City Of Gothenburg Research Articles

Effects of Sustainability Policy – Evaluating Social Consequences of Carbon Targets using Trip Completion Rates

Sustainability is widely recognised as having social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Strategies to combat global climate change inherently have an environmental focus. However, in line with the sustainability agenda, the social and economic dimensions must also be addressed. Evaluating the social consequences of decisions is often challenging due to a lack of relevant tools and indicators to measure and track them. This paper presents the Trip Completion Rate (TCR) as an indicator currently under development to evaluate the social consequences of climate change policies such as Personal Carbon Allowances (PCA). TCR is an accessibility indicator that evaluates the proportion of a population that can perform their daily activities against a performance metric. Two examples demonstrate the sensitivity of social impacts based on the geographic and demographic variations in different locations, one at the region level and another at the municipal level, through a national household travel survey (NHTS). The Västra Götaland region of Sweden is taken as a test case to illustrate how the indicator may be used, comparing TCR on the entire region and then comparing it to TCRs calculated at the municipal level. The greenhouse gas emissions of the trips are calculated based on assumptions for different modes of transport. Finally, the results are evaluated against a hypothetical PCA based on the climate goals for the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. The results show that the ability to satisfy one’s daily travel needs depends on individual characteristics such as behavioural patterns of travel, travel mode choices and access to local amenities. We find that PCAs may disproportionately affect certain groups more than others. Policymakers must understand who is most affected by sustainability targets to ensure that disproportionately affected groups have an equal opportunity to achieve their daily needs and that adequate measures are taken to mitigate the local policy effects on social equity.

Matching energy targets, stakeholders’ needs and modelling choices in developing urban energy scenarios

In order to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals, cities need to develop robust energy transition strategies relying both on the local capacity of combining social, economic and environmental perspectives in the decision-making process and on the collaboration between different actors to achieve knowledge and data integration. Scenarios are well-established methodological instruments to guide decisions in energy and spatial planning and have been employed to compare possible future pathways and envision the consequences of implementing decarbonization measures. However, qualitative and quantitative scenarios approaches are often disconnected. With the primary goal of supporting the implementation of the energy plan, this study develops for the City of Gothenburg a participatory method to support the alignment of qualitative and quantitative scenarios approaches. Decarbonization actions and drivers of change were discussed and prioritized in workshop sessions with representatives from the energy supplier(s), municipal administrations (city planners, environmental department), and researchers to develop relevant qualitative scenarios descriptions. Based on this, a list of requirements for quantitative scenarios analysis is developed to be, in a next step, translated and integrated into urban building energy models. Findings indicate the importance of early knowledge integration from different fields and highlight the lines of advancement in urban energy modelling to facilitate decision-making towards successful implementation of decarbonization targets.

Pathways towards carbon neutrality: A participatory analysis of the Gothenburg’s energy plan

Among International Energy Agency members, Sweden is one of the upfront countries in implementing energy policies to achieve zero net emissions. Despite having the lowest share of fossil sources in its primary energy supply, becoming carbon neutral by 2045 is a challenging target. To meet the national goal, cities’ roadmaps and strategic plans have a leading role in facilitating the implementation of energy efficiency measures and renewable production systems. However, succeeding in city energy transitions requires envisioning and understanding of risk and vulnerability levels of the new socio-technical energy system. This study presents a review of the City of Gothenburg’s Energy Plan 2022-2030 and discusses potential challenges for its implementation. Based on a document study, stakeholder workshop, and interviews the research identifies four key aspects: i) the coordination between energy and urban planning, ii) the future stability of district heating and cooling, iii) the balance in electrification of the buildings and transport, iv) communication and tools in decision-making processes. Finally, the study suggests new measures that should be allocated in the plan to guarantee the development of instruments and analysis for addressing the identified challenges.

The white worker’s hotdog and the not-so-white worker’s falafel: food-based public art and urban redevelopment in a changing society

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the dialectics of urban place and its public image, approached via an examination of the public process of proposing, debating, and selecting new monuments for the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. The analysis shows that while the proposed monument to the local foodstuff halv special (a type of hot dog) is generally received in a positive way, the proposal of a monument to falafel is met with criticism. The results suggest that the two artworks represent different classed, gendered, and racialized imaginations of the city and its residents: while the hotdog reproduces a long-standing and dominant Social Democrat understanding of Gothenburg as the home of the white male worker, the falafel suggests an updated and more inclusive idea of the city as multilingual and multicultural.

Fast fashion: the rapid layering of management fashions in the Swedish city of Gothenburg

ABSTRACT By drawing on the institutional theory literature on management fashions paired with the layering literature, this paper shows how a city organization underwent rapid changes over a decade by continuously adopting fashions. This paper is based on a longitudinal study examining a city organization and its endeavours over ten years, including 108 interviews and about 650 hours of observations. The paper shows how layering and fashion drive each other, and that fashion accelerates the layering process. The paper also shows how organizational actors struggled to realize intentions to change while being held back by previous layers and adopted management fashions.

Body iron stores had no impact on coronary heart disease outcomes: a middle-aged male cohort from the general population with 21-year follow-up

BackgroundBody iron stores (BISs) have been proposed to be related to the development of cardiovascular diseases. However, results from epidemiological studies are conflicting. Knowledge on the long-term impact of BIS...

An intersectional reading of circular economy policies: towards just and sufficiency-driven sustainabilities

ABSTRACT Transitions to a circular economy (CE) have, in recent years, emerged as a popular approach to deal with the challenges related to the systemic crises of the Anthropocene. However, mainstream CE discourses have been critiqued for being ecomodernist and for focusing too much on managerial issues, at the expense of justice and social aspects, and thereby risking not leading to the systemic changes so direly needed. Given this backdrop, as well as cities key role in responding to sustainability challenges, this article adopts a posthumanist intersectionality-perspective to explore the transformative potential of a municipal policy in which CE has been adopted as a key strategy for achieving change. A critical policy analysis of the City of Gothenburg’s new Environment and Climate Programme reveals that, apart from a focus on efficiency, the Programme also includes a politics of sufficiency and decreased consumption, thus potentially taking a first step within Swedish public sector towards an outspoken post-growth paradigm. The analysis, moreover, provides insights into what notions of citizens (or Gothenburgians), justice, responsibility, and nature–human relations the Programme is underpinned by. Drawing on these findings, the article proposes practical implications for urban policymakers and avenues for further research.

The sociological craft through the lens of theatre

Since its inception as an academic discipline in the 19th century, sociology has carried an internal tension between the “scientific” and the “hermeneutic” orientations. In response to this tension, the present article reviews important sociological publications that address the art-science dichotomy and explores the relationship between academic sociology and artistic work on society. It takes its departure point from a collaboration between the author and the dramatist Mattias Andersson in the documentary theatre project The mental states of Gothenburg (2006, Angered Theatre). To a large extent, the play’s script consisted of extracts of interviews with young people from different parts of the city of Gothenburg. Both “the sociologist”, who carried out the interviews, and “the dramatist” ended up as characters on stage. The article especially emphasises the relevance of The sociological imagination by C. Wright Mills (1967[1959]), arguing that through collaborative work with artists, the sociological craft can be further cultivated and thus realise its potential in terms of making well-founded interventions, both in academic discussions and in public conversations.

Traits and Transports: The Effects of Personality on the Choice of Urban Transport Modes

We examine the influence of personality on car driving, usage of public transport and cycling. Personality is measured through the Big Five personality traits (i.e., Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism) and Environmental personality. Data were collected through a Web-based panel of adult citizen in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden (N = 1068). Age, gender, income, children at home and residential area were used as control variables. Car driving is influenced by low degree of Openness, high degree of Conscientiousness, and low degree of Environmental personality. Usage of public transport is influenced by low degree of Conscientiousness, high degree of Agreeableness, and high degree of Environmental personality. Cycling is foremost influenced by a high degree of Environmental personality.

Working less by choice: what are the benefits and hardships?

Working time reduction (WTR) is a policy that could improve quality of life while reducing environmental impacts. However, WTR coupled with a salary reduction may benefit only higher-income earners and increase social inequalities. Against this background, we analyze how the motivations for and the socioecological outcomes from working less vary across different socioeconomic groups. The analysis is based on a survey conducted among municipal employees under full-time contracts who utilized the City of Gothenburg’s “right to part-time” policy. We find that working less improved quality of life not only for higher-income groups but also for lower-income groups through gains in time affluence, energy, health, and time spent on strengthening social ties. However, three negative effects emerged. First, WTR lead to increased work intensification, particularly among higher-income earners. Second, concerns regarding making ends meet and future retirement income were particularly salient issues among lower-income earners. Finally, WTR to cope with unfavorable working conditions was a much more common motivation among manual workers with lower salaries. We conclude that WTR can be a viable option across a broader range of socioeconomic groups than previously assumed but that it is nevertheless important to consider the effects on social inequality when designing WTR policies.

The market made us do it: Public procurement and collaborative labour market inclusion governance from below

AbstractThis article examines the challenges and opportunities for novel governance instruments for labour market inclusion of foreign‐born citizens, developed by local governments in collaboration with non‐profit civil society organisations in Sweden. It is informed by the case of the collaborative arrangements developed between the city of Gothenburg and work integration social enterprises (WISE). The article builds upon collaborative governance and innovation literature and focuses specifically on the first reserved public procurements for buying work training and other services from WISE. Our findings show how a tool that originates from a market governing mechanism can develop into a collaborative governance and innovation instrument. The design and implementation of the reserved procurements set in motion collaborative innovation through creation of collaborative spaces, joint ownership and empowerment, and by turning market governance mechanisms into collaborative governance. First, the ‘looseness’ and ‘openness’ of the governmental arrangements and collaboration spaces created by local actors enabled collaborative innovation. Second, the longstanding innovativeness and collaboration of WISE also played an important role in the development of this collaborative instrument. Third, the small scale of WISE and the larger scale of municipal contracts resulted in scaling up strategies that helped shape collaborative, rather than competitive, practices among WISE, as well as the implementation and diffusion of the innovation. We end the article by discussing the study's implications for collaborative governance and innovation between local governments and civil society.

Property owners as possible game changers for sustainable urban freight

Commercial activity and the underlying freight movements supporting them are essential to urban life. Unfortunately, urban freight has negative effects on sustainability and requires innovative approaches to enhance the positive aspects and minimize the negative ones. There is a common understanding among practitioners, with support from the literature, that the negative impacts of urban freight can be alleviated with better knowledge about the system and by identifying and engaging influential stakeholders. This paper focuses on property owners and their role in encouraging initiatives that lead to more sustainable urban freight delivery practices. Property owners engage in sustainability issues in real estate because they are interested in developing their properties to increase their attractiveness, competitiveness, and future market value. A shopping mall is an example of a property that generates a lot of freight traffic due to intense commercial activity. This paper studies the delivery patterns to a centrally located shopping mall in the city of Gothenburg and identifies how property owners could influence the delivery patterns of their tenants. A range of initiatives is proposed based on the literature and considering the delivery patterns observed. The results show that property owners can include freight deliveries in their sustainability strategy, focusing on fostering collaboration and communication between the tenants and promoting supply chain strategies that consider the type of activities that take place and the scope to reduce the number of truck movements and increase the efficient and sustainable goods deliveries.

IMAGINARIES AND EXPULSION: How 1,000 Temporary Accommodation Units for Refugees in the City of Gothenburg Became 57

AbstractFrom September to November 2015, more than 100,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden. Societal solidarity was unmistakable during this period, but six months later, when the refugees were to be accommodated, the situation had changed. In this analysis of imaginaries of migrants as strangers I scrutinize the city of Gothenburg's plan to build 1,000 temporary housing units to accommodate refugees. The project failed, resulting in only 57 units being built. In this article I analyse the societal imaginations the project revealed, including those embedded in political and public conflicts of opinion. In an attempt to understand why people sometimes refuse to share social space, I draw on a combination of Sara Ahmed's theories on the figure of ‘the stranger’ and Julia Kristeva's theories on how the stranger emanates from an ontological lack. I also outline in the article how different techniques of expulsion can be used to create spatial and temporal estrangement. In the subsequent analysis I demonstrate how practices of exclusion worked to expel migrants from urban development plans in the city of Gothenburg. The conclusion emphasizes the urgent need to scrutinize imaginaries among majority populations, and draws attention to the fact that the ‘foreigner is within us’.

Scaling Up Smart City Logistics Projects: The Case of the Smooth Project

A large number of smart city logistics projects fail to scale up, remaining a local experimental exercise. This lack of scalability is, in fact, commonly recognized as a major problem. This study aims to determine the key success factors related to the scalability of smart city logistics projects. The process of scaling up, which is articulated as expansion, roll-out, and replication, is defined as the ability of a system to improve its scale by aiming to meet the increasing volume demand. Specifically, this study investigates the scalability intended to be used as expansion and roll-out. A qualitative case study was conducted to fulfill the research purpose. The chosen case study is SMOOTh, a pilot project currently underway in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, involving a diverse group of companies including Volvo Group and DHL. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven of the project’s stakeholders. Through a thematic analysis, four categories and the respective success factors were identified. These were represented by a business model, as well as technical, stakeholder and regulatory factors. The paper concludes with observations and recommendations aimed at the pilot initiatives, adding new perspectives to the upscaling debate.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity from 5 to 19years of age in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The aim of this study was to present prevalence data for overweight and obesity across school age in a large, recent, population-based cohort of children in Gothenburg, Sweden. We included 66,807 children (48.5% girls) aged 5-18.9years who had their height and weight measured in school health care 2015-2018. The BMI values were categorised according to the age-dependent cut-offs for overweight and obesity from the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF). Overall, the prevalence of overweight and obesity for girls and boys was 18.1% and 18.0%, respectively. We observed increasing proportions of overweight (girls 11.5-17.1% and boys 8.4-17.4%) and obesity (girls 3.0-4.2% and boys 2.7-6.1%) with increasing age (p<0.001 for trend in both sexes). Moreover, girls had higher prevalence of overweight during ages 5.0 to 8.9years compared with boys (p<0.001), while boys had higher prevalence of obesity 15.0-18.9years compared with girls (p<0.001). In conclusion, we demonstrate increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity across the entire school age range, as well as differences in prevalences between boys and girls, in a population-based sample of 67,000 children in Gothenburg city, Sweden. Continuous monitoring of schoolchildren, together with effective preventive measures, is crucial to curb the obesity epidemic and its consequences.

The lock pickers, the gatekeepers, and the non-grievables: a case study of youth workers’ roles in preventing violent extremism

ABSTRACT In the prevention of violent extremism (PVE), various so-called soft interventions have been introduced, suggesting that teachers, social workers, and youth workers play key roles in detecting and responding to early signs of radicalization leading to violent extremism. Research has been conducted on how these interventions are being implemented and whether or not they may contribute to the securitization of welfare work. In this case study, eleven youth workers and their three managers were interviewed about their experiences of engaging in PVE work. They all worked in a neighbourhood in Gothenburg, Sweden, which was one of the earliest and most affected areas in Europe for recruitment to what was to become the so-called Islamic State (IS). The study focuses on their recollection of how they were informed about the on-going radicalization to violent extremism at the time, what actions they took, and how they were prepared for conducting PVE work. Some of the youth workers noticed signs of radicalization to violent extremism early in 2013, but they worked on short-term contracts and were not in a position to pass on the information to higher authorities. A better organized Gothenburg city could have started its PVE work two years earlier, rather than in 2015.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) accumulation in Quercus palustris and Pinus nigra in the urban landscape of Gothenburg, Sweden

Trees have the potential to improve urban air quality as leaves and needles capture air pollutants from the air, but further empirical data has been requested to quantify these effects. We measured the concentration of 32 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in leaves of pin oak (Quercus palustris) and needles of black pine (Pinus nigra) in the City of Gothenburg, Sweden, during the summer of 2018. Oak leaves were collected twice (June, September), while one-year-old (C + 1) and three-year-old (C + 3) pine needles were sampled in June to study the temporal development of leaf/needle PAH concentrations. Specific leaf area (SLA) was estimated, which permitted calculation of leaf/needle area-based PAH content that were compared with the mass-based concentration. In addition, the air concentration of PAHs and NO2 was measured using passive samplers. There was a strong correlation between air concentrations of PAH and NO2, indicating that the pollutants to a large degree originate from the same sources. In the oak leaves there was a significant decrease in low molecular mass PAHs (L-PAH, mainly gaseous) between June and September, but a significant increase in high molecular mass PAHs (H-PAH, mainly particle-bound). There was a strong correlation between L-PAH concentration in leaves and in air indicating an influence of equilibrium processes between ambient air and leaf. In the pine needles, there was a significant increase of both L-PAH and H-PAH in three-year-old needles compared to one-year-old needles. Pine was superior to oak in accumulating PAHs from the air, especially for L-PAHs when comparing area-based content. However, H-PAH concentrations were higher in oak leaves compared to pine needles on a leaf mass basis, emphasizing the importance of how concentrations are expressed. The results from this study can contribute to the development of urban planning strategies regarding the effect of vegetation on air quality.

A Data-Driven Approach to Assess the Risk of Encountering Hazardous Materials in the Building Stock Based on Environmental Inventories

The presence of hazardous materials hinders the circular economy in construction and demolition waste management. However, traditional environmental investigations are costly and time-consuming, and thus lead to limited adoption. To deal with these challenges, the study investigated the possibility of employing registered records as input data to achieve in situ hazardous building materials management at a large scale. Through characterizing the eligible building groups in question, the risk of unexpected cost and delay due to acute abatement could be mitigated. Merging the national building registers and the environmental inventory from renovated and demolished buildings in the City of Gothenburg, a training dataset was created for data validation and statistical operations. Four types of inventories were evaluated to identify the building groups with adequate data size and data quality. The observations’ representativeness was described by plotting the distribution of building features between the Gothenburg dataset and the training dataset. Evaluating the missing data and the positive detection rates affirmed that reports and protocols could locate hazardous materials in the building stock. The asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-containing materials with high positive detection rates were highlighted and discussed. Moreover, the potential inventory types and building groups for future machine learning prediction were delineated through the cross-validation matrix. The novel study contributes to the method development for assessing the risk of residual hazardous materials in buildings.

A Union for Tenants: Tenant militancy in Gothenburg as a historical example

The Swedish Union of Tenants is known today as perhaps the strongest tenants’ organisation in the world, with an established institutional role in the rent-setting system and a mandate to collectively bargain rents. What is relatively unknown, however, is that this system emerged out of a period of widespread rent struggle during the mid-war period. This was especially noteworthy in the city of Gothenburg. During the 19th Century, Gothenburg had become an important industrial centre and its population multiplied tenfold. Together with other groups, such as clerks and small shop owners, the workers formed a distinct popular class culture with organisational expressions and collective mobilisation that changed the social and political order of the city forever. One of these expressions was the tenants’ unions, seen as a sort of trade unions for the rented home. Tenants’ unions advocated protective legislation for tenants and confronted landlords, both with legal means and with militant methods such as rent strikes and blockades. This militancy reached its highest levels from 1932 to 1937. The collective mobilisation and organisation of the tenants altered the power relations between landlords and tenants, which can be seen both in the concessions made by landlords in numerous conflicts and in the fact that the landlords altered their organisations to defend themselves against the tenant offensive. By the time of the rent control act of 1942, centralised collective bargaining had been largely implemented and the collective organisations had become established and recognised interest organisations. The historical relationship between organised labour and tenants, and the effect of tenant organising on the rental market, are still under-researched subjects. This article is intended to both explore the historic rise of the tenants’ movement and to show the very real historical conflict between independent grassroot organisations and political parties in housing and labour history.

No heat, no electricity, no water, oh no!: an IDEA model experiment in instructional risk communication

Instructional communication is a vital component of the risk communication process. Without adequate instruction, individuals are less likely to understand, value, and follow guidelines for protecting themselves and their loved ones. The IDEA model (internalization, distribution, explanation, and action), applied successfully in crisis communication, has shown promise for use in instructional risk communication, as well. More specifically, it may address challenges that have plagued risk managers for decades regarding how to promote effective risk preparedness decisions in the midst of uncertainty and lack of understanding about perceived risk relevance. This study tested the effectiveness of the IDEA model for designing instructional messages in a risk preparedness campaign in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. The campaign was designed to enhance citizens’ preparedness in case of a crisis where the supply of heat, water, and electricity would be out for three days. A post-test only quasi-experimental cross-sectional survey research design conducted on data collected from 1876 survey participants revealed that citizens viewing a message adhering to the IDEA model components (treatment) had significantly more comprehension (i.e. cognitive learning) and found the message significantly more relevant and useful (i.e. affective learning) than those viewing a status quo (control) message. Practical applications and suggestions for future research are also provided.