The New Slussen Renewal Project: Dialogue and refection on the democratic challenge of urban planning
Many cities experience urban planning controversies. A common accusation is that politicians and city administrators do not listen to public concerns and are influenced by outside interests. Planning projects' legitimacy is often questioned. This project aims to understand the controversial Stockholm Slussen renewal process communicate knowledge and create public space for reflection about complex urban planning processes and to generate new knowledge and material for future research. In 4 events it brings together politicians, administrators, activists, "expert citizens," journalists, consultants, and researchers. The discussions will be filmed and make publicly available. Its two dialogue conferences with distinguished scholars put the Slussen controversy in comparative perspective. In the other two events the different involved actors interact together to sort out Slussen's planning conflict. All events will deepen general understanding of urban planning processes by identifying their various challenges. The project's target groups are politicians, administrators, opinion-makers, the media and citizens who are concerned about developments in urban planning. These and other groups are involved directly in its events. A key goal is to increase public awareness about urban planning. To ensure this the events will be filmed and made publicly available. The project will generate new source material for future research and public scrutiny and popular scientific publications.
Final report
The project's purpose and development
The issue of the city's transformation touches the core of democracy and challenges representative people's government at the local level. Extensive urban development projects need to be transparent, legally secure and legitimized. The project aims to understand the controversial rebuilding of Slussen in Stockholm, to convey knowledge and create space for reflection on complex social planning processes and to generate new knowledge and material for further research. Participating parties are Nordregio, ABF, Stockholm University and the City Museum through Stockholmia - research and publishing.
Politicians, civil servants and opinion leaders in community building are target groups, as are the media and others with an interest in urban planning issues, as well as the general public affected by the consequences of urban planning. The project aims to promote dialogue and exchange of experience between researchers, the public, the media and different parties in community planning.
Through a series of public conversations between researchers and different parties in social planning, led by an impartial and knowledgeable moderator, the example of Slussen is compared geographically and historically. In three events, we bring together civil servants, politicians, activists, "expert citizens", journalists, consultants and researchers. The conversations are filmed and made available through the communication channels of the participating parties. The project creates new source material, and can thus lay the foundation for new research. Results are communicated on an ongoing basis through the planned public events, through filmed and digitally published lectures and conversations, as well as in a digital publication for free distribution, which makes available and explains the process around New Slussen in an educational way.
The purpose is to understand the Slussen debacle, to convey knowledge and create space to convey knowledge and create space for reflection on complex social planning processes.
Implementation and goal achievement
The project is managed by the City Museum in Stockholm
Project manager: Rebecka Lennartsson, Stockholmia/City Museum
Project expertise: Michele Micheletti
Project administrator: Anders Sjöbrandt, Institute of History, Stockholm University
The project resulted in three filmed seminars with different focus and direction. Moderators and venue were chosen in accordance with the theme. In addition, a film was produced about Slussen's history and an Open access publication summarizing the content of the seminars was published. The project has also created material for research. Michele Micheletti, professor of political science at Stockholm University, has worked further with issues related to active and responsible citizenship and political participation.
The following seminars were conducted:
International perspectives on urban planning
Tue 19 Sept at 13–16. Lecture in English.
ABF Stockholm, Z-salen, Sveavägen 41
City space in the hearts of the people now and then
Tues 24 Oct 13-16
ABF Stockholm, Z-salen, Sveavägen 41
Conversation about the experiences of Nya Slussen
Tues 5 Dec at 13–16
Citykonditoriet, Adolf Fredriks kyrgogata 10
Advance registration is required for all seminars!
International perspectives on urban planning
Program
13.00 Rebecka Lennartsson, Michele Micheletti and Anders Sjöbrandt welcome
13.20 Moderator Maja Aase presents today's seminar
13.25 Lecture Margit Mayer
14.00 Lecture Enrico Gualini
14.30 Break
14.50 Lecture Abdul Khakee
15.25 Panel discussion
16.00 End
Margit Mayer: Contention over large-scale urban development projects and the complexity of citizen participation
Mayer explores the role and effects of participatory mechanisms deployed in large-scale urban renewal projects across Europe to process conflicts and contestation.
Enrico Gualini: Contested urban developments and the democratic life of urban places
Urban renewal projects are often contested. They create societal tensions because they evoke a complex web of differing attachments, interpretations, memories and emotions. Planners and politicians are time and again overwhelmed when such reactions emerge from below. Why is this the case? How can planning conflicts be used as a generator of social creativity and collective intelligence and motor for the renewal of democratic politics?
Abdul Khakee: Always a disappointment? Citizen participation in comparative perspective
Khakee discusses results from four case studies of planning in Sweden and how public expectations of their participatory activities diverged from the results in reality. He presents additional reflections from similar activities abroad.
City space in the hearts of the people now and then
Tues 24 October 13-16
ABF Stockholm, Z-hall,
Sveavägen 41
Program
13.00 Rebecka Lennartsson, Michele Micheletti and Anders Sjöbrandt welcome
13.15 Moderator Maja Aase presents today's seminar
13.20 Lecture Anders Sjöbrandt
13.45 Lecture Moa Beskow
14.10 Lecture Moa Tunström
14.35 Break with coffee
14.55 Lecture Göran Cars
15.20 Panel discussion
16.00 End
Anders Sjöbrandt: A funky piece of furniture in the Mälar queen's residence
The new Slussen was celebrated by many when it was inaugurated in October 1935, but it was also met with protests. What arguments were there for the Slussen reconstruction in the 1930s? What did the resistance look like then?
Moa Beskow: The voices of the resistance and the city's visions
When the "New Slussen" proposal was put forward in the spring of 2010, dissatisfaction began to simmer and a resistance soon took shape. Various groups and networks were formed and have since tried in various ways to stop the plans. What are the arguments that have been advanced as important in the protests? What has the path of resistance looked like?
Moa Tunström: In search of the good city
What are the ideals that today's urban development visions express and how can they be understood? How are these visions perceived by others? How is this communicated in conversation or in the form of protests, submissions, fiction stories or news articles, research, etc.?
Göran Cars: The art of implementing a large urban development project
All urban development projects have winners and losers. While a new housing project can be seen as urgent by most, there are opponents. The municipalities must get better at systematically capturing different voices. A political leadership that has the strength and courage to pursue development issues is necessary.
Conversation about the experiences of Nya Slussen
Tues 5 December at 13–16
Citykonditoriet, Mahognysalen
Adolf Fredriks kyrogata 10
Program
13.00 Rebecka Lennartsson, Michele Micheletti and Anders Sjöbrandt welcome
13.10 What is the problem?
14.20 Break
14.50 How can the process
improve in the future?
16.00 End
In the third and final seminar in the series Slussen: urban transformation that touches, central actors around New Slussen talk about visions, rhetoric, politics and resistance to urban transformation.
A "rolling panel" of politicians and civil servants, journalists, citizens and researchers who have been involved in New Slussen in various ways contributes with different perspectives and experiences.
The conversation is led by Kerstin Brunnberg, an award-winning journalist with experience including as CEO of Sweden's Radio, chairman of the board of the state's cultural council and as director of ArkDes.
In the panel:
Elisabet Andersson, reporter and columnist at SvD Kultur with a focus on architecture
and urban planning
Monica Andersson, chairman of the community St. Erik, political scientist, former city council, City of Stockholm
Lotta Edholm, (L) opposition councilor and vice-chairman of the education board, Stockholm city
Tor Edsjö, architect, representative of the alternative solution network of Slussens
Reconstruction
Stella Fare, former councillor, City of Stockholm, former group leader of the Stockholm Party, author
Daniel Helldén, (Mp) Traffic Council, City of Stockholm
Bo Göran Hellers, professor of construction theory, KTH, involved in New view of Slussen.
Ulla Joneborg, former architect of the city planning office, one of the initiators of
New view of Slussen
Joakim Larsson, (M) opposition city council, City of Stockholm
Richard Murray, senior advisor at the Global Challenge think tank, chairman of the association for the Ekoparken, representative of the network for alternative solutions to Slussen's redevelopment
Henrik Nerlund, secretary and head of office, Council for the Protection of Stockholm's Beauty, City of Stockholm, architectural historian, journalist and author
Nazem Tahvilzadeh, researcher, KTH, with a focus on democracy, urban politics and
citizen participation in planning
Lennart Tonell, lecturer in social planning/cultural geography, Stockholm University,
group leader (Mp) Exploitation Board, City of Stockholm
Jan Valeskog, (S) Deputy Mayor of Finance, City of Stockholm
Mats Wickman, journalist and author with a focus on urban planning, architecture and Stockholm history
Sebastian Wiklund, (V), group leader in the City Planning Board, City of Stockholm
Experiences and lessons learned
Urban development projects arouse emotions. Places relating to history, identity and belonging are particularly engaging. New Slussen has been characterized as one of Sweden's most criticized projects, characterized by extensive contradictions, resistance, changeability, lack of communication and a snarky process. Many citizens have engaged in various types of protests. The politicians and administration have been criticized for avoiding and ignoring opposition. Opponents have been accused of preventing a necessary urban renewal in the Stockholm area and of not wanting to listen to opinions other than their own. As organizers, we were well aware of the difficult-to-navigate situation, but wanted to investigate whether and how research could function as a less politically charged starting point for conversations between different parties, where researchers put Nya Slussen into perspective with presentations that gave perspectives in time and space, and where everyone who wanted had the opportunity to express themselves.
Possibly we had underestimated how many forces influenced the project, and how the sender Stockholm city (of which Stockholmia is a part) immediately generated suspicions, rumors and completely unfounded and conspiratorial theories. It took more time and effort than we had anticipated for the project management to respond to and curb misinformation. Overall, however, the project very successful in that respect, as trust was built up and a willingness to really talk could be discerned. We consider a success factor in this to be the conscious and careful selection of moderators for each event. It became particularly important to find moderators who could be accepted by all camps as knowledgeable, neutral and professional. Given the conflict-filled climate of conversation that characterized public meetings around the issue, it was decisive.
Even the invitation to send a message in the form of text, image, sound or a short film clip to the organizers before each event poured some oil on the waves. The organizers announced that all questions received will be taken into account, but a selection will be made before the seminars for reasons of space. In this way, everyone who wanted to make their voice heard could have the opportunity to do so.
The choice of venue was another important factor. It became important to have a venue that in no way felt burdened in relation to the theme of the conversation. For financial reasons, the planned venue at Kulturhuset was discontinued. Instead, it was replaced by Citykonditoriet, which worked great. It gave the opportunity for relaxed togetherness in connection with the conversations and a pleasant setting without any charge.
It took a lot of time to get the right panel together. Above all, participants from politics had difficulty finding loopholes. Similar events require a lot of planning, time and communication skills from the organizers. However, we are very satisfied with the presenters and the panel that was finally realized.
Another aspect to take into account is the great work required to bring co-organizers as active parties in the project. Turnover of participants and lack of commitment if the own organization is not in charge creates problems and more work than expected for the organizers.
Publications and communication
A communication plan was drawn up early in the project with the communication goals:
In-depth thoughts about democracy and urban planning, cooperation between the organizers
As well as showing the value of research in general in sensitive questions about social construction.
The project was presented on Stockholmia's website and continuously updated.
https://stockholmia.stockholm.se/forskning/projekt/nya-slussen/seminarieserie/
There was also a link to the filmed conversations that were broadcast on YouTube, as well as the short film that presented Slussen's history, as a background to the conversations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqB-d65t9yk&t=74s
A publication was compiled that presented the project and its talks in brief and in accessible form for free download.
https://stockholmia.stockholm.se/forlag/bocker/stockholmia-essa/slussen--stadsomvandling-som-beror/
Communication efforts
Activity Channel Time
Send "Save the date" email in May
Website web May
Reminder email Aug
The city's web Stockholm.se Aug
City employees newsletter July
Hello Stockholm local newspapers July
Employees within the Intranet department Aug
Advertisement? DN/SvD Sep
Posts on FB Stockholmia, the City Museum, partners Sept, Oct, Dec
Poster Cooperation partners (ABF) Aug
At the major international research communication conference PCST in New Zealand 2018, the undersigned also had the opportunity to present the project in a session under the auspices of the Riksbank's Jubilee Fund. It was carried out under the title Slussen - a critical case of urban renewal in Stockholm City. Seminars on contested urban development and democracy.
The issue of the city's transformation touches the core of democracy and challenges representative people's government at the local level. Extensive urban development projects need to be transparent, legally secure and legitimized. The project aims to understand the controversial rebuilding of Slussen in Stockholm, to convey knowledge and create space for reflection on complex social planning processes and to generate new knowledge and material for further research. Participating parties are Nordregio, ABF, Stockholm University and the City Museum through Stockholmia - research and publishing.
Politicians, civil servants and opinion leaders in community building are target groups, as are the media and others with an interest in urban planning issues, as well as the general public affected by the consequences of urban planning. The project aims to promote dialogue and exchange of experience between researchers, the public, the media and different parties in community planning.
Through a series of public conversations between researchers and different parties in social planning, led by an impartial and knowledgeable moderator, the example of Slussen is compared geographically and historically. In three events, we bring together civil servants, politicians, activists, "expert citizens", journalists, consultants and researchers. The conversations are filmed and made available through the communication channels of the participating parties. The project creates new source material, and can thus lay the foundation for new research. Results are communicated on an ongoing basis through the planned public events, through filmed and digitally published lectures and conversations, as well as in a digital publication for free distribution, which makes available and explains the process around New Slussen in an educational way.
The purpose is to understand the Slussen debacle, to convey knowledge and create space to convey knowledge and create space for reflection on complex social planning processes.
Implementation and goal achievement
The project is managed by the City Museum in Stockholm
Project manager: Rebecka Lennartsson, Stockholmia/City Museum
Project expertise: Michele Micheletti
Project administrator: Anders Sjöbrandt, Institute of History, Stockholm University
The project resulted in three filmed seminars with different focus and direction. Moderators and venue were chosen in accordance with the theme. In addition, a film was produced about Slussen's history and an Open access publication summarizing the content of the seminars was published. The project has also created material for research. Michele Micheletti, professor of political science at Stockholm University, has worked further with issues related to active and responsible citizenship and political participation.
The following seminars were conducted:
International perspectives on urban planning
Tue 19 Sept at 13–16. Lecture in English.
ABF Stockholm, Z-salen, Sveavägen 41
City space in the hearts of the people now and then
Tues 24 Oct 13-16
ABF Stockholm, Z-salen, Sveavägen 41
Conversation about the experiences of Nya Slussen
Tues 5 Dec at 13–16
Citykonditoriet, Adolf Fredriks kyrgogata 10
Advance registration is required for all seminars!
International perspectives on urban planning
Program
13.00 Rebecka Lennartsson, Michele Micheletti and Anders Sjöbrandt welcome
13.20 Moderator Maja Aase presents today's seminar
13.25 Lecture Margit Mayer
14.00 Lecture Enrico Gualini
14.30 Break
14.50 Lecture Abdul Khakee
15.25 Panel discussion
16.00 End
Margit Mayer: Contention over large-scale urban development projects and the complexity of citizen participation
Mayer explores the role and effects of participatory mechanisms deployed in large-scale urban renewal projects across Europe to process conflicts and contestation.
Enrico Gualini: Contested urban developments and the democratic life of urban places
Urban renewal projects are often contested. They create societal tensions because they evoke a complex web of differing attachments, interpretations, memories and emotions. Planners and politicians are time and again overwhelmed when such reactions emerge from below. Why is this the case? How can planning conflicts be used as a generator of social creativity and collective intelligence and motor for the renewal of democratic politics?
Abdul Khakee: Always a disappointment? Citizen participation in comparative perspective
Khakee discusses results from four case studies of planning in Sweden and how public expectations of their participatory activities diverged from the results in reality. He presents additional reflections from similar activities abroad.
City space in the hearts of the people now and then
Tues 24 October 13-16
ABF Stockholm, Z-hall,
Sveavägen 41
Program
13.00 Rebecka Lennartsson, Michele Micheletti and Anders Sjöbrandt welcome
13.15 Moderator Maja Aase presents today's seminar
13.20 Lecture Anders Sjöbrandt
13.45 Lecture Moa Beskow
14.10 Lecture Moa Tunström
14.35 Break with coffee
14.55 Lecture Göran Cars
15.20 Panel discussion
16.00 End
Anders Sjöbrandt: A funky piece of furniture in the Mälar queen's residence
The new Slussen was celebrated by many when it was inaugurated in October 1935, but it was also met with protests. What arguments were there for the Slussen reconstruction in the 1930s? What did the resistance look like then?
Moa Beskow: The voices of the resistance and the city's visions
When the "New Slussen" proposal was put forward in the spring of 2010, dissatisfaction began to simmer and a resistance soon took shape. Various groups and networks were formed and have since tried in various ways to stop the plans. What are the arguments that have been advanced as important in the protests? What has the path of resistance looked like?
Moa Tunström: In search of the good city
What are the ideals that today's urban development visions express and how can they be understood? How are these visions perceived by others? How is this communicated in conversation or in the form of protests, submissions, fiction stories or news articles, research, etc.?
Göran Cars: The art of implementing a large urban development project
All urban development projects have winners and losers. While a new housing project can be seen as urgent by most, there are opponents. The municipalities must get better at systematically capturing different voices. A political leadership that has the strength and courage to pursue development issues is necessary.
Conversation about the experiences of Nya Slussen
Tues 5 December at 13–16
Citykonditoriet, Mahognysalen
Adolf Fredriks kyrogata 10
Program
13.00 Rebecka Lennartsson, Michele Micheletti and Anders Sjöbrandt welcome
13.10 What is the problem?
14.20 Break
14.50 How can the process
improve in the future?
16.00 End
In the third and final seminar in the series Slussen: urban transformation that touches, central actors around New Slussen talk about visions, rhetoric, politics and resistance to urban transformation.
A "rolling panel" of politicians and civil servants, journalists, citizens and researchers who have been involved in New Slussen in various ways contributes with different perspectives and experiences.
The conversation is led by Kerstin Brunnberg, an award-winning journalist with experience including as CEO of Sweden's Radio, chairman of the board of the state's cultural council and as director of ArkDes.
In the panel:
Elisabet Andersson, reporter and columnist at SvD Kultur with a focus on architecture
and urban planning
Monica Andersson, chairman of the community St. Erik, political scientist, former city council, City of Stockholm
Lotta Edholm, (L) opposition councilor and vice-chairman of the education board, Stockholm city
Tor Edsjö, architect, representative of the alternative solution network of Slussens
Reconstruction
Stella Fare, former councillor, City of Stockholm, former group leader of the Stockholm Party, author
Daniel Helldén, (Mp) Traffic Council, City of Stockholm
Bo Göran Hellers, professor of construction theory, KTH, involved in New view of Slussen.
Ulla Joneborg, former architect of the city planning office, one of the initiators of
New view of Slussen
Joakim Larsson, (M) opposition city council, City of Stockholm
Richard Murray, senior advisor at the Global Challenge think tank, chairman of the association for the Ekoparken, representative of the network for alternative solutions to Slussen's redevelopment
Henrik Nerlund, secretary and head of office, Council for the Protection of Stockholm's Beauty, City of Stockholm, architectural historian, journalist and author
Nazem Tahvilzadeh, researcher, KTH, with a focus on democracy, urban politics and
citizen participation in planning
Lennart Tonell, lecturer in social planning/cultural geography, Stockholm University,
group leader (Mp) Exploitation Board, City of Stockholm
Jan Valeskog, (S) Deputy Mayor of Finance, City of Stockholm
Mats Wickman, journalist and author with a focus on urban planning, architecture and Stockholm history
Sebastian Wiklund, (V), group leader in the City Planning Board, City of Stockholm
Experiences and lessons learned
Urban development projects arouse emotions. Places relating to history, identity and belonging are particularly engaging. New Slussen has been characterized as one of Sweden's most criticized projects, characterized by extensive contradictions, resistance, changeability, lack of communication and a snarky process. Many citizens have engaged in various types of protests. The politicians and administration have been criticized for avoiding and ignoring opposition. Opponents have been accused of preventing a necessary urban renewal in the Stockholm area and of not wanting to listen to opinions other than their own. As organizers, we were well aware of the difficult-to-navigate situation, but wanted to investigate whether and how research could function as a less politically charged starting point for conversations between different parties, where researchers put Nya Slussen into perspective with presentations that gave perspectives in time and space, and where everyone who wanted had the opportunity to express themselves.
Possibly we had underestimated how many forces influenced the project, and how the sender Stockholm city (of which Stockholmia is a part) immediately generated suspicions, rumors and completely unfounded and conspiratorial theories. It took more time and effort than we had anticipated for the project management to respond to and curb misinformation. Overall, however, the project very successful in that respect, as trust was built up and a willingness to really talk could be discerned. We consider a success factor in this to be the conscious and careful selection of moderators for each event. It became particularly important to find moderators who could be accepted by all camps as knowledgeable, neutral and professional. Given the conflict-filled climate of conversation that characterized public meetings around the issue, it was decisive.
Even the invitation to send a message in the form of text, image, sound or a short film clip to the organizers before each event poured some oil on the waves. The organizers announced that all questions received will be taken into account, but a selection will be made before the seminars for reasons of space. In this way, everyone who wanted to make their voice heard could have the opportunity to do so.
The choice of venue was another important factor. It became important to have a venue that in no way felt burdened in relation to the theme of the conversation. For financial reasons, the planned venue at Kulturhuset was discontinued. Instead, it was replaced by Citykonditoriet, which worked great. It gave the opportunity for relaxed togetherness in connection with the conversations and a pleasant setting without any charge.
It took a lot of time to get the right panel together. Above all, participants from politics had difficulty finding loopholes. Similar events require a lot of planning, time and communication skills from the organizers. However, we are very satisfied with the presenters and the panel that was finally realized.
Another aspect to take into account is the great work required to bring co-organizers as active parties in the project. Turnover of participants and lack of commitment if the own organization is not in charge creates problems and more work than expected for the organizers.
Publications and communication
A communication plan was drawn up early in the project with the communication goals:
In-depth thoughts about democracy and urban planning, cooperation between the organizers
As well as showing the value of research in general in sensitive questions about social construction.
The project was presented on Stockholmia's website and continuously updated.
https://stockholmia.stockholm.se/forskning/projekt/nya-slussen/seminarieserie/
There was also a link to the filmed conversations that were broadcast on YouTube, as well as the short film that presented Slussen's history, as a background to the conversations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqB-d65t9yk&t=74s
A publication was compiled that presented the project and its talks in brief and in accessible form for free download.
https://stockholmia.stockholm.se/forlag/bocker/stockholmia-essa/slussen--stadsomvandling-som-beror/
Communication efforts
Activity Channel Time
Send "Save the date" email in May
Website web May
Reminder email Aug
The city's web Stockholm.se Aug
City employees newsletter July
Hello Stockholm local newspapers July
Employees within the Intranet department Aug
Advertisement? DN/SvD Sep
Posts on FB Stockholmia, the City Museum, partners Sept, Oct, Dec
Poster Cooperation partners (ABF) Aug
At the major international research communication conference PCST in New Zealand 2018, the undersigned also had the opportunity to present the project in a session under the auspices of the Riksbank's Jubilee Fund. It was carried out under the title Slussen - a critical case of urban renewal in Stockholm City. Seminars on contested urban development and democracy.