Compact Cities
Compact Cities
Abstract
The Compact City Model is considered one of the planning strategies that can contain
the urban sprawl and develop more sustainable cities, in the environmental, social and
economic dimensions. In this paper, I analyze the Compact Model in theory, by focusing
on the claimed benefits of this strategy and also on the critics, as a base to investigate after
the empirical case of Gothenburg. The analysis of the planning system of the city shows
the aim to achieve a denser urban form by applying the driving factors that characterised
the Compact Model. At the same time, I consider policies, public transport system, initia-
tives and campaigning linked with the planning system, as fundamental issues to study the
elements of the compaction strategy of Gothenburg.
After a deep analysis of the city development and the urban planning framework, it is
clear that densification in strategic nodes is a feasible outcome of the Compact City con-
cept when applied to Gothenburg. The planning strategy of the compact nodes is meant
to guarantee a good accessibility and integrate collective transports, services and attractive
public spaces to avoid the increase of the urban sprawl.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
Table of Contents
Abstract..........................................................................................................................................II
Table of Contents........................................................................................................................III
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................4
1.2 Structure..............................................................................................................................5
1.3 Methodology......................................................................................................................5
2. Theoretical chapter..................................................................................................................6
3.3 The urban sprawl development of the city: causes and effects...............................37
4. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................58
5. Bibliography............................................................................................................................61
6. Figure and Table Index.........................................................................................................65
7. Annex.......................................................................................................................................67
-Questions from the interviews.................................................................................................67
-Definitions...................................................................................................................................68
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
1. Introduction
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
1.2 Structure
My Thesis analyzes the urban strategy for the Gothenburg Municipality’s growth.
In order to do so, I present first a theoretical framework before I start analyzing the urban
planning strategy, the spatial planning policies and the statistics data about the city.
Chapter 2 will give a theoretical overview about the following issues: the urban sprawl
phenomenon in general of the 20th century and the impacts on the society and on the
environment, the Compact City hypothesis as a strategy to prevent the decentralization
of the cities, the debate on the Compact City and its sustainability. Furthermore, I will
present the application of the Compact Strategy in practice in the case of the city of Am-
sterdam, to give an example of the densification applied to an urban planning system in
order to understand the dynamics, and to have a model to which I can refer to study the
case of Gothenburg.
Chapter 3 will present the case of Gothenburg: I will give an overview about the city,
analyzing the urban development and the problems concerning traffic congestion, social
life, and environment caused by the urban sprawl.
The next step aims to examine the strategies for the city’s growth, to understand which
elements and measures the city intend to steer to implement the Compact urban form, in
order to promote a better quality of life for the citizens.
The thesis will finish with my conclusion in chapter 4, where I will recapitulate and discuss
my findings.
1.3 Methodology
The content of my thesis will be based on a variety of literature in English and Italian
language, mostly used for the theoretical chapter. In addition, articles published in profes-
sional journals and Thesis works will be also an important source of information.
Concerning the study case, internet will be used as a resource in order to find current
data, statistics and official documents; furthermore, the conduction of interviews with
the Municipality of Gothenburg will be a fundamental source of information to get an
estimation and an overview about the urban planning of the city from people that actually
work in this field every day.
[1] JENKS, M, BURTON, E, WILLIAMS, K, 1996, The Compact City. A Sustainable Urban Form?, E & FN
SPON, London.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
2. Theoretical Chapter
How the ‘urban sprawl’ can be defined? The most common definition which can be
found in dictionaries and on the web claims that urban sprawl is the “unplanned, uncon-
trolled spreading of urban development into areas adjoining the edge of a city”. Other
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The urban sprawl is a very complex process, and many factors have influenced the de-
velopment outwards of the cities during last century. The main driving forces that have
caused the decentralisation of the cities are the following:
- the progress of transports, which regards the expansion of cars utilisation;
- the economic priorities, which enable the green fields growth to give space at the
new suburban infrastructure;
- the cultural traits, concerning the new trends of life styles in our society
(Newman & Kenworthy, 1999).
After the Second World War, the automobile dependence become the main aspect of the
urban life.
About forty years ago, the car was a means of freedom (Nyström, 2001), that gave the
possibility to people to escape the crowded and polluted city, to enjoy their time in the
tranquillity of the countryside. Today, advancing transportation technologies brought to
the chaotic expansions of the city outwards, facilitating the separation between the home
as the family nest, and the work.
The automobile become a sort of dependence to get into town, the easiest, fastest and
most comfortable way to solve the problem of the distance between the home, the work,
the school, the shopping centre, the gym and all the places which are a part of our daily
routine.
The high level of pollution and the congestion in the city centre caused by the traffic of
vehicles and the parking is the direct consequence of the uncontrollable spread of the
automobile. The need to protect housing from the noise and the bad healthy conditions
has increased the distance from the city, and new highways have been built to connect the
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
its predefined space, without spreading out into the countryside its own troubles (Ma-
dureira & Möllers, 2006).
It is pretty clear that the compaction of cities is considered as one solution to the urban
sprawl phenomenon, but an exhaustive and comprehensive theory [see Annex, def.1] has not
been accomplished yet, and many questions remain around to what extent the Compact
City widens beyond the increase of the density of the population, and how, when and
under which factors or indicators it is possible to claim that a city is ‘compact’. Does the
compactness have to be measured by the scale of a city? Or by its capacity of how many
and what kind of functions can be fitted in? What is its intensity? (Thomas & Cousins,
1996)
“One of the key problems with the Compact City hypothesis [see Annex, def.2] is that
it brings very diverse concepts together under a potentially misleading banner. Moreo-
ver, these concepts vary from polemics based on rather utopian ideologies through to
minutely detailed empirical research.” (Pratt & Larkham, 1996). [4] Furthermore, there is
a physical problem within the model caused by the several centres that many cities have
spread out within the development of retailing spaces (Smith, 1996).
The aim of this work is to present the strategy and the benefits of the Compact Model
until it has been studied and discussed in the literature, by presenting arguments, princi-
ples and study cases, and the expected impacts on the society.
The hypothesis of the Compact City is mainly based on the followings advocate qualities:
- high-density development;
- less car dependency;
- improvement of the public transportation services and support for the walking and
cycling;
- mixed-use development and better access to services and facilities;
- the preservation of green areas and the conservation of the countryside;
- the regeneration of inner urban areas;
- the efficient use of infrastructure.
All of these aspects are considered the best efficient urban strategy [see Annex, def.5] from a
sustainable planning development perspective for the social, economic and environmen-
tal dimensions, and they have to interact one with each other to increase the density from
current levels. In fact, in recent years there has been a significant consensus that planning
to get a more dense urban form is the most proficient way to reduce energy consumption
and pollution (Breheny, 1995).
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The supporters of the Theory believe that the urban densification, beside environmental
and energy advantages, bring also economic and social benefits; although the main con-
cern nowadays regards the problem of global warming and the climate changes, which
can be attenuated by the development of dense urban forms.
Burton (2002) identified three main aspects of the Compact City: a mixed-use city, a
high-density city and an intensified city. I would present what is meant by a ‘Compact City
Model’ and its advantages by explaining the strategy of the mass transports, the mixed-
use development and the social benefits.
To achieve sustainable environmental goals and a better health for the citizens, the Com-
pact Model [see Annex, def.3] promotes a less car dependency and the improvement of the
public transports. The development of strategic policies to reduce the travel journey by
car aims atthe decrease in air pollution and CO2 emissions per capita, and the high-density
form aims to increase the efficiency of public transports and to lessen the road infrastruc-
ture to save the waste of land.
The relationship between transport and urban form is a fundamental aspect of the Com-
pact Model, as diverse principles regarding the use of land must be taken into considera-
tion. For example, the hypothesis of using the third dimension (the air and underground
space) is an important option for the compact city concept, as the quantity of space is
limited (Niijamp & Rienstra, 1995).
The work of Newman and Kenworthy provides the evidence that the urban forms char-
acterised by higher density are associated with a high use of public transports and less fuel
consumption. They measured the consumption of petroleum per capita and the density
of the population in different cities in the world, finding a negative correlation between
the two, although these findings cannot be simply generalised, as the environmental ben-
efits of a Compact City depend also on many other social and economic driving factors.
The conclusion of the study was the necessity of new better policies regarding the urban
containment and more investments in mass transport system (Breheny, 2004). Another
evidence about the relationship between urban density and fuel consumption is given
by the ECOTEC study made by the Department of Environment, where is proved that
the total distance travelled by car per week is less where the population density augments
(Breheny, 2004).
As the hypothesis of compaction asserts, the modal shift from the private car to the pub-
lic transport is much more efficient concerning the emissions of harmful gases and the
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
increase of pollution. In fact, most of the collective transports are powered by electricity,
and when this is produced by solar, wind or bio fuel energy, the reduction of emissions is
significant (Niijamp & Rienstra,1996).
Other advantages are presented in the article of Niijamp & Rienstra (1995), where it is
claimed that the modal shift to public transports influences the use of the space by hav-
ing a larger capacity of the infrastructure, which it is important especially in a compact
city characterised by little spaces. In addiction, also the amount of solid waste is reduced
because of the long life time of the vehicles; social security, social costs and less noise in
urban areas are mentioned as well as advantages of the collective modes.
In order to implement the use of collective modes, new strategic policies have to be put
in practice to discourage the use of the automobile. Niijamp & Rienstra (1995) suggest
the increase in parking levies and the reduction of parking places to make the use of the
car less attractive; also the road pricing is considered a good strategy. Furthermore, the
stimulation of the use of public transports can be helped by a discount bus-card released
by the working places within the contract of employment.
The strategy of the implementation of the public transports has to cope with other tactics
to reach the objective of a sustainable city. Another measure that the Compact Model
points out to reduce fuel use and emissions of greenhouse is the importance of the mix
urban uses, which is a fundamental element that can realise a sustainable urban form.
“Neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrian-friendly, and mixed-use” (Charter of
New Urbanism, 1996). Many critics have been addresses to the single-use zone that con-
tributed to the urban sprawl, and new policies should encourage the planners to include a
mix land use development in their projects. “[..] residential, employment and leisure uses
should be brought together where possible” (Fulford, 1996).
The Planning Policy Guidance 13 promotes the development of policies which “seek[s]
to reduce car dependence by facilitating more walking and cycling, by improving linkages
by public transport between housing, jobs, local services and local amenity, and by plan-
ning for mixed use” (PPG13, p.8).
The mixed-use strategy, which is hand in hand with the high-density approach, refers to
four main dimensions, which are: the social mix (housing, demography, visitors, lifestyles),
economic mix (business activity, consumption, production), physical land use mix (verti-
cal and horizontal, amenity and public space), temporal mix of social and physical issues
(Evans & Foord, 2007).
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
All these four dimensions have always been treated as disconnected elements in the design
of urban policies and strategies, although their inter-action is fundamental to understand
the effects of the urban development and the land use change (Evans & Foord, 2007).
Evans & Ford collect the urban environmental elements, which contribute to the quality
of life of high-density and mixed-use locations, in the following scheme.
FIG.1 : Interaction of urban elements
>Source: EVANS, G, FOORD, J, 2007, The generation of diversity: mixed use and urban sustainability,
Urban sustainability through environmental design, edited by Kevin Thwaites, Sergio Porta, Ombretta Romice,
Taylor & Francis Group.
The construction and preservation of liveable, vibrant and sustainable urban environ-
ment can be generated by the promotion and development of mixed land use, which has
to be combined with lifestyles and cultural priorities as well (Rowley, 1996). A particular
situation of combination of mix uses has been identified by Rowley (1996) as the product
of different variables regarding the location and issues regarding different approaches.
The locations he determines are the following: the civic core of cities, brown land sites
needing revitalisation, suburban locations, green fields areas where planning policies per-
mit. The approaches Rowley identified to maintain and encourage the mixed-use concern
the conservation of established mix areas, the redevelopment of larger sites and the re-
structuring of existing parts of cities.
Jane Jacobs (1961) presented four main essential conditions to generate a mixed-use de-
velopment, which generates ‘exuberant diversity’ in city’s districts:
- each district has to serve more than two different functions to ensure the presence of
people on diverse schedules and have different purposes for being in that place;
- the possibility to turn corner should be recurrent, so the blocks must be short;
- the building of a district must be vary in age and conditions;
- there should be a dense presence of people, including the residents.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
All of these conditions are considered necessary to develop the potential vitality of a
district (Jacobs, 1961).
An interesting aspect of the mixed-use is presented by Burton (2002), which identifies the
possibility of a mix development in a vertical way, where the same building hosts different
functions, or in the horizontal way, where the different functions are set up side by side.
The mixed-use strategy is necessary not only in order to decrease the use of the auto-
mobile, but also to answer at the demand of housing due to the increased population
and changes in social trends, as the high percentage of singles and ageing people. “Lo-
cal Planning Authorities should develop housing density policies” (PPS3, p.16), in order
not to waste space and by offering range and choice to the population. The high-density
development is encouraged in the PPG13, which claims that local authorities should set
measures to maintain the existing densities and increase them where it is feasible.
Moreover, the development of mixed-use buildings for housing, retail, commerce, offices
is needed to encourage local employment and to augment the economic sustainability
of local business because of their location in the proximity of a large number of people
(Arbury, 2005). “Mixed use development can provide very significant benefits, in terms of
promoting vitality and diversity” (PPG13, p.12).
The reduction of the need to travel to work and routine activities is another advantage
of the mix use form(Evans & Foord, 2007): instead of driving every day, the mixed-use
promotes the walking and cycling modes, made possible by the concentration of activi-
ties hosted in new buildings erected in spaces left empty by brown field areas, which have
been renewed. “The increased use of existing buildings or sites; changes of use, which
lead to an increase in activity; and increased in the numbers of people living in, working
in, or travelling through an area “(Williams et al., 1996).
The Compact City hypothesis promotes the social justice as a prerequisite to achieve
urban sustainability, as it has been claimed at the Rio Summit in 1992. The researches
regarding this issue are limited, probably because of the difficulty to define the social sus-
tainability (Burton,2001). Moreover, empirical researches about the sustainability of the
densification have always been centred on environmental issues as energy consumption,
natural habitats, waste of land and green fields, and the rate of pollution.
The compaction strategy claims that the urban densification supports and promotes the
fairness of the distribution of resources in the society, acting in favour of disadvan-
tages groups and reducing the gap between the advantaged and the disadvantaged (Bur-
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
ton,2001).
Elisabeth Burton examines the legitimacy of the statements that a higher compaction of
cities promotes benefits for the life-chances of low-income groups (Burton, 1999). One
of the arguments which supports the social equity is the possibility to have a better ac-
cess to facilities and services in a compact urban development. In fact, the mixed-use and
the high-density play an important role in favour of the disadvantaged: the grouping of
different activities gives the possibility to people without a car to save money in travelling
to stores out of town, or using more expensive local stores. Furthermore, the potential
to reduce the distances between home and work permits to save time and money usually
spent in commuting (Burton, 1999). The reduce of crime is mentioned as well as an argu-
ment in favour of the densification, and as “Jane Jacobs argued, the presence of ‘eyes on
the street’ deters wrongdoing and promotes personal safety” [5]
The level of social segregation can decrease with a dense urban form, where the commu-
nities are more mixed and not spatially segregated, as the phenomenon of segregation ap-
parently is a result of the decentralisation. The researches demonstrate that compactness
may encourage the social equity for some aspects, but at the same time, it can be negative
for others. The evidence suggests that the benefits include the reduction of social segre-
gation, the improvement of public transports and the better access to services (Burton,
2001).
A number of indicator to determine the compactness of a city does not exist yet; al-
though I will present a table about indicators to measure each of the three aspects of
urban density (mixed-use, intensification, density), which has been identified by Elisabeth
Burton to study the effects of compactness on social equity.
In fact, the main problem of the Compact City Model is the lack of objective indicators
that can define whether a city is compact or not. After studying and investigating this top-
ic, I believe the indicators that should be taken into consideration are also the percentage
of bicycle, public transports and car users in order to understand at what degree a city is
compact, due to the fact that a high percentage of bikes and public transports users usu-
ally corresponds to a dense city.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
>Source: Elisabeth Burton, 2008, The Compact City: Just or Just Compact? A Preliminary Analysis, Urban Study
Journal Limited, SAGE Publications, London.
Burton (2001) makes use of the table above in the case of some English towns and dis-
trict, in order to understand if the Compact City promotes the social equity. Levels of
compactness have been compared with corresponding levels of social justice to identify
any possible relationship between the two sets of indicators (Burton, 2001).
The findings demonstrate that some indicator of the Compact hypothesis support social
equity, some others don’t.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The Compact City is a very important challenge the world needs to face and to put effort
in, to achieve the goal of a sustainable development of our cities.
Since I faced difficulties in finding a general consensus on the driving factors of the
concept of the Compact City, and the lack of empirical researches is considerable, I have
collected the benefits of the densification strategy which are under discussion nowadays.
In my opinion, it is very hard to find an objective strategy which can be applied in such
different contexts; each city should deal with its own urban development and form, ap-
plying the compaction strategy and implementing policies to contain the sprawl outwards
in order to improve the quality of life for the citizens.
[3] Hideki Kaji, 2003, Compact City as a Sustainable Urban Form, www.fasid.or.jp, retrieved January 2009.
[4] Quoted by Joshua Arbury, From Urban Sprawl to Compact City. An analysis of urban growth management in
Auckland, MA thesis (Geography and Environmental Science), University of Auckland.
[5] Quoted by Elisabeth Burton, 2008, The Compact City: Just or Just Compact? A Preliminary Analysis, Urban
Study Journal Limited, SAGE Publications, London.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
better quality of life through the compaction strategy is considered in contrast with the
intensification of the infrastructure, which will steal space at the green areas.
The socio-psychological factors are very important in the promotion of a denser form, as
they play a role that cannot be ignored. The necessity to change the travel behaviour of
the citizens is essential, and the critics on the Compact Model insist on the big psychologi-
cal responsibility of the automobile: are the policies to improve the public transports and
the higher density enough to modify the behaviour of the citizens in abandoning their
cars for the journey travels?
The private car is psychologically very significant, as it embodies the comforts of having
a private transport, the personal control, the nice feeling of being sitting in a worm place
when is cold outside, and colder during the hot summer days. This pleasant feeling can be
increased when the goal of a more compact urban form will be achieved, with its more
crowded and traffic streets compare to a diffuse form (Nijkamp & Rienstra, 1995). That
is way the behaviour of the citizens is hard to be changed, as they perceive low benefits
from other transportations modes.
The promoters of a compact solution and the decentrists are obviously the extreme par-
ties of the actual debate; to mention the existence of the compromisers I believe it is
important to understand that a third attractive theory can be achieved and it is actually
discussed, even though usually compromises are not the most fashionable solutions. The
compromisers accept as true the regeneration of urban sites, the containment strategy
and the development of new intra-urban environmental programmes, in order to obtain
sustainable goals without damaging the quality of life. From the decentrist side, the com-
promisers allow the growth of new settlements in the form of environmental friendly
development, to take into consideration the necessities of the market without being pas-
sive to it.
The debate so far does not present any final solution and conclusion, as the general agree-
ment claims that it is certain that urban decentralisation is not a sustainable strategy for
urban growth (and it has been deeply proved during the whole last century); on the other
hand, the compaction of cities is still a questionable method towards the protection of
the environment, as it riddles vary contradiction and complexities. Does a common ac-
ceptable solution about an urban sustainable strategy which is applicable to the all city’s
variety of sizes and forms exist? (Retoric question, of course)
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
Like Jenks et al (2005) assert, “[..] as everywhere is so different, there is certainly no ‘one
size fits all’ solution. However, there are many pathways to achieve sustainability. [8]
[6] Quoted by Joshua Arbury, 2005, From Urban Sprawl to Compact City – An analysis of urban growth management
in Auckland, MA thesis (Geography and Environmental Science), University of Auckland.
[7] Quoted by Thomas & Cousins, 1996, The Compact City: Successful, Desirable and Achievable? , in
Jenks, M., Burton, E. and Williams, K. (eds.) The Compact City: a sustainable urban form?, E & FN Spoon,
London.
[8] Quoted by Tuan-Viet Do, 2008, Design for Sustainable Cities: the Compact City Debate and the Role of Green
Buildings Rating Systems, London.
[9] Quoted by Michael Breheny, 1997, Urban Compaction: feasible and acceptable?, in Cities, vol. 14, n.4.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
provoked the development of satellite city and new neighborhoods around Amsterdam.
Nowadays the city presents emergencies concerning integration, security and discrimina-
tion mostly caused by the collision between diverse cultures and ethnicities which are not
able to live amicably. [11]
The Amsterdam’s urban development has been shaped at the beginning by the topog-
raphy of the territory, growing continuously by the radio concentric disposition of the
settlements. [12]
FIG.3: Amsterdam 1550
The first urban plan has been made by Kalf in 1875, which implemented the moderniza-
tion of the city in order to take advantage from the expansion that concerned the popula-
tion growth from 230.000 to 683.000 inhabitants between 1850-1920 (Panerai et al., 2004).
The key points of the plan proposed were the ring development around the old city core,
by using the irrigation grid of the existing canals; this system brought to the abandon-
ment of the radio concentric development in favor of two main orthogonal directions.
Kalf did not plan the construction of new buildings, which has been left in the hands of
speculative developers: this can be considered the starting point of the social segregation
and the formation of working-class districts in contrast with bourgeois neighbourhoods
(Panerai et al., 2004). [12] The new districts occupied little by little the left over land be-
tween the enclosed space of the canals and the boundaries of the communal territory, as
Spaarndammerbuurt, Staatliedesbuurt, Kinker, Dapperbuurt, Pijp and Osterparkbuurt.
The urban form of the city after the built of the new housing results very dense and
crossed by many canals, due to the characteristics of the territory, where the stability of a
building depends on those next to it (Panerai et al., 1987).
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The nineteenth century is marked by the abandonment of the radio concentric system
and the implementation of the orthogonal grid.
In fact, the year 1896 is very important for the city of Amsterdam, because its territory
expanded from 3250 ha to 4630 ha, due to the attainment of Nieuwer-Amstel. Berlage
was responsible for the connection of the old city core with the new Zuid district, and the
design of the latter one. Berlage did not apply the orthogonal system proposed by Kalf,
but projected a homogeneous dense area with its own structure, huge boulevards charac-
terized by a similar grid of the canals of the old city. The Zuid Plan (1917-1940) has been
created from the idea of a compact city, and implemented by the design of many public
and symbolic places for the citizens (Morbelli, 1997).
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
During 1929-1932 another urban plan for Amsterdam has been projected by Van Ees-
teren, with the objective to reduce the land-use and the commuting time for the citizens.
Van Eesteren rooted his plan (The General Extension Plan AUP) in the concept of the
‘functional city’, which divided the different functions in different areas (Morbelli, 1997),
and which has been approved in1935, but because of the Second World War the plan has
been realized between 1950-1970. The industrial areas were located along the Nordzee
Kanaal, in the south-east and south-west of the city; in the west, close to the city centre, is
located the expansion of the new residential district (like Slotermeer); in the south a new
park of 900 ha has been created. [12]
>source: JOLLES, A, KLUSMAN, E, TEUNISSEN, B, 2003, Planning Amsterdam. Scenarios for urban devel-
opment 1928-2003, NAi Publishers, Rotterdam.
The plan rejected the idea of compaction towards the creation of residential areas for
10.000 inhabitants, where the collective services are reachable in a walking distance, and
where each district is separated by green belts that end up in big parks in the south-west
of the city (Gravagnuolo, 1991).
After the Second World War the diffusion of unemployment brought the population to
emigrate from the periphery areas of the country to the flourish Randstad Region, imple-
menting the urbanization and the congestion of the latter one. This is the reason why the
politics of the post-war were focused on the development of decentralize poles in order
to de-concentrate the population (De Klerk, 1986).
Amsterdam, after 1945, needed to be renewed and rebuilt, starting by restructuring the
existing building stock, the relocation of industrial sites and the de-concentration of the
population, aiming at the fair distribution of wealth throughout the land by getting rid of
unemployment.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The sixties are characterized by the widespread diffusion of the car and the trend of living
in the countryside; as a matter of fact, people started buying houses with garden and park-
ing in a low density area out of the city, implementing the commuting time by car from
home to work of about one hour (De Klerk, 1986), provoking traffic and congestion.
Not only the population but also companies moved out the city to settle their factories in
the countryside, where the land price was much cheaper. After the sixties the basic prob-
lem was the uncontrolled urban sprawl of Amsterdam outwards, due also to the lack of
space in the inner city.
At the outset of the seventies Amsterdam found itself face to face with heavy problems,
such as: the migration of families with medium/high income, an ageing and impoverished
population left behind with a fall in the rate of activities, the pauperization of the old
residential districts, the recession of the urban economy. Between 1960 and 1980 Amster-
dam registered a loss of 200.000 inhabitants, from 869.000 in the sixties to 676.000 in the
eighties (De Klerk, 1986).
In this period fields such as traffic, transport policy, water management and environmen-
tal planning became an emergency (De Roo, 2004).
The General Extension Plan (1974) has been introduced in order to decentralize the city,
due to the increase in housing demands and pressure on urban space: no space was left in
the municipal’s borders to build dwellings, and as a consequence new suburbs of 100.000-
130.000 inhabitants each have been created out of the city’s boundaries, one in the west,
one in the south and the last one in the south-east, connected with the city centre by radial
streets.
The development of urban sprawl is a phenomenon that affected the city of Amsterdam,
and after the analysis of the urban development the key factors that have caused the
sprawl can be resumed as follow: the lack of space for building new housing, the citizens
behavior which preferred to live in single detached homes with garden and car parking on
large lots, the implement in the use of the car, the demographic and economic develop-
ment, and the deterioration of the city centre.
29
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
30
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
- to distribute facilities to limit necessary traffic and improve accessibility for inhabitants;
- to utilise investments already made.
These leading principles aim at the change in traffic patterns as a result of compact build-
ing, which should lead to a reduction in mobility.
The City Central Structure Plan opted for urbanization in an east-west direction, and the
reinforcement and preservation of the city-centre is the key-factor, where the mix of
functions had been strengthened and new housing location had been found (Jolles et al.,
2003).
New policies have been focused on improving the competitive position of public trans-
port, by opting for a radial system instead of a tangential system on the edge of the pre-
war city, also to support the existing city’s facilities (Klusman & Teunissen, 2003).
Urban space
Future housing
>Source: JOLLES, A, KLUSMAN, E, TEUNISSEN, B, 2003, Planning Amsterdam. Scenarios for urban devel-
opment 1928-2003, NAi Publishers, Rotterdam.
In the 1990s, VINEX (the Fourth Policy Document on Physical Planning) dominated the
spatial policies in the Netherlands, by serving as a framework for making decisions and it
elaborates what is considered as the most desirable urbanisation pattern and it describes
how this can be achieved (De Roo, 2004). The point of departure of this document is
the harmonization of housing provision, physical planning, environment and mobility,
reaffirming the faith in the concept of the Compact City. The VINEX policy covered the
period between 1990-2005, and it has been extended to 2010.
The main points of VINEX report are the concentration of activities in the city regions
in order to fortify the economy, to reduce the consumption of land and the car use in fa-
vour of public transports and bike use (Kruythoff & Teule, 2006). The new constructions
31
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
have to take place first in areas already urbanised, in proximity of services and facilities to
reduce mobility; second preference goes to areas bordering built-up sites, then in places
at a short distance from existing agglomeration (Kruythoff & Teule, 2006).
The report claims that Compact Cities should develop as networks in the region without
losing their individual character and by using spaces inside the boundaries of the city, and
by redeveloping industrial sites in disused and railway yards (De Roo, 2006).
The Amsterdam Structure Plan 1991, 1996, 2003 were adopted by the City Council that
implemented the ‘compact city’ as the basic principle, following the VINEX guidelines,
by introducing also policies for social renewal that were meant to provide a solution for
socially disadvantaged people. New policies to reduce the commuter traffic has been in-
troduced, by increasing the connections with the most important employment areas with
bus, tram ad trains; the bicycle is a very diffuse transport mode for the Amsterdammers
and in order to reduce the road traffic, a new system of good urban cycle routes linked
with public transports has been planned for the city (Kruythoff & Teule, 2006).
FIG.8: Bicycle parking in Amsterdam
>Source:www.undergroundscience.blogspot.com
The cycle paths appeared for the first time in the General Extension Plan (1934) where
the most important roads were implemented with paths for bikes. “In the thirties, the
bicycle was the dominant means of transport in a compact city with very little car traffic
and scarcely any need for special provisions”. [15]
Until 1955 over 75% of journeys were undertaken by bicycle, but during the sixties the
use of the bicycle declined, reaching the 25% in the seventies. This phenomenon is due
to the implement of the automobile ownership, the economical growth and the spread
of the city. During the eighties the realisation of a cycling infrastructure has been made,
including storage facilities at metro, railway and bus stations. [15]
The Structure Plan 1996 stipulated a cohesive green structure in order to protect the most
important green areas from construction and to ensure a good quality of life and a live-
32
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
able city to the citizens. The Structure Plan 2003 includes a regional outlook for the first
time, and it opted for urbanity which is considered a great contribution the city can make
to establish a ‘network city’ on the regional scale. This requires the realization of metro-
politan densification in Amsterdam, with the construction of 10.000 dwellings through to
2010, while 50.000 are planning after 2010 (Kruythoff & Teule, 2006).
Some studies about the spatial effects of urban development have been made by environ-
mental policymakers in order to monitor the impact on the environment of the Structure
Plans. The first National Environmental Policy Plan (1989-1993) supports the Compact
City strategy as a spatial concept; the second National Environmental Policy Plan, how-
ever, presented contradictions between the compact urban development and the quality
of the local environment, which leads to several dilemmas when they intersect.
In 2005 the first Sustainability Report of the city of Amsterdam has been published,
describing the efforts and the strategy of the city, the services, and the enterprises to
achieve the balance between social, environmental and economic interests. The Compact
City is claimed to be one of the strategy to achieve sustainable development, by using in
the most efficient way the limited space left available in Amsterdam. [13] The Planning
Department is working towards the compactness of the city by accommodating facilities
at the neighbourhood level, by covering distances with bike, walking or by using the clean
transport system, and by reducing the use of raw materials and energy use. [13] During
recent years, diverse urban plans have been implemented by using more intensively the
space left available in the city’s borders, like the renovation in the Bijlmermeer district,
in the Eastern Docklands, in IJ riverside, and the development of the Zuidas zone into
mixed-use areas, combining housing, working and public facilities. Beside the urban re-
generation and the intensification of land use, the new district in Amsterdam-Zuidas has
been created following the strategy of the Compact City, with high-density construction
and mixed-use. [13]
FIG.9: Amsterdam-Zuidas
>Source:www.img.photobucket.
com
33
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The new Ijburg district is an example of compact and sustainable site, designed as a
mixed-use area where all the facilities are reachable in a walking distance, and also “the
children can make their own way to school”. [13] The district integrates working and liv-
ing, high quality transports that link Ijburg to the city centre and many green areas and
playgrounds.
Nowadays, the statistics regarding the current mode of transport in Amsterdam are 35%
bicycle, 40% car and 25% public transports. That is why the city is implementing trans-
port policies, described in the Amsterdam Traffic and Transport Plan, to improve acces-
sibility and the life-quality.
These policies aim at the integration of cycling issues with the traffic and transport poli-
cies, environmental and planning policies aiming at the switch from car to cycle by creat-
ing also new cycle routes in and surrounding Amsterdam. [15]
Parking policies have been developed since the nineties to discourage the use of the car,
For reaching the objectives promoted by the Compact City strategy towards sustainable
development Amsterdam still needs to walk a long path, although it can be considered a
Compact City, in the sense of the urban form and the spatial planning strategy that has
been applied since more than thirty years. The implementation of compact policies must
be complemented with assistance to travel behaviour at the individual level, in order to
make people more aware about the impacts on the environment of our cities.
34
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
3. Gothenburg case
made by Dutch experts in building on a marshy soil, which has been consolidated by an
angled moat, determined by pointed bastions and fitted with internal drainage channels.
The city developed with the blueprint of Amsterdam, with orthogonal streets and canals.
[19]
In fact Gothenburg has been influenced pretty much by the Dutch culture, following
Dutch laws until 1652 when the Swedes acquired political power. The city had to chance
to expand its borders on the north and south of the coast, and the most productive in-
dustry during 18th century was fishing. [24]
36
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
37
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
>Source: www.kortedala.com
Angered suburb has been built in the same period, with also Hjällbo and Bergsjön, and it
is the biggest area of the Million Programme, characterized by a hilly land which forced
the planners to develop different part of the suburb at some distance from each other.
In 1967 Angered and Bergum have been incorporated with the City of Göteborg, which
needed more land for the development of mainly residential areas but also for businesses.
The Master of Angered - Bergum 1968 shows the grand plan for the area. It would be
a self-sufficient urban area with over 100 000 inhabitants, about 70 000 jobs and a well-
developed center. [25]
FIG.12: Angered’s blocks
>Source: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angered
At the same time, Biskopsgården district was built in the 1950s in the north-east of the
city, to answer at the high housing demand. In fact the population kept on increasing from
13.000 inhabitants in 1800 to 130.000 in 1900, reaching 610.000 in 1980s. [20]
Other districts in the city have been built between the 1950 and 1960, as the expansion
of Västra Frölunda with its indoor centre Frölunda Torg developed in the south-west of
Gothenburg. The inauguration of the shopping centre in 1966, the biggest in Europe at
that time, caused the development of the district, which is characterised by the shopping
mall surrounded by the white eleven-floor towers for housing. [26]
Continue demand for housing led to the development of new residential areas in the
north, very far from the city centre, as Hammarkullen, Gårdsten, Rannebergen. [23]
Today the distance between the northern and the southern part of the city, within the
borders, is about 50 km.
38
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The collapse of the economy of the city in the 1970s, due to the oil crisis, brought to the
sudden abandonment of the sites where industrial areas were developed: Gothenburg was
in crisis with unemployment and loss of identity. The consequences at the urban scale
were the creation of unsafe, frightening and ruined areas, such as Norra Älvstranden and
Gamlestaden, which contributed at the social, economic and environmental problems of
the city.
Norra Älvstranden district have developed during the industrial era, when new shipyards
(Götaverken, Lindholmen and Eriksberg) were created in order to increase the prestige
and the competitiveness of the city. Moreover, in the same period, large harbours like San-
negård, Frihamnen, Lindholmshamnen and Lundby have been built in the north side of
the river. The site is situated right opposite to the city core river, and it is five kilometers
long and 0.6 kilometers wide. The fast growth of this area brought to an industrial site,
which has been abandoned during the 70s because of the oil crisis, when the shipyards
had to close one by one. The result is a large area in the city, plenty of dumped factories
which needed to be renewed from scratch. “The area became virtually derelict, and many
of the buildings that remained were huge and difficult to reuse. It was a forbidding place
that nobody went to, an eyesore in full view of the city “(Ander & Ekman, 2001) [27].The
yards have been taken by a state-owned company called Swedeyard, which had the primer
responsibility of what to do within the area.
Gamlastaden is another area that has faced the phenomenon of degradation. It has been
rented by Dutch farmers between 1700 and 1800 used for cultivation and livestock farm-
ing for the city supply. Some examples of such farming are Mariedal, Marieholm, Kvib-
erg, Kvibergsnäs, Anas, Kristinedal and Savena. With the industrial revolution the arable
39
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
land and pasture were converted in new settlements for factories, such as SKF which was
born as an industrial area in 1907, designed by Architect E. Kreuger (also designed the
“Governor Houses”), although the first factory was a Sugar Mill in 1870. Later on the
development of the area continued, and several industries resided the area, augmenting
the expansion of the city and the development of new dwellings for the workers. During
the 1900s, it was SKF who took great responsibility in the housing issue in Gamlestaden
which was in their interest. When housing was “finished” in the old city in early 1960, a
major expansion of routes in the city began and satellite cities around Gothenburg were
linked with the major arteries, due also the fast increase in the use of the automobile,
which gives the possibility to drive everyday to go to work. [22]
The result of the continuous growth of the population, the high dwellings demand, the
industrialization and the consequent crisis, the increase in the use of the car, brought to
the wide expansion and sprawl of the city outwards, causing also the development of
abandoned industrial sites transformed in unsafe, dirty brown field areas. [23]
[16] Presentation Population & Housing by Linda Almjung, Pontus Boden, Alexandra Chiriloe, Olof Green,
Erik Tellden, Course of City Planning Project -Gothenburg-, BTH.
[17] Presentation Industry & Port by Anders, Ida, Julia, Rickard, Tobias, Course of City Planning Project
-Gothenburg-, BTH.
[18] Cadell, Nicholas Falk, Francesca King, 2008, Regeneration in European Cities, Joseph Rowntree Founda-
tion, www.jrf.org.uk, retrieved March 2009.
[19] The informations collected about the urban city’s development come from the document Stadsby-
ggnads Kvaliteter Göteborg emitted by the Municipality in 2008.
[20] Björn Malbert, Policy arrangements in Gothenburg, www.map21ltd.com/COSTC11/goteborg_policy.
htm, retrieved February 2009.
[21] Göteborgs Stad, Kortedala, www.goteborg.se/wps/portal/kortedala, retrieved February 2009.
[22] Fördjupad översiktsplan för delar av Gamlestaden- Del. 1, 2006.
[23] The informations collected about the urban sprawl causes and effects come from also from the inter-
views.
[24] Arbets Grupp, 2008, Stadsbyggnads Kvaliteter Göteborg, Göteborg.
[25] Arbets Grupp for lökalt program [2] Lärjedalen, 2008, Stadsbyggnads Lärjedalen, Göteborg.
[26] Nya Frolunda Torg, www.nyafrolundatorg.se, retrieved March 2009.
[27]Quoted by Christopher Cadell, Nicholas Falk, Francesca King, 2008, Regeneration in European Cities,
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, www.jrf.org.uk
40
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The crisis during the seventies has transformed drastically the pattern of Gothenburg,
by moving from an industrial city to a knowledge and event city, where Chalmers and the
University of Gothenburg became very important, and the focus on the sustainable devel-
opment has increased. The core of the city is still represented by the dense settlement on
the river, and the ongoing transformations of brown field areas and abandoned shipyards
highlight the will of the Municipality to develop Gothenburg into a vibrant and modern
benchmark of the region.
The Municipality of Gothenburg is formed by many actors involved in the urban devel-
opment of the city: planners, politicians and stakeholders influence the planning strategy
by cooperating one with each other.
The City Council can be defined the parliament of Gothenburg, as it represents the
supreme decision-making body of the Municipality, and it is made up by 81 members
elected by the citizens. The City Council points the 13 regular members that form the
City Executive Board, which represents the executive management of Gothenburg that
prepares all the issues the City Council has to take decisions on.
At the local perspective, the District Committees have to consolidate the activities in the
city and to implement the public services for the citizens. Diverse specialized commit-
tees, politically elected, are involved in the urban planning system of the city, and they
are represented by: the Environmental Committee, Water and Sewage, Traffic and Public
Transport, Planning and Building, Recycling Board, Arts and Cultural Affair and Property
Management Committee.
Moreover, other actors as companies and stakeholders have a big influence on the urban
planning system of the city, such as Norra Älvstranden Utveckling AB, Göteborg Energy
AB, Göteborg&Co., and the Business Region Göteborg responsible for the coordination
of projects at a regional level. [28]
The Comprehensive Plan of Gothenburg is meant to present the planning strategy of the
city in order to set up the framework for the urban development. The Planning Commit-
tee got the task from the City Council to update the previous Comprehensive Plan-’99,
focusing on strategic issues and new policies, with the adoption scheduled for 2009. The
41
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
goals are mainly based on the citizens’ needs and are found in the environmental, eco-
nomic and social dimensions. In fact, the approach claimed in the Municipal Comprehen-
sive Plan 2009 focuses on three dimensions: [29]
• The ecological / environment / sustainability
• The economic dimension / growth / competitiveness
• The social dimension / man / citizen power
“The three dimensions are equally important and mutually dependent. Individually, they
are necessary but not sufficient”. [29]
It is important to underline that the Comprehensive Plan is not a legally binding docu-
ment, but it serves as a basis for dialogue between the Municipality and the state of public
and national interests. Each of the 21 communities has a Comprehensive Plan which
represents its political strategy.
Hans Ander, comprehensive planner of Gothenburg, during our interview defined the
MCP-2009 by its subdivision in three levels:
1. The first level is the agreement between communities and the state about national inter
ests, for instance the harbor, which is a national interest from an industrial and economic
point of view, the historical monuments, etc. It also concerns the environmental aspects
according with European and National policies.
2. The Community level is meant to set up the priorities of the city, and it is a very com-
plex system of networks, reviews and expositions among different parties and district,
where accurate policies decisions have to be taken hand in hand with budget availability
and investments.
3. The third level comes when stakeholders, companies and community members are
invited to take part at some consultations and exhibitions, in order to take into considera-
tion their opinions. It is a means of saying what are the important questions, and to get a
dialogue with experts outside and inside the community, and to meet the political system
which is responsible to create and revise policies.
A master plan is essential for the development of a city, but the Municipality also needs to
use a range of other instruments to reach their goals. Budget, contracts, environmental,
social, cultural sector, stakeholders must work together to make Gothenburg a good town
to live in.
The proposed Comprehensive Plan presents 13 strategic issues, based on the city’s budg-
et, in order to develop Gothenburg as the benchmark of the region. The follow diagram
represents the strategy to develop Gothenburg into the core of the region, for its role
42
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
of business centre and the possibility of a large variety of jobs, and also because of the
increase in population and the consequent need of infrastructure.
The Compact City model is the main strategy used for the planning system of the city,
and it aims at the combination of environmental, social and economic dimensions to get a
more sustainable development of the city. The compaction strategy is a brand new system
which came into force in Gothenburg only four years ago, when the old Comprehensive
Plan 1999 has been revised and mostly changed into a clearer strategy proposal.
The most important objectives of the Comprehensive Plan are:
- Build and develop centrally
- Complement and mix
- Develop the Gothenburgness
- Strengthen public transport
- Concentrate on key nodes
- Reserve outer areas for future development
Ylva Löf, comprehensive planner, during our interview claimed that the Compact strategy
has been chosen after some studies about the best effective planning system that can go
hand in hand with the sustainable development. The densification model applied in the
strategic nodes presents more benefits within environmental sustainability, and also it
supports the need of space to accommodate the increasing population, which is foreseen
to augment 40.000 people in ten years. The Compact Model is considered the best way
to promote walking and cycling as collective modes, beside the public transport system,
and it is promoted in order to have shorter commuting time and safer streets and districts.
The Comprehensive Plan of Gothenburg has to be amended continuously, with constant
revisions and updates.
Anders Svensson, housing architect in the Municipality, confirmed that densification is
43
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
Angereds Centrum
Gamlestaden
City
Backaplan
Frolunda Törg
The key-node strategy is meant to contain the further expansion of new areas, until the
empty spaces left in the inner city and the surrounding nodes are developed.
Dense settlements are planned to be developed around strategic hubs, that collect func-
tions and people to create living spaces for many hours of the day. Beside the five main
nodes, there are several smaller hubs and interchanges with good accessibility which also
pursue the high density.
Those areas are characterised by a mix of functions as housing, offices, culture, services
and recreation to achieve a vibrant urban environment, combined with a good access to
44
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
public transport and good cycle paths linked with the rest of the city, meant to facilitate
the mobility.
Gamlestaden [35]
Gamlestaden is one of the five strategic nodes that Gothenburg is developing, and it
serves as the entrance to the city from the north-eastern districts, and it has a familiar
position with both trade and services, plus it is a very important historical hub. In fact, it
is characterised by old historic buildings, as the factories of SKF company, that need to
be preserved and renewed. The area is important also at a national level, as it is crossed by
E20, which connects Gothenburg-Stockholm, and RV45, which connects Gothenburg-
Karesuando. A new link that connects E20 and RV45 is foreseen to reduce the traffic
congestion and to include new possibilities for the construction of housing.
The city of Gothenburg is growing by about 3600 inhabitants per year, and the planned
area of the Old Town is the major land resource for the further development. In fact, in
Gamlestaden there are good conditions of densification, such as very good public trans-
ports, infrastructure and the possibility of urban renewal. Plus the site is centrally located
and is an important entry-point to the city.
The plan proposed for the Gamlestaden strategic node aims at a sustainable structure
based on the mix of functions, to create an attractive, accessible and safe hub. The driving
factors of the strategic plan are:
-Long-term sustainable
-A hub for northeastern Gothenburg
-Conservation and Development in balance
- Increased the trade activities
-Attractive hub for public transport
45
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
1. Traffic node
2. SKF Factories regenera-
tion
4 3. Densification with new
1 2 housing
4 3 4. Mixed-use
46
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The public transport system in Gothenburg represents one of the most important driving
factors in order to reach a more sustainable city.
The recent discussion on climate issues has made clear how important it is to have a
long-term perspective and openness to new questions. The changing climate brings both
a question of how a warmer and rainy climate may affect Sweden and as a matter of what
Gothenburg can do locally to limit emissions of carbon dioxide. A local environmental
climate situation has been decided by the City of Gothenburg to reduce carbon emissions
by 30 percent in 2020. Much has already been made, but further measures will be explored
in the next few years.
The Public Transport Authority is responsible to build, maintain and develop all the trans-
port parts of the city, and the mobility management is a sort of soft measure to make the
already building infrastructure more efficient, and it keeps also the dialogue with busi-
nesses, school, youth, how they should make the choice of travel modes for the everyday
needs and how it is possible to change the travel behavior of the citizens.
The Public Transport Authority is made up by 110 employees, with a budget of 2 billion
SEK, and it is responsible for: [30]
– 10 million m2 Roads
– 0,8 million m2 Bike Lane
– 3,5 million m2 Foot Path
– 165 km Tramlines
– 15 km Industrial Railway Track
– 85.000 Lighting Points
– 4.900 Traffic Signals
– 50.000 Road Signs
The main objectives of the City Council are the increase of trips with public transport
and bicycle compared to single car use, and as a consequence the reduction of fossil
fuel consumption, by making the public transport more popular and make people more
aware of the environmental problems that pollution causes by campaigning and initiatives
within the city.
Today the Public Transport System includes: [30]
- 200 Trams on 12 lines
- 300 Buses on 50+ lines
47
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
The diagram above shows the car predominancy of the city, and the few bike and public
transports users.
Gothenburg is not considered so far a ”cycling-city”, as the bike users are few compare
to big bike-city as Stochkolm, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. This is due also to the to-
pography of the city, which is mainly hilly and it does not encourage the bike-use. The
Public Transport Authority is promoting a lot of campaigning, initiatives, bike-weeks, and
services in order to make people more aware about the importance of the use of clean
transport modes.
The promotion of clean vehicles is a fundemantal initiative in order to face the problem
of the air quality, and this campaign started 10 years with the goal of 90% clean vehicles
in the city; nowadays the percent of clean vehicles in the city is 80, and 25.000 is the
number of clean vehicles in the streets of Gothenburg.
The statistics data below shows that the tram is the most used collective mode by the citi-
zens of Gothenburg, even if the aim is to increase the amount of users also for the buses.
According to Lisa Sundell, a planner working in the Public Transport Management of
the city, the Authority would prefer to have more trams than buses, but the tram is much
more expensive and for the moment it is not an affordable solution. The strategy the city
adopted is to build bus lanes in a way that when more budget will be available, those will
be converted in tram lanes with new trams.
>Source: www10.goteborg.se
48
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
K2020 [32]
The K2020 is a long-term strategy for public transport in the Gothenburg Region, which
aims at the increase of the percentage in the use of collective modes by 2025, from 25%
to 40% (1 million trips per day instead than 450.000).
The K2020 works at the regional level and it has been chosen as the fundamental strategy
to solve the problem of the commuting from the suburbs, the big challenge the city is
facing at the moment, and it immediately comes to our eyes when we look at the traffic
congestion map of Gothenburg below, where the traffic is concentrated on the bridge in
the centre and in the main streets from the suburbs to the city. In fact, new methods and
initiatives are required in order to obtain a substantial shift to public transport.
The K2020 is based on five main strategies that are to be developed at the regional level:
1- Link areas: from a radial to a network structure, in order to connect the major nodes
of the system;
2- Faster Journey time: new separate lanes for the public transports and to ensure a punc-
tual and reliable system;
3- Greater Frequency: more frequent services along the main corridors;
4- Developing the nodes: the major nodes will be new attractive and dense points for the
city, with new business, facilities, housing and multi-modal travelling;
5- Guaranteeing quality and service: an easy system to understand, safe and secure to get
the satisfaction of the citizens.
49
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
ple think before they take the car for short trips.
According to Lisa Sundell, the densification strategy and mixed-use is the only chance for
the Public Transport Authority to get a good public transport system, which cannot be
obtained in a spread and diffuse city. In fact, Gothenburg is still a car city, and this con-
notation has to be changed both in the citizen’s mind and in the urban planning strategy.
According to Ylva Löf, on one hand there is the need to integrate public transports where
those are not well developed, and on the other hand it is important to work on the be-
havior of the people that do not have the mind set up for using other travel modes than
the car.
In order to change the travel behavior, the Public Transport Authority is working on three
different levels: [30]
1- Workplaces: by organising meetings with managers, and by giving transport informa-
tions and more services to the employees;
2- Children and Youth: by giving school materials for all ages (9-16 years old) by integrat-
ing traffic in the subjects tought at school, training for teachers, walking and cycling to
school campaign and don’t drink and drive campaign;
3- Private Individuals.
The employees of the Municipality do not have anymore a free car-parking close to work,
but they have a discount for the bus-card, and the possibility to get a leasing bike with
all the maintenance services; for example, if the bike breaks, an assigned person will take
it from the work-place and repair it, then he will bring the bike back to the owner. This
service is diffuse in many companies in Gothenburg, in order to encourage people not
taking the car, and if it is necessary, to use only clean vehicles which can be rented in the
car pools.
In fact, Helena Westholm, EFEM architect working in a private studio in Gothenburg,
claims that her office since years works in the respect of the environment, by renting
always a clean vehicle when they need to go out of the city for some commissions and
inspections; this trend is actually pretty diffuse in the city as a strategy for the offices.
Beside that, a new parking policy is on the process as a measure to steer to where a person
should use the car or not, and also to promote more bike-parkings. Lisa Sundell asserted
that the new parking policy is a fundemantal step the city needs to walk in order to con-
tribute to a more liveable and accessible city for everyone.
The objectives of the parking policy can be found in the support of sustainable develop-
ment and a more diffuse use of the bike and collective modes instead of the car. The main
50
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
strategies of the policy are the increase in the car-parking tickets, the creation of parking-
house in 3-4 storey building instead of underground parking, more bicycle parking and
the introduction of a fee (green card) to enter the city-centre by car. The parking policy
aims to accomplish the urban planning strategy of Gothenburg as a strategy to discourage
the use of the car.
51
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
trips, employee’s journey and client visits. Bike stands have been installed around the dis-
trict that have been also advertised by the companies: the bike sharing scheme aims at the
use of a leasing bike for the journeys of the workers, and the positive factor felt by the
users is that they do not have to maintain and repair the bike anymore, and not even look
for a parking place. This project has been successful, and now it has been extended also
to the residents of Lundby.
Today, the Public Transport Authority is preparing new strategies to change the travel
behavior of the residents in the left 20 districts of Gothenburg: the problem, according
to Lisa Sundell, is that each district embodies different life-styles and diverse people and
cultural backgrounds, that is way every district needs its own methods and initiatives to
make people more aware about the importance to reduce the car-use and to travel with
environmentally friendly modes.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
Intermediate City
-complement and mix
-develop brownfields sites first
-concentrate around stratehic nodes
The mixed-use strategy is also used to obtain more integration among the citizens of
Gothenburg from different cultures and social classes: in fact, according to Anders Sven-
sson, the problem of social segregation is mostly due to the fact that immigrants and peo-
ple from the same class tend to stick together by living in the same area, without mixing
with people with different backgrounds. In order to solve this problem, the Municipality
is working in different levels:
- S2020: it is a new project that aims at the social sustainability; it is a sort of network of
cooperation made by social agencies, planners and diverse knowledge from different part
of the cities, but so far not much has been written and decided yet.
- The urban planning system is working with a mix of different type of housing in the
new projects and in the integration of already built up sites to better combine different
communities.
- The enlargement of the city-core to combine and integrate the different interests in the
centre.
The most diffuse housing type in the city is the high-rise dwelling (6/7 storey) in high-
density area, but the trend consists also in mixing this type with terrace houses and differ-
ent kind of housing in order to avoid high and low quality district, aiming at cultural-mix
areas.
According to the statistics data of Gothenburg, the mixed-use land nowadays is only the
5,1%, and the dense urban structure 1,1%.
Those data shows that Gothenburg has still a long path to walk to reach a more compact
form with a mix of functions, and those highlight the big problem of the sprawl of the
city.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
>Source: www10.goteborg.se.
Norra Älvstranden district is an example of project that aims at the mixed-use of func-
tions and mixed-housing type, on one hand to face the social segregation and on the other
hand to intensify the city to implement the use of the public transports. The Älvstranden
Utveckling AB is the municipal company commissioned to lead the design, the regenera-
tion and the development of the district in the region’s urban core along the Göta Älv
River. [33]
The mixed-use is the political issue of Gothenburg: different interest coming together
in the public spaces, mixing offices, culture, shops, residential, in the closest area to city
centre, in order to integrate the old core with new areas, to make it three times bigger and
to expand it by using the empty old industrial lands, to have an attractive, dense and mix
functions multi-modal node.
City-core.
Regarding the segregation issue, the strategy concerns the enlargement of the core of the
city to combine different interest-groups that have the centre as a common public space/
meeting point. The aim is to make people integrate in the city centre first, and then try to
mix them in the same living areas, by expanding the attractive core.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
K=culture
The regeneration of the area started in 1985, and in 25 years the 50% has been done, but
still there a lot of empty spaces and parts that need to be designed.
So far, a mixed-housing area has been built in the west part of the district, the more far
from the core, and it is characterized by the presence of different type of housing.
The central part of the district embodies a mix of functions, such as schools, cultural
activities such as the Science Park, residential area and offices.
Culture
Old Housing
55
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
56
Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
claimed, the only way possible to change their mind is to build an attractive, mix and safe
city centre, made by good facilities, services and public transports in cooperation with
campaigning and other initiatives to set up their mind in a more sustainable direction.
[28] The information collected about the organization of Gothenburg’s Municipality come from the official
website of the city and from Dahlkvist et.al Thesis, 2001.
[29] Presentation “Comprehensive Plan for Gothenburg”, Gothenburg Municipality, 2008.
[30] Presentation ”City of Gothenburg”, Lisa Sundell.
[31] The informations about the Mobility Management in Gothenburg are taken from the web-site www.
visionlundby.goteborg.se and from the interview with Lisa Sundall.
[32] The information collected about the K2020 are taken from “Kollektivtrafikprogram för Göteborgsre-
gionen, K2020”, 2008.
[33] Norra Älvstranden, , www.alvstranden.com, retrieved April 2009.
[34] Yimby, , www.gbg.yimby.se, retrieved April 2009.
[35]The informations about Gamlestaden are taken from the Comprehensive Plan for Gamlestaden 2006,
Del.1, Del.2.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
4. Conclusion
My work addressed the issue of the Compact City Model, which aimed at the full com-
prehension and at the clear definition of the so called “Compact Theory”, in order to
understand what the densification strategy actually is and how it works, and also how a
city applies this model in its urban planning system.
My research did not result in a clear and unique definition of what a Compact Model is,
and did not even found a general consensus of what are the benefits and the detriments
of the Compact Theory. The debate about the sustainability of this urban planning strat-
egy is still under way, and there are no extraordinary empirical facts that demonstrate the
veracity of the claimed sustainable benefits.
Moreover, it is still not clear when a city can be considered “compact”. What are the para-
maters that define the achievement of the Compact City Model?
The parameters that define a compact city are still vague; however, a few parameters are
taken into consideration in some studies that addresses the characteristics of compact
urban forms:
• density in population;
• density in built form;
• percentage of mixed-use areas;
• percentage of provision of diverse facilities in the same area.
In my opinion, the Compact Model aims at a wide range of objectives. Due to this fact,
the paramaters of compactness cannot be found only in those cited above.
The reduction in car use, the implement in the use of collective transports to decrease
the air pollution level, the preservation of green areas and the conservation of the coun-
tryside, the regeneration of inner urban areas, the social integration are all goals related
to the high-density development of the urban form and they are considered to be the
direct consequence of the densification strategy. This brings up the question: “Shouldn’t
we consider the parameters linked to those factors in order to define the compactness of
a city?”
After the thorough investigation and the deep analysis, I decided that the following pa-
rameters should be taken into consideration to define whether a city is compact or not,
beside those I’ve cited above:
• percentage of car users;
• percentage of public transport users;
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
As a conclusion of this thesis, it is clear to say that the strategy of compaction cannot be
considered a proper theory, but a hypothesis which asserts the containment of the urban
sprawl and the growth of the cities towards a more sustainable development. In fact, I
decided not to use the word “theory” next to Compact in my thesis.
Moreover, I believe that it is not possible to formulate a Compact City Theory which can
be applied in every spread city, as each city has its own urban development, its own sprawl
that emerged from diverse factors and circumstances, and its own planning system, linked
with policies, transports, housing and culture.
In my opinion, the Compact Model should be meant as a guideline [see Annex, def.6], a
lead and a general strategy that a city can develop according to its particular environment
and needs.
The investigation of the Compact strategy of Gothenburg in details, and also of Am-
sterdam, even if in a more overall perspective, brought me to the variety of differences
between the theory and the put into practice of the Compact Model, which requires a
wide cooperation among the different actors of the city. In fact, the action of the urban
planning system is the starting point to implement the densification, but it is not sufficient
to achieve the objectives of a more sustainable city. Public transport authority, politicians
and social agencies have to collaborate with the Municipality, in order to fight the urban
sprawl from different angles.
In the case of Gothenburg, the planning system proposed the Compact hypothesis as the
strategy to control the urban sprawl and to achieve a more sustainable city: the develop-
ment of Dense Strategic Nodes is foreseen in order to achieve a more Compact City. In
fact, the implement of compact nodes is a more feasible strategy for the city of Gothen-
burg, which is already very diffuse (45 km from North to South), and the restructure of
the city in a sole compact settlement is not feasible.
The strategy of Compact Nodes is already established in Holland (Randstad Polycentric
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
Region), where Amsterdam represents a dense city and one of the dense nodes that are
part of the Randstad Polycentric Ring, where the major compact cities are accessible and
connected by good infrastructure, and surrounded by green empty lands.
The question comes immediately up in my mind: “Is this the future of Gothenburg?”
“Is the strategy of the dense nodes the first step to be followed by a more general den-
sification of the city, or Gothenburg will spread in diverse hubs throughout the region,
creating vibrant poles on the Holland’s blueprint ?”
I believe that the question cannot be answered for the moment, as the obvious outcome
that I have learned after studying the urban system of Gothenburg is that such an issue
cannot be predicted easily, because of the abundance of factors and mechanisms that
influence the development of a city.
I would like to finish this conclusion with the following remark: the level of the sprawl in
most of the cities reached incredible high rates, the reason why the creation of a unique
compact settlement cannot be considered an achievable goal. In my opinion, it is not fully
correct to talk about a Compact City Model when it comes to the urban strategy that
should be implemented to develop more sustainable cities. I think it is more realistic and
feasible to talk about the “Compact Nodes Model” as the most effective planning strategy
to avoid the further increase of the sprawl of the cities outwards, meant to create dense
hubs throughout the city and the region, bringing people and functions together in more
compact settlements.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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jedalen, Göteborg.
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Interviews:
- Ylva Löf, Comprehensive Planner, Gothenburg’s Municipality, 1st of April 2009.
- Anders Svensson, Housing Architect, Gothenburg’s Municipality, 1st of April 2009.
- Hans Ander, Comprehensive Planner, Gothenburg’s Municipality, 2nd of April 2009.
- Lisa Sundell, Public Transport Management, Gothenburg’s Municipality, 2nd of April 2009.
- Cecilia Stromer, Älvstranden Utveckling Architect, 3rd of April 2009.
- Helena Westholm, EFEM Architect, 3rd of April 2009.
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
7. Annex
Questions from the interviews:
The phenomenon of urban sprawl has characterized many cities in Europe after the Second World War.
The urban growth of Gothenburg embodies this process, and nowadays Gothenburg is considered the city
most influenced by the urban decentralization in Sweden, presenting serious damages to the environment.
1.Which factors do you think have brought to the sprawl of the city? Was it caused by economic interests
and market demands, by the trends and lifestyles of the society, or the topography? Or something else?
2.What do you think are the effects of the sprawl on the city? Which are the benefits and the disadvantages?
3.Which strategies the Municipality should adopt in order to contain the sprawl and to achieve a more
sustainable city?
In the Comprehensive Plan, the Compact form is promoted as the best way to achieve sustainability, and
many advocate urban strategies of the compaction theory are part of the plan for the city’s future develop-
ment, as:
.the high-density development;
.less car dependency;
.the regeneration of inner urban areas;
.the improvement of the public transportation services and support for the walking and cycling;
.the mixed-use development and better access to services and facilities;
.the preservation of green areas and the conservation of the countryside.
1.In what measures do you think the Municipality of Gothenburg is influenced by the stakeholders, inves-
tors and citizens in the decision making process of the urban planning strategy?
2.Do you think Goteborg is improving in practice these ‘compact elements’ in the planning strategy?
3.What do you think about the mixed-use urban renewal? Is the regeneration of Norra Alvstranden in a
mixed-use site a successful revitalization?
4.How much do you take into consideration the issue of good collective modes in your planning process?
5.How do you think the travel behavior of the citizens to increase the walking and cycling can be changed
in order to discourage the use of the car? Do you think the improvement of the public transports and the
higher-density is sufficient to convince people to abandon the automobile for the journey travels?
6.Which impacts the promotion of Compact Policies will have on the living conditions in the city? Do you
think the higher density will bring negative environmental effects at a local level? What measure should be
taken if this case happens?
7.Would you prefer living in the vibrant inner city or in the tranquility of a suburb out of town? Do you
think that the politicians and planners responsible for the urban planning system of Gothenburg will take
part in the compaction process by living in the city centre, adhering to the strategy that has been promoted
by them, or do you think they prefer living in villas in the quiet countryside?
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Compact City and Densification Strategies The case of Gothenburg
Definitions [36]
- [def.1] Theory
Formulation logically consistent (in terms of concepts and institutions more or less abstract) of a set of
definitions, principles and general laws that allow to describe, interpret, classify, explain, at various levels of
generality, aspects of natural and social reality and the various forms of human activity. The theories set the
vocabulary by which the phenomena and objects investigated are described and recognized as a particular
case that can be explained through more general laws and principles.
- [def.2] Hypothesis
Assumption of facts or situations that give a provisional basis for demonstrating a particular fact, which
requires further analysis and a chain of deduction in order to prove its validity.
- [def.3] Model
The schematic construction based on a purely hypothetical and intuitive source, through which is repre-
sented globally or only in part the subject of a research.
- [def.4] Concept
In the ancient philosophy, the concept is meant to indicate the essence, what remains stable beyond the
volatility of sensitive data and the multiplicity of appearances, the true and immutable reality.
- [def.5] Strategy
A set of general rules and principles that foresees the possible development of certain situations, and pro-
vides the actions that should be taken in order to achieve the established objectives.
- [def.6] Guideline
A statement or a plan meant to guide the settlement of rules and directions, in order to determine a course
of actions.
[36] The definitions are taken from the Encyclopedia Italiana Treccani.
68