Striving for Sustainability: A Look at Southern Sweden

[Alyx Davidson]

In response to the 2013 article by Malmö City Mayor Ilmar Reepalu Malmö – from industrial waste land to sustainable city, I think the city of Malmö is a leading example for sustainable development. Located near the southern tip of Sweden across The Sound (Öresund) from the international city of Copenhagen, Malmö has the benefit of proximity to sustainable energy sources, particularly wind. In the past few decades, Malmö has progressed from a heavily industrialized center to a trendy urban setting. Modern cosmopolites are drawn to the city because of the way it has embraced a number of climate-conscious policies in pursuit of eco-friendly growth, combined with an environment for diversity and some artsy civic ventures.

Reepalu establishes the recent phases in the development of Malmö’s Western Harbour area to explain the trend toward sustainability. Residential and office buildings have sprung up in former industrial sectors, and the city has an outline for improvement plans projected to achieve completion in 2030. In the 4 phases of recent development, the city has focused on promoting biodiversity and green spaces (particularly green roofs), responsible waste management, improving public transportation, and constructing Smart Homes. Biodiversity is even an aspect of the municipal Environmental Building Code.

With regards to energy, the Lillgrund wind farm in the Öresund strait currently produces enough electricity for 60,000 houses, and all city busses run on a mix of biogas and compressed natural gas. The city administration has set some lofty goals as well: for the city’s “municipal vehicle fleet [to] run entirely on biogas, electricity and hydrogen by 2015”; for the energy supply of the southern district of Hyllie to be “entirely from renewable or recycled sources by 2020”; for the city government to be climate neutral by 2020; and for the entire city to run on 100% renewable energy by 2030. In the Augustenborg district, city administrators worked with local companies to refurbish the housing and develop the area. Increased efficiency and green spaces were key improvements, and the project’s success inspires new developments today. Finally, Malmö contains almost 300 miles of bike paths, and bicycles constitute up to 40% of commuter travel, reducing auto-dependency (along with the deterrent of high fuel cost).

I had the opportunity to live in Malmö from 2007-2009, in a western district called Limhamn near the harbor. Malmö is very bike-friendly, as there are wide paths throughout the city and even miniature traffic signals for bicyclists. Wherever there are bike paths, there are also pedestrian sidewalks. Though Reepalu was generous in mentioning the availability of a bus “every five minutes,” (it really depends on the location and time of day), the city does sell bus cards that are easy to use (though expensive) and runs a website for checking bus schedules and routes that is usually reliable. Housing was generally clustered, and most people found residence in multi-level apartments. Multi-purpose zoning was apparent as some even resided above shopping centers. I lived in a townhome with HOA-type guidelines; only a few were privileged enough to own a single-family home in the limited city suburbs. The city also prizes greenspace, as evident by the many parks and open land areas. Interesting architectural undertakings also exhibit Malmö’s distinctiveness, particularly the Turning Torso (the tallest skyscraper in Scandinavia).

 

Malmö, from its current state as an increasingly influential municipality to its future aspirations as a global leader in sustainability, has opted for the route of the modern city. In order to attain the reported objectives, Malmö will have to forego some consumer-friendly and option-friendly city plans in favor of a more controlled, more manageable layout. It will forfeit sprawl for walkability; privacy for density; streets for bike paths; personable vehicles for public transportation; private company providers for city utilities; inexpensive energy for more costly, though renewable energy resources. It is difficult to determine whether the drive for sustainability is a result of popular demand or an ambition toward universal significance (perhaps in competition with its sister city Copenhagen), but Malmö is clearly a forerunner in the current “green” movement. If it was to gain recognition as the world’s first city to achieve 100% urban sustainability (is it even possible?), it would immediately become a prominent landmark and widely-studied model for future “green” city planners. What urban developer wouldn’t reach for a distinction like that?

 

Source: http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/climate-leader-papers/ilmar_r...

[David Anderson]

I enjoyed the article on the city of Malmö in Sweden. I think it is a great idea to go green and try to be a sustainable city much like Portland, Oregon. I was reading the article and ran into some words or phrase I knew nothing about so I thought I would define them for others so they would not have the same misconceptions I had.

The first term was green roofs; I had no clue what this was until I looked it up. Good ‘ole Google lead the way for me, and of course no one would use False-apedia for information so I went to the EPA’s website. According to them a green roof “or rooftop garden, is a vegetative layer grown on a rooftop. Green roofs provide shade and remove heat from the air through evapotranspiration, reducing temperatures of the roof surface and the surrounding air. On hot summer days, the surface temperature of a green roof can be cooler than the air temperature, whereas the surface of a conventional rooftop can be up to 90°F (50°C) warmer.”[1] This could be awesome especially if a nice ten foot fence, A VERY STRONG FENCE, was on the roof. What a great place for children to play without going to a park or gym in another location cutting down distractions and risks along the way to the park. This would also bring some diversity to roof tops no longer would a person see the same, black and grey tops, but actually a green roof a nice earth tone. I also like that it could help stop drain water from roofs, and clean or filter rain water from pollution.

Next term was biodiversity, what in the world does this mean? Well according to California State Government this is pretty cool. “Biological diversity, or the shorter "biodiversity," (bio-di-ver-si-ty) simply means the diversity, or variety, of plants and animals and other living things in a particular area. Biodiversity also means the number, or abundance of different species living within a particular region. Scientists sometimes refer to the biodiversity of an ecosystem, a natural area made up of a community of plants, animals, and other living things in a particular physical and chemical environment”.[2] Well I’m not sure how the plants and animals will help but I guess it is similar to the cool green roofs. I hope this helped everyone who is not up on all the lingo or terms.

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[1] http://www.epa.gov/heatisland/mitigation/greenroofs.htm

[2] http://biodiversity.ca.gov/Biodiversity/biodiv_definition.html

[Reagan Rothenberger]

Europe is most surely leading the way in sustainable and green living. I have been able to travel to several counties over there, and I noticed in Germany some ideas shaping in the city of Dresden.

Most of the historic buildings of Dresden were destroyed in WW2, and today they are working to rebuild the city center. The most amazing thing about it is that the buildings are near exact replicas of the historic buildings that were there before they were destroyed. Photos and being used to recreate these historic buildings, however, unlike most historic buildings, they have modern designs are more efficient. They are also creating more green spaces in the city centers.

Also across Europe I noticed the fields of wind turbines used to generate electricity. I have noted also than in Texas this is becoming a more prevalent energy source in certain places. I sometimes see the giant blades to these turbines being shipped on the highways. I hope that we here in the United States begin to realize the importance of conserving energy, and working to create a more "green" world around us.