Hammarby Sjöstad influences Norra Djurgårdsstaden

The need for a good target formulation process and a dynamic follow-up of the targets

The evaluation of Hammarby Sjöstad’s environmental profile reveals shortcomings in the support and follow-up of operational targets which broke down; this was revealed by the fact that energy targets had not been met. With a good target formulation process and dynamic and continuous monitoring, different measures from the operators involved can be discussed so that feedback can be made which in turn affects developments in the intended direction of a project .

“It must be possible to discuss and revise the environmental programme even when the construction work in the new area has already commenced. Naturally it is a good idea to determine how many kilowatt-hours will be used per square metre as early on as possible in a project, but the world is continuously changing and this is something that you also have to be prepared for. More often than not, a new residential district is built up over a period of several decades and the world does not look the same as it did 20 years ago compared to today. For example Hammarby Sjöstad had the same targets over a period of nine years, says Sofie Pandis Iverot.

“In addition, you must be able to monitor the objectives that have been set. If you cannot monitor environmental targets, you should not set any. There were and are targets for the amount of refuse produced by Hammarby Sjöstad, but no way of following up on these targets because the refuse that comes from Hammarby Sjöstad gets mixed up with other refuse from other parts of town. The environmental targets must also be reasonable, and it should be clear who is measuring them, how they should be measured and when,” says Sofie Pandis Iverot.

People have to get closer to the environment

The people who live in a specific area of a town have a major impact on the local environment, for instance in the way in which they sort their refuse, what they throw into their toilets and how much heating they use in their apartments. In the evaluation of Hammarby Sjöstad’s environmental profile, it transpired that many of the operational targets had not been reached. To some extent this was due to the fact that the technology used by the residential district was inadequate, it was designed for example to improve the sorting of household refuse for the people living in the area and reduce their use of hot water. What is needed is an understanding that technology will not be able to resolve all environmental problems and that residents must be given better opportunities to influence and understand their own relationship to the technical infrastructure system. This provides room for extremely interesting future research on how the residents within a specific area of town can help to achieve set environmental targets.

Environmental targets must be included at an early stage of the urban planning process

For new urban districts, an environmental programme must be developed earlier on during the urban planning process compared to what happened with Hammarby Sjöstad. Thoughts regarding the targets should be included as soon as the town planners and politicians start to talk to each other about possible new urban developments.

“It would be absolutely fantastic if these could be included and written down early on in the process. Otherwise the environmental targets will only emerge after the formation of the area has already taken shape, in a worst case scenario, when the construction of the project has already commenced. There is then a major risk that the environmental targets will not be in line with other targets for the project. An example from Hammarby Sjöstad are the design objectives which resulted in large windows that face north with a view of the sea. The northerly direction provides a beautiful view but it also impacts on energy consumption which is probably higher than if the windows had a southerly direction,” says Sofie Pandis Iverot.

The need for clearer control measures in order to achieve the environmental profile

The evaluation of Hammarby Sjöstad’s environmental profile noticed that the town planners were not sufficiently clear as regards the instructions for the use of the land, as no demands were made with regard to fulfilling targets related to the Hammarby Sjöstad environmental programme. This situation is untenable. As long as the town owns the land, which is the case in Norra Djurgårdsstaden, the environmental requirements must be linked to the use of the land and the exploitation agreement so that the town's ambitions can be realised.

A clear vision and a holistic view are important for urban development

Our experiences from the evaluation of Hammarby Sjöstad’s environmental profile points to the need for a holistic and clear vision which can make up the driving force and the objectives for the various operators within the urban planning process. The vision and the overall holistic objectives in Hammarby Sjöstad’s environmental programme, including the eco-cycle perspective created an incentive for new system solutions within various areas in the mid-1990s. Similarly, there is a need today of a clear vision within the climate area.

For more information, contact Sofie Pandis Iverot at 070 - 718 19 17 or pandis@kth.se.

Peter Larsson