Stockholm case study 2008-2009
The first Mistra-SWECIA case study deals with the Stockholm region with special focus on municipal structure planning (“kommunal översiktsplanering") and urban hydrology. The case study runs until the end of 2009. It will illustrate and explore the deliberations, political interactions and formulations of co-ordinated adaptation measures at the regional level. It also provides the context for the efforts within Project 1 to regionalize climate scenarios and within Project 3 on effects on urban hydrology. During 2008, a series of focus group sessions serve to map the stakeholders and the risk perceptions among them. In 2009, work will centre around the social learning aspects of adaptation and an analysis of the potential for effective policy integration. Data will be collected through interviews and analysis of e.g. legislation, planning guidelines and policy documents. Parallel to these efforts, a hydrological model for lake Mälaren is applied based on regional climate model input with the purpose of providing boundary conditions for an urban storm runoff model application for Stockholm.
The 26 municipalities of Stockholm County host around 21% of Sweden´s population within 2% of its land area. In the Swedish political system the regional level is relatively weak, compared to other European countries. Experience shows that the division of planning and implementation responsibility amongst numerous stakeholders at different levels means that it is difficult to achieve common and joint action.
In 2006 the regional actors (the 26 municipalities, the rail track and road authorities, and the chamber of commerce among others) jointly engaged in a process aiming at producing a new regional development plan, due to be ready for political approval in 2010. The process is led and facilitated by the Office of Regional Planning and Urban Transportation (RTK). The plan will cover both spatial/physical and social and economic issues and thus have a truly integrative scope. Climate change impact assessment and adaptation studies will constitute some key elements of the planning process.
The choice of Stockholm region as a case study is thus particularly timely and relevant. As implementation of the measures agreed upon in the planning process are largely subject to voluntary initiatives taken by individual actors (e.g. municipalities), there are interesting research questions regarding why certain actions are taken and why some other actions are not, and where bottlenecks and hurdles to implementation of adaptation activities exist.
The results from the Stockholm case study will feed into the other case studies. Work in other city-regions with similar spatial and biophysical characteristics but a different legislative, political and institutional setting might be pursued in the second phase of Mistra-SWECIA (i.e., beyond Programme Year 4).
