Socially Sustainable Planning for Ursvik’s Development and Integration

Abstract: As the City of Stockholm continues to grow, there is a looming fear that there will not be enough housing for a growing population. Municipalities within Stockholm County are building up their housing stock to contribute solutions to the infamous housing crisis that is on the rise. With this increase of built development, there is also a faint shadow of the Million Homes Project problems that daunts new projects. The last time the city of Stockholm had built up so much new development, some of the Million Homes Project neighborhoods descended into segregated and vulnerable areas. This project looks at how Riksbyggen, a housing developer, can build housing developments that align with social sustainability practices for integrated neighborhoods, in order to avoid the process of segregation. The research focuses on the study area of Ursvik, a residential neighborhood that has plans to grow by 15,000 new residents in the next 10-15 years. This new neighborhood development will border more vulnerable neighborhoods, Rissne, Hallonbergen, and Rinkeby, which have reputations for being high in crime, immigrant dense, and segregated from neighboring areas. Riksbyggen has two existing housing developments in the area and has plans to build one more. Their recently established indicators for social sustainability can help make a long lasting impact on the social sustainability in the neighborhood. Through this project I hope to contribute knowledge on how social sustainability indicators can be used for planning for more integrated and open neighborhoods. The methods used were observations of Riksbyggen’s sustainability department, meetings with city planners from Stockholms and Sundbybergs stad, a survey of current Riksbyggen residents in Ursvik, talking with members of the housing boards, an analysis of indicators, and testing planning solutions. I found that the sustainability indicators are well focused on the needs of residents but could be improved through better communication of social sustainability goals throughout Riksbyggen and through a better follow-up measuring of indicators over time. More concrete measures, like including a diversity of services as well as tracking neighborhood progress over time can help ease residents’ biggest fear of integration: higher crime and lowered security.