New Book on Swedish Planning

THE NEWLY PUBLISHED BOOK "Planning and sustainable urban development in Sweden" provides an overview of current trends in Swedish planning and urban development. The book addresses the Swedish planning system as well as projects and processes at national, regional and local level contributing to a sustainable urban development in Sweden. All articles are written by Swedish practitioners and researchers with insight into today's planning. I have written one article - Regional Planning in Sweden.
The book, published by the Swedish Society for Town and Country Planning (Föreningen för Samhällsplanering) in may 2013 can be ordered here.

Content
PART 1 - The Context of Contemporary Swedish Planning
- Planning in a New Reality - New Conditions, Demands and Discourses (Carl-Johan Engström & Göran Cars)
- A Competitive Local and Regional Milieu for Firms and People (Ulf Wiberg)
- Urban Policy and Strategic Urban Development (Charlotta Fredriksson)
PART 2 - The Swedish Planning System
- Planning Legislation in Sweden - a History of Power over Land-use (Gösta Blücher)
- Local Democracy and the Administrative System in Sweden (Eva Hägglund)
- Swedish Land-use Planning Legislation (Reigun Thune Hedström & Mats Johan Lundström)
- The implementation of Development Projects (Thomas Kalbro)
- Regional Planning in Sewden (Göran Johnson)
- Swedish Transport Planning - a New Deal in a New Reality (Susanne Ingo)
PART 3 - Social Perspectives on Planning
- Socially Sustainable Urban Development in Sweden (Micael Nilsson & Ulrika Hägred)
- On Urban Sustainability and Cultural Diversity (Åsa Dahlin)
- The Public Realm: the Renaissance of Urbanity (Thorbjörn Andersson)
- Communicative Planning Processes - Involving the Citizens (Johan Wänström)
- Housing and Housing Policy in Sweden (Bo Bengtsson)
PART 4 - Environmental Perspectives on Planning
- Planning for Sustainability: From Environmental Concern to Climate Change Measures, Attractiveness and Innovation (Kristina L. Nilsson)
- National Support For Environmentally Sustainable Development Activities on Local Level (Mats Johan Lundström)
- International Dissemination and Export of Swedish Know-how and Expertise in Sustainable Urban Development (Ulf Ranhagen)
... plus 15 examples of sustainable urban planning practices and projects around Sweden!

How dense are dense cities?

I am often talking about densification of cities as a way to avoid urban sprawl, achieve both economic and environmental goals and at the same time attain a more attractive city for the inhabitants and visitors. But how dense are actually dense cities? Few large cities have a higher density than 10,000 persons per square km as long as we talk about the whole urban area. This is for example the case for Asian cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Seoul. Seoul with 12 million persons on an area of 605 square km, and a population density of 17,000 persons per square km, is really a very dense city. Paris is a European city of very high density, at least in the central parts. The density in the city of Paris, an area of just 87 square km, is actually as high as 25,000 persons per square km. For the metropolitan area of Paris, the density is only 3,500 persons per square km however. Cities with a population density of 2,000 persons per square km for the urban area could hardly be regarded as dense, but those cities usually have a higher density in the core area. A number of these cities have a density of approximately 6,000 persons per square km. Stockholm has a population density of 4,200 persons per square km in the administrative city and 3,300 persons per square km in the urban area. The density in the inner city however is 8,200 persons per square km, and in the densest parish, Maria (where I happen to live), density is as high as 24,000 persons per square km, same as in Paris. But this is a very small parish with a population of only 20,000 persons compared to Paris with more than 2 million. Hundred times as big, but with the same density. Central parts of Stockholm.

American cities are well known for urban sprawl and low density. But New York City is actually quite dense. New York City has a population of more than 8 million and a density of 6,800 persons per square km. The maps of Central part of Stockholm (above) and Manhattan in New York (below) are in the same scale for comparison (maps from Google Earth). Central parts of Manhattan, New York City

Pune is an Indian city in the state of Maharashtra south east of Mumbai. Pune has a population 2007 of approximately 3.2 million persons within the administrative area and a population exceeding 5 million in the metropolitan area. The central parts of Pune are shown on the map (below) at the same scale as Stockholm and New York City. Central parts of Pune, Maharashtra, India

The average population density in Pune in 2007 is estimated to approximately 12,000 persons per square km. The density will most likely exceed 20,000 persons per square km., in 20 years from now. One conclusion is that dense cities is not only a question of density, but also a question of size.