Abstract
Housing companies manage a considerable proportion of urban open green space in Sweden. This article explores how 62 Swedish housing companies, municipal and private, organise their open space maintenance and the reasons behind organisational structure. Here, organisational structure covers three aspects of open space maintenance: (1) whether performed in‐house or by a contractor, (2) whether performed by local managers or circulating teams, and (3) whether and how residents are involved in management. The organisational structures varied widely among the housing companies studied. Mixed structures were common. Formal resident involvement processes were almost only found in municipally owned areas with local managers. The arguments could be derived from two general management approaches, prioritizing either customer relations more or economic efficiency. The conclusion was that management approach might be important in choosing organisational structure. Santrauka Švedijos miestuose nemažą dalį atvirų žaliųjų plotų tvarko namų administravimo įmonės. Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjama, kaip 62 (savivaldybių ir privačios) namų administravimo įmonės organizuoja atvirų plotų priežiūrą Švedijoje ir kokios priežastys lemia organizacinę struktūrą. Čia organizacinė struktūra apima tris atvirų plotų priežiūros aspektus: (1) plotus tvarko pačios ar samdo kitus, (2) tvarko vietiniai vadybininkai ar laikinos komandos, (3) ar prie tvarkymo prisideda ir kaip prisideda gyventojai. Nagrinėtose namų administravimo įmonėse rasta labai skirtingų organizacinių struktūrų. Mišrios struktūros populiariausios. Formalūs gyventojų įtraukimo procesai aptikti beveik išskirtinai tik savivaldybėms priklausančiose zonose su vietiniais tvarkytojais. Įrodymų buvo galima gauti iš dviejų pagrindinių vadybos požiūrių, prioritetą suteikiant ryšiams su klientais arba ekonominiam efektyvumui. Prieita prie išvados, kad vadybos požiūris gali būti svarbus renkantis organizacinę struktūrą.
Highlights
The maintenance of urban green spaces concerns local park departments, and to a large extent housing companies
The literature points at three tendencies among housing companies over the past two decades that can have influenced their organisational structure in different directions: (1) outsourcing of maintenance services; (2) customer orientation; and (3) a growing interest in self-management and other forms of resident involvement
This study confirmed that the organisational structures among Swedish housing companies were very differentiated, as has been suggested by previous reports based on a few examples
Summary
The maintenance of urban green spaces concerns local park departments, and to a large extent housing companies. The total area of constructed parks under municipal management has been calculated to be about the same: 27,400 hectares (Svenska Kommunförbundet, 1997). This makes housing companies important actors in the task of providing good quality green open spaces for urban residents. These spaces are used on an everyday basis as part of their home.
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