Sweden lacks a coherent national strategy for spatial planning. Responsibility for spatial planning is highly decentralised and lies with the municipalities. Nevertheless, various measures to coordinate and oversee spatial planning issues at state level have been taken in recent years. One such measure is establishment of the Council for Sustainable Cities (Rådet för Hållbara Städer) in 2017 by the Swedish Government (Huynh et al. 2022). The Council is intended to act as a national forum for sustainable urban development issues and brings together key national agencies and stakeholders that are strategically important for long-term work on sustainable urban development (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022a).

The Council is also tasked with investigating ways to support the municipalities affected by major industrial establishments in Norrbotten and Västerbotten in terms of sustainable communities and the design of viable living environments (Finansdepartementet 2022). Such industrial investments are expected to have a large positive impact on the green transformation of society. However, to enable such development, several municipalities need to grow quickly (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022a). How to attract new residents and encourage them to settle in the area, while protecting the needs of the current residents and the needs of our planet, is a key question for future development in those regions (Näringsdepartementet 2022). The initiative Visions: in the North (Visioner: i Norr) was launched against that background. Within the scope of national support initiatives, Visions: in the North represents a state-launched initiative designed to align with the participating municipalities' needs. The case study was conducted through desk research and interviews with two representatives from the Council for Sustainable Cities and representatives from the participating municipalities Luleå and Boden.

The initiative Visions: in the North revolved around the question of “How can we create beautiful, inclusive and sustainable communities that we can all be proud of for generations?” All municipalities described what kind of societal challenges they faced in connection to the large-scale developments and came up with one broad case. An open call was held by Vinnova and Formas, which external multidisciplinary teams could apply for. From 55 applications, eleven multidisciplinary teams were chosen and tasked with coming up with idea sketches (idéskisser) for those cases. Each team received a total of 300,000 SEK, jointly funded by Vinnova and Formas. Hence, the municipalities per se did not receive funding from the state. Instead, by participating in Visions: in the North, the involved municipalities received input into their strategic planning work from the idea sketches. The selected teams looked at a specific municipality (i.e. place bound). The aim of the idea sketches was to provide inspiration for future developments based on the themes of sustainable, beautiful and inclusive environments. The idea sketches were not meant to influence spatial planning directives directly, but rather to create inspiration, illuminate new possibilities and broaden horizons (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022b). The interviewed municipality representatives described the projects as a valuable idea bank that could be used to inspire future municipal spatial planning work, rather than constituting the basis for the plans (Luleå kommun 2023; Interviewees 2, 3 & 4).

In Sweden, there are several funding and support mechanisms available at the national level to support local-level development, with various ways for municipalities to obtain support (financial or other ways) for sustainable urban development (Huynh et al. 2022). Those are often open calls, but they can also be steered/directed, as in the case of Visions: in the North. From the interviews with both municipality representatives and members of the Council, it became clear that navigating existing funding and support can be challenging for some municipalities (Interviewees 2, 3, 4 & 5). That is also related to the fact that information about both applying for support and implementing sustainable urban development is spread over many different authorities and their channels (Finansdepartementet 2023). 

The municipalities expressed that it can be challenging and time-consuming to navigate support opportunities. Many of the open calls are in or channelled through different places and some have rather short application deadlines. Municipalities have raised the issue that they are missing out on some support initiatives they could apply for, either due to unawareness of them or insufficient time to submit a thorough application. Furthermore, some municipalities seem to be better aware of the available opportunities and apply for funding/support more frequently than others. Often, that has to do with experience of application processes (Interviewee 5). One interviewee stated that the municipality had established a programme council responsible for navigating and applying for development projects, external funding and open calls, so they have experience of the process and application system (Interviewee 2). However, other municipalities lack experience and said that it can be challenging to apply for the calls and noted that it can take several rounds of applications before you learn the system. One interviewee stated that “simpler application processes and more follow-up processes are needed – it can be a jungle if you are new to the processes” (Interviewee 3).

However, there are measures in place to address that issue. One new, additional task for the Council from the Swedish Government is to create a shared platform for support and funding opportunities and coordinate such work (Finansdepartementet 2022). The platform (namely the website Hållbarstad.se) is to be developed into a platform for up-to-date, aggregated information on all funding and support opportunities that the municipalities can apply for in relation to sustainable urban development. Accordingly, the platform aims to make it easier for municipalities to navigate existing opportunities by compiling them in one place (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022c).

The directive to create an initiative aimed at supporting municipalities in Norrbotten and Västerbotten came from the state level, as set out in the government mandate for the Council. As such, Visions: in the North was not an initiative that came from the participating municipalities. Instead, it was launched to address their need to grow quickly in a sustainable and just way (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022a).

There are some forums for dialogue between national actors and municipalities in Sweden on sustainable urban development, such as the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner). However, during the interviews with municipality representatives it was noted that even though there are communication paths through which the municipalities can raise their thoughts and concerns, that does not necessarily equate to influencing the kind of support that is offered. While the dialogue is perceived as good, there is a need and wish to have greater influence on the support available for sustainable urban development (Interviewees 2, 3 & 4).

One issue that was brought up during the interview with municipal representatives was that they found it difficult to handle questions and have separate contact with each of the various authorities that are involved in sustainable urban development. One municipal representative said that Visions: in the North had given the municipality new contacts and a direct channel to several authorities within the same network. They considered that to be beneficial, as “the entry point is that we want to do this together and not one authority at a time. Here, we must cooperate” (Interviewee 4). The Council includes members from twelve authorities that are strategically important for long-term work on sustainable urban development (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022c). Each authority representative on the council is responsible for their area of expertise and the members are tasked with contributing and sharing their specific expertise. One aim of the Council is to gather all such expertise in one arena, enabling cooperation and dialogue between actors (Interviewees 1 & 5).

In Sweden, the state level does not directly influence the municipal level to a great extent in the field of spatial planning. As mentioned, responsibility for spatial planning predominantly lies with the municipalities, which develop both comprehensive plans (översiktsplan) and detailed plans (detaljplan). The comprehensive plan should align with national interests, as well as national and regional goals (Huynh et al. 2022). The intended outcome of the Visions: in the North initiative was not to directly influence the municipalities’ strategic spatial planning documents, but to inspire them. “It is about inspiring the comprehensive plans and going in with these creative, innovative ideas about what the sustainable, inclusive and beautiful living environments of the future could really be in this place” (Interviewee 1). The municipalities had the mandate to partly influence the initiative by shaping their own case based on their specific local situation. The municipalities were free to implement the outcome of the initiative (i.e. the idea sketches) as suited them best (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022b). On that note, the planning process for Visions: in the North 2.0 is underway, but its continuation has not yet been confirmed (as of November 2023). Instead of focusing on the “visions” aspect of the municipalities’ spatial planning documents, a possible Visions: in the North 2.0 initiative would focus more on innovation in the implementation phase of the municipalities’ urban development processes and plans (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022c).

During an interview with municipality representatives, the point was raised that the complexity and fast speed of industrial development entails new challenges regarding the organisational and leadership structure of sustainable urban development. Such industrial development is underway now and the needed societal changes must happen quickly. There is therefore a need for faster, agile and flexible processes and for action rather than dialogue and coordination among authorities (Näringsdepartementet 2022; Interviewees 3 & 4).

Representatives from the Council reasoned similarly, highlighting the need for new ways of approaching sustainable urban development issues at state level. The state level’s way of working usually includes hard and soft policy instruments and a focus on a broader national context instead of on the local one. Visions: in the North implemented a new form of organisational structure and method, inspired by the New European Bauhaus (Interviewees 1 & 5). That was carried out by involving the cultural and creative professions and inviting multidisciplinary collaboration, as well as by using a working method called Mission. That method looks at the local level and takes the specific place as the starting point. The approach involves working on local needs in interdisciplinary teams and then scaling up the solutions (Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022c). When asked to describe the organisation and implementation of Visions: in the North, the representative for the Council described it as follows: “We can see that the place itself is a system with a series of complex sub-systems in it. We begin by looking at this place with many different eyes. We work in a multidisciplinary way and at different levels around the specific challenges at this place. Then through multidisciplinary collaboration we can find solutions that we can then test, scale up and spread to more places” (Interviewee 1). A representative for the Council highlighted the process as a good example of how to work together with authorities on matters that are more operational than traditional authority work (Interviewee 5; Rådet för Hållbara Städer 2022b).

The industrial development taking place in Norrbotten and Västerbotten focuses on environmental, green values. To carry out that development, it is expected that approximately 100,000 new people need to move into that part of the country in the near future (Näringsdepartementet 2022; Interviewee 1). Consequently, there are concerns in the affected municipalities that social and cultural values will be left behind due to the speed of the process and that urban development will predominantly focus on problem-solving and building. “It would be worrying for the municipality if it ended up in us becoming a fly-in, fly-out industrial place, so I think these social and cultural issues are very important,” said one interviewee (Interviewee 3). State support for sustainable urban development, including social and cultural values, is therefore critical in order to enable such municipalities to respond to the changes in progress.

During interviews with the municipality representatives, the need for more state funding and, as discussed above, easier application processes for sustainable urban development was raised. The process for receiving state support can be challenging, meaning there is a trade-off between the value of the support and the actual resources required to obtain it. It was also discussed how the state support could be organised to suit local needs better. It was pointed out that sustainable urban development requires more flexible support, money and resources to enable the municipalities to work on the relevant matters themselves. “It is clear that we need support in that [sustainable urban development], but we also need to have a mandate to decide what we need support with – otherwise the support may not be relevant to us,” said another interviewee (Interviewee 4). Thus, at times, there can be a mismatch between the local need for state support and the type of support offered by the state. 

Overall, the municipalities in Sweden seem to need more state support, and especially funding, for work on sustainable urban development. Municipalities have pointed out that they require some form of monetary contribution as it is financially demanding to work on such issues. Nevertheless, it cannot be concluded that all municipalities need one particular type of support as the municipalities face different challenges and have different capabilities. Thus, during the case study it was highlighted that it is important for the state to ensure that the regulations and support are designed so as to promote development and account for different needs. The financial instruments for research, innovations and various forms of support need to accommodate that requirement (Näringsdepartementet 2022; Interviewees 1 & 5).

The Visions: in the North initiative was made possible by a collaboration between various authorities, municipalities and multidisciplinary teams. It was created in response to the green industrial development and related societal transformation taking place in Norrbotten and Västerbotten, where there is a pressing need to attract and accommodate a large number of people in a short time. The main aim of the initiative was to generate inspiration and visions that may support the municipalities in the development of living environments that are beautiful, sustainable and inclusive. The idea sketches provided each municipality with inspiration on how to work on such values, which they could use and adapt to their municipal strategic planning.

Several challenges were identified in relation to state support for sustainable urban development in general. Regarding the initiative itself, the challenges brought up revolved around the fairly short time span for the processes. The challenges centre on the ongoing struggle between present needs in a situation that is gaining pace and insights into changes that need to be started now and continued in the long term. Regarding state support in general, it was noted that the process of navigating, applying for and receiving such support is sometimes a challenge, especially for municipalities lacking experience of such processes. However, work is underway to create a platform providing information on various types of support for sustainable urban development. That could enable an easier navigation process for municipalities looking for support. Being informed of support opportunities well in advance and the availability of more flexibly designed support was mentioned as important aspects for municipalities in their work on sustainable urban development.

Several opportunities can be identified and lessons can be learnt from the initiative. Much of the work on Visions: in the North involved relatively new working methods and processes. Both state authorities and municipalities appreciated methods such as an agile way of working and close cooperation between authorities, municipalities and multidisciplinary teams, as well as the involvement of municipalities and their needs at an early stage by looking at the specific place and creating a design responding to those needs. Finding new solutions that complement the usual processes and ways of working can thus be beneficial in a situation marked by rapid development, urgency and new conditions, allowing the changing needs to be met.