4. Good Practice Example: The SYMBIO-CITY Approach (Sweden)

Transcription

1 4. Good Practice Example: The SYMBIO-CITY Approach (Sweden) Key words Sustainable urban development, urban planning, education, planning methodology Name and location for good practice example and responsible institution(s) THE SYMBIO-CITY APPROACH SymbioCity is a Swedish government initiative run by Business Sweden (owned by the Swedish government and private business) in partnership with Swedish enterprise (green tech production and consultancies). The conceptual framework The SymbioCity Approach has been developed by The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL/SALAR) and their subsidiary SKL International. Background, objectives, implementation measures and financing The Symbio City Approach is a conceptual framework for sustainable urban development, gathering Swedish methodology and experiences with emphasis on local government practices. Based on the approach, SKL International works with a wide range of interventions aiming to improve living conditions for urban citizens, primarily in developing and transitional countries. The Symbio City Approach (and its predecessor the Sustainable City concept) has been developed by professor Ulf Ranhagen together with various partners. Step 1: The Sustainable City Concept As Swedish experiences and examples have attracted and inspired other countries, the Swedish Government in collaboration with the Swedish Trade Council (Exportrådet now Business Sweden) initiated the development of a platform for compiling and showcasing Swedish experiences with sustainable urban development in a conceptual way. The first effort of this kind was the launching of the Sustainable City Concept at the World Summit of Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in At first, the initiative had a specific focus on Swedish-Chinese partnerships, as SEPA (the State Environmental Protection Administration of the People s Republic of China) asked for an agreement on these issues with Sweden. The concept was, however, intended to be generic and adaptable to all types of countries. Representatives from Sweden were invited to travel all over the world to introduce the concept and to discuss how the concept could be part of partnerships between Sweden and other countries. Step 2: The SymbioCity Concept

2 In 2008, the Sustainable City Concept was integrated in a new communication platform for the dissemination of Swedish services and products, called SymbioCity Sustainability by Sweden. The objective was to package Swedish experiences with sustainable urban development in an attractive and easily identifiable way in order to support the business sector in their efforts to enter the international markets. In parallel to its commercially driven applications, Sida (Swedish International Development Agency) was inspired to develop SymbioCity as a tool for supporting developing and transition countries in their efforts towards urban sustainability. Thus Sida developed a manual for support to environmentally sustainable urban development in developing countries in Based on experiences from Swedish R&D into methods and tools for integrating sustainability aspects in spatial planning (e.g. the Sustainable Municipality project financed by the Swedish Energy Agency), a working procedure for collaboration among stakeholders was introduced. Step 3: The SymbioCity initiative and approach In 2010, a further step was taken to integrate the parallel initiatives originating from the Sustainable City Concept into the SymbioCity initiative, in order to make SymbioCity an overarching conceptual and communication platform for all Swedish institutions and stakeholders involved in sustainable urbanism. The Sida manual was further revised and given the title The SymbioCity Approach. The approach is an open, dynamic, and flexible instrument, which will continuously be updated. The 2.0.version was launched at the World Summit of Sustainable Urban Development in September 2012 (Ranhagen & Groth, 2012). The SymbioCity Approach serves as a starting point and inspiration for developing visions, scenarios, strategies, plans, reviews, and solutions for urban development that pay particular attention to the conditions and needs of poor, vulnerable, and marginalised groups such as women and children, indigenous people, and migrants. However, the approach is also considered to be generally applicable, and thus able to be used in all urban contexts where there exists an aim to bridge social and economic divides in cities and towns. Important objectives of the approach are: To encourage and support multi- and trans-disciplinary cooperation among stakeholders, and employ a holistic and integrated approach. To contribute to capacity building, through a mutual sharing of knowledge and experience between stakeholders, primarily at the local government level. To serve as a basis for dialogue and cooperation between stakeholders, particularly at the local level, but including regional and national institutions. The conceptual framework consists of six closely interrelated parts: the conceptual model, institutional factors, urban systems, urban challenges, the working procedure, and examples. The cyclical working procedure is related to a holistic conceptual model that illustrates the linkages between sustainability factors. Planning procedures, involvement of stakeholders and possible participation structures The SymbioCity Approach is used as an integral part of the efforts of SALAR (Swedish

3 Association of Swedish Local Authorities and Regions) to develop collaboration between Swedish municipalities, regions, cities, and towns, in developing and transition countries. Collaborations involve public officials from different departments of the municipalities but also politicians, the business community, and academia. Partnerships between municipalities in Sweden and, for example, municipalities in China and Indonesia have been initiated, including training activities related to the SymbioCity approach combined with study visits, common discussions, and other activities. Photos, maps and graphics Figure 1:The SymbioCity Approach framework is inspired by Swedish sustainability R&D projects, for example the sustainable municipality project launched by the Swedish Energy Agency. The left side of the figure illustrates the conceptual model that the Approach proposes in relation to urban sustainability, including the urban systems and synergies between them, as well as institutional factors and how they can be combined, emphasising the importance of considering the spatial dimension. The loops, in turn, illustrate a generic working procedure, which is strongly founded in an iterative view of planning and development. This working procedure can be used to develop local analyses, proposals, strategies, and evaluations (Source: SKL International).

4 Figure 2: In each of the three planning loops illustrated at Figure 1, six steps of planning are elaborated with main, secondary, or lesser focus placed upon them. A number of tools, parts of the SymbioCity Toolbox, can be used in different stages of the planning process. Some tools have a specific relevance for a certain steps, but many tools can also be useful in several steps (Source: SKL International).

5 Figure 3: The Symbio-City Approach promotes urban review and planning processes that consider potential synergies that can add value to the environmental, economic, socio-cultural and spatial dimensions of development (Source: SKL International).

6 Figure 4: The SymbioCity conceptual model for an integrated and holistic approach to sustainable urban development. The model shows the environmental, socio-cultural, economic, spatial, institutional and systems dimensions of sustainable urban development, and examples of key factors in each of the main dimensions (Source: SKL International). Illustrations from Ranhagen & Groth (2012): The SymbioCity Approach.'' Copyright: SKL International, 2012.