THE SMARTEES PROJECT

LOCAL SOCIAL INNOVATION

Regenerating City Districts with Inhabitants in Malmö

Malmö, Sweden is exemplary in district regeneration. In a matter of only a few decades, the city reinvented itself from a struggling post-industrial municipality to an eco-friendly, multi-cultural and knowledge-based city. Such a transition was possible through engaging citizens and seeing the community as a resource for ideas. The follower cities of SMARTEES visited Malmö to learn about their approach. Watch the video for key insights from the visit.


Malmö used to be a thriving industrial city, however the oil crisis in the 1970s caused closures of shipyards resulting in a high unemployment rate. The Augustenborg neighbourhood was hard-hit - many people moved out and the remaining population became marginalised. Moreover a poor storm water management system resulted in flooding from the sewage and drainage system. The regeneration efforts in Augustenborg started in the 1990s, with the goal of creating a more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable neighbourhood. The approach used enabled residents to take a leading role in the planning, design and implementation of the project.


The project resulted in many improvements: the storm water management system was fixed, green spaces increased, buildings re-insulated, water and energy infrastructure renewed, renewable energy production implemented, public transport options increased, promotion of bicycle use and a carpool system was made available. The positive impacts reverberate in the city - the negative environmental impact of the area was decreased by 20%, biodiversity increased by 50%, unemployment rate went down from 30% to 6% and energy efficiency was increased by 20%. Moreover, there has been no floods since the new storm water system was installed. Following the succesful example of Augustenborg projects were developed in other Malmö districts.


Malmö, hosted the two-day visit in June 2019 for municipalities eager to learn about their approach and exchange experiences. The follower cities attending were Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Cambridge (United Kingdom), Essen (Germany), Lille (France) and Jelgava (Latvia). The participants explored Malmö's district regeneration programme outcomes in the neighbourhoods of Augustenborg and Lindängen.

 

Read more about SMARTEES district regeneration cluster here.

 

PROJECT PARTNERS

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 763912. The sole responsibility for the content of this website lies with the SMARTEES project. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of the European Union.