Society is grappling with many social challenges. Residential segregation, social isolation, threatened public spaces - complex problems that can be tackled in different ways simultaneously. RISE contributes knowledge and new ways of designing and evaluating public spaces where temporary and small-scale solutions can have rapid effects.
– Urban development can do a lot for social sustainability. It can influence the people we meet. It can create more equal conditions and make everyday and working life easier. The potential is enormous – and can be much better exploited, says Katarina Borg, Project Manager for Urban Development at RISE.
She has a long history of working on urban planning issues at the community level and knows that many smaller communities lack the resources to drive change. Ideas are there – time and the ability to analyze them are scarcer resources.
Going further with research
A project with RISE can therefore be a way for a small community to make more progress on an issue than would otherwise be possible. It provides access to the latest research and expertise.
– It is a way of empowering a community to do something.
Trend to test solutions before deployment
An ongoing project in Kristianstad – Tätorternas vardagsrum (Urban living room) – aims to use flexible, small and quick solutions to bring life to four central locations in the community. According to RISE researcher Stefan Molnar, it is part of a larger trend in the world of urban planning – work with temporary initiatives to address challenges in public spaces or as a way to test solutions for possible permanence. He mentions the measures taken by the city of Gothenburg during the pandemic, with a high priority on social distancing, walking and cycling, strengthening of shops, cafés and restaurants, etc. Here Stefan participated with colleagues experienced in evaluating.
– Then you might want to temporarily close a road and make it a walking one. Widen the bike lane. Parking lots have been converted into parks and recreational areas. There is a similar level of interest in the project with the municipality of Kristianstad, says Stefan Molnar.
– Even in small town public spaces, in underpopulated and underfunded contexts, the same approach can transform a place. You can create more life and movement, make people stop and strengthen the local economy through these rapid changes.
Being able to measure and predict social values is equally important.
The right indicators and measurement methods
For variables such as involuntary loneliness or inclusive and accessible green spaces, the two RISE experts are struggling to find the right indicators and measurement methods. In one of their projects, they are working on the development of a digital tool to predict the impact of the transformation of streets.
– When roads are planned or redesigned, things such as traffic flow have been measured and projections have been made. But there is often a lack of measures of social or environmental sustainability. It is just as important to be able to measure social values and make predictions about them, says Katarina Borg.
– What are the health effects of street tree planting? What does it contribute to the quality of life? And what kind of ecosystem services do we get that can add value in terms of noise reduction, in terms of air purification, in terms of stormwater management, in terms of carbon sequestration?
RISE as a research party
In other contexts, RISE can act as a research partner. It supports projects centrally with existing research and helps municipal officials to develop their own processes. An example of this is the case of five municipalities in Gothenburg that have had problems with residential segregation. The difficulties were different. The municipalities had different ideas about how to proceed.
– The result was a set of tools for dealing with housing segregation. Partille has developed a set of guidelines for the future supply of housing. Lerum has a model for social impact assessment of different urban development measures. And Lilla Edet produced a handbook on how to influence, basically concrete instructions on how best to take in suggestions from young people – the pizza night being one of the methods, properly carried out, an effective qualitative method.
