
for all environmental matters functioning parallel
to the Planning and Building Act. Thus, in certain
cases the planned development has to be tested
according to both systems. The Environmental Code
has replaced a number of acts such as the
Environmental Protection Act, the Water Act, the
Nature Conservation Act etc, all of these
previously being co-ordinated with the PBL under
the Act of the Management of Natural Resources.
Even though the Environmental Code is a serious
attempt to gather all environmental legislation,
today it appears somewhat problematic to get these
two legislations to work together. The National City
Parks Concept provides opportunities to protect
green areas in cities and metropolitan regions of
national interest with regard to the natural and
cultural landscape heritage. (Nystrˆm, 1996,
p.75) The first such park (situated to north of the
centre in Stockholm) was designated in 1995 (Linder
in Guinchard, 1997, p.126-129). The subject of
water has been touched upon above. Generally
speaking there is an abundance of pure water for
all needs. Apart from providing fresh water fish
for domestic needs, most of the rivers also produce
clean hydroelectric power. Because of the adverse
environmental effects with regard to the
large-scale transformations of the landscapes
involved, however, the few remaining unregulated
rivers in the north of Sweden are unlikely to be
exploited in the future. A number of watercourses
previously polluted by industrial effluents, have
undergone processes of restoration in the last
decades. In this context, what may be unique for
Sweden, is the various associations for the
protection of watercourses, which includes
monitoring pollution. These are locally or
regionally based, and most likely cover every
hydrological system in Sweden. A3.4 Planning
answers and approaches to current
situation Around the
beginning of the 1990s, the green structure concept
was introduced in the Swedish planning debate. This
concept emerged mainly as a result of the
increasing attention given to ecological aspects of
urban development during the preceding decade.
Green structure, interpreted as water and all areas
free from buildings and covered surfaces, has a
multi-functional meaning in urban development. The
concept has created opportunities for focusing on
the whole complex system of green areas impossible
to organise according to administrative units. The
fact that the green structure concept corresponds
to concepts such as infrastructure or building
structure implies both a risk to disregard the
scale variation of the urban landscape, and a
potential for the integration of green areas in
urban design and planning. It is furthermore
possible to identify two categories of green
structure; the 'formal' and the 'actual' green
structure. While the formal green structure
represents all areas designated as green in
planning documents, actual green structure
represents all areas that fit into the general
green structure definition above. Thus, the concept
of actual green structure represents a new way of
looking at urban greenery. (Lundgren Alm 2001, see
also Birgersson et al. (2001) Workpackage 1 report
for a brief history) Urban planning
practice has changed during the last decades of the
20th century following the social turn of events
often referred to as a move from government to
governance. This change in urban planning may be
called 'the communicative turn' (e.g. Healey 1997).
Urban change is the result of many actors'
decisions and actions that must be co-ordinated if
greater goals like sustainable development shall be
achieved. The striving for sustainable development
has also introduced new types of knowledge in the
planning process, for instance, ecology.
Furthermore, a broader participation of citizens
and various experts is involved. Thus the search
for tools for communication and learning is
emphasised in planning research and practice in
Sweden as well as in many other parts of the world.
Main communication problems can be found between
experts from different disciplines or sectors, as
well as between planners and such experts, and
laymen decision makers, and citizens. Here the
communication of different kinds of knowledge and
experience is sometimes a demanding challenge,
containing aspects of democracy and power.
A5 Conclusions
The Swedish
representative democracy system and planning
legislation give considerable formal opportunities
for the citizens to make their voices heard in the
planning process. However, in reality very few
people enter into the planning process, which is
often reduced to one-way communication of written
materials. People normally do not react until the
planning influences their conditions right here and
now. The late
urbanisation and low density of population in
Sweden may have contributed to a special
relationship to natural environment, and a deeply
rooted longing for the countryside among Swedes.
There is a broad consensus about landscape values
and environmental concerns. There is also an
obvious unwillingness to accept any densification
or urban development activities close to their own
places. Thus, although as a whole there is a large
amount of unbuilt land in and around Swedish
cities, there are often conflicts about these
issues in the cities. There is no actual
shortage of green and open spaces in and around
Swedish towns and cities. During the past 50 years,
the construction of large-scale traffic facilities
and housing areas has resulted in large amounts of
leftover green and open spaces. In planning
practice there is a lack of knowledge about these
green areas, which in many cases are not even
visible or identified in plans and other documents.
However, these green spaces are often utilised by
local citizens, whose knowledge could be valuable
for planners, even though this may be difficult to
apply in practise. An open area that
from the planning point of view may be regarded as
being a leftover land reserve, might in reality be
of great importance for local actors. There is a
need for increased local knowledge in the planning
process, which could be attained by improved
communication strategies. National
data on planning systems Belgium? Norway? Lithuania? Czech
Republic? To add your own definitions or ideas just email Anne Beer. |
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