Project

Aerial view of the Hammarby Sjöstad community in Stockholm, Sweden. ©2010 CABE

Hammarby Sjöstad is a district to the south of Stockholm which extends the inner city beyond Hammarby Lake. The name 'Hammarby Sjöstad' means 'city surrounding Hammarby Lake' and this 200 hectare city district will comprise 9,000 apartments, housing a population of 20,000 people, and 200,000 sq m of commercial floor space attracting a further 10,000 people to work in the area. Approximately half of the total area has been developed to date and it is anticipated that the final scheme will be completed by 2015.

The concept for a new district in this location was born in the early 1990s. At that time, the City of Stockholm had developed a plan for development on the north side of the harbour, and this stimulated interest for a more strategic plan for the whole area around Hammarby Lake, both on the north and south banks. The idea was to exploit the unique opportunity to expand the inner city with water as a central focus for the development, whilst at the same time transforming an old port and industrial area into a modern city district. Impetus was gained for development and infrastructure in the area when plans for Stockholm's bid for the 2004 Olympic Games were being prepared. The core area of Hammarby Sjöstad was envisaged as an Olympic Village with a strong emphasis on ecology and environmental sustainability, which was promoted as one of Stockholm's unique selling points as an Olympic city. Although the bid was unsuccessful, development was already underway and the momentum for change had been established. Hammarby Sjöstad is built on former industrial brownfield land located on the south side of Hammarby Lake, to the south of the city centre, which has historically formed the natural border to the inner city area of Stockholm. The project seeks specifically to expand the inner city across the water. Description The project's geographical context provided the basis for the development of the masterplan. The district's borders are naturally defined by a hilly nature reserve to the south and Hammarby Lake, which is the district's central focus, its "blue eye" and its most attractive public open space. Pedestrian boardwalks, quays and linear parks provide a varied perimeter to the waterfront and residents have access to boat moorings in the summer.

Although Hammarby Sjöstad is located outside what is traditionally considered to be the perimeter of inner city Stockholm, the design is intentionally urban rather than suburban, and follows standards for Stockholm's inner city in terms of street width (18m), block sizes (70x100m), density, and land use. This traditional city structure has then been combined with a new architectural style that responds to its specific waterside context, promotes the best of contemporary sustainability technology and follows modern architectural principles, maximising light and views of the water and green spaces and using glass as a core material. The scale of development varies from four to five storeys along Sickla canal and six to eight storeys along the main corridors.

The spine of the new district is a 37.5m wide boulevard and transport corridor, which connects key transport nodes and public focal points, and creates a natural focus for activity and commerce. The ground floors of nearly all the buildings along this stretch have been designed as flexible spaces, suitable for commerce, leisure or community use. Additional opportunities for commercial uses are also provided through the intermittent placing of two-storey pavilions along the Sickla canal. Businesses that have located in the neighbourhood to date include fashion, electrical, interior, book and flower shops (20), cafés, restaurants and bars (24), health and beauty (15), general services such as launderettes and key cutters (8), a co-op supermarket, an art gallery and several estate agents.

The residential districts adjacent to the main spine follow a grid structure with a semi-open block form, which allows for maximum light and views as well as providing open access to the courtyards of residential blocks. Most apartments have balconies, which provide overlooking onto the streets, waterfront walkways and open spaces.

A network of varied parks, green spaces and walkways runs through the district. Where possible, the natural landscape has been preserved and has provided inspiration for the development. The original reeds and rushes remain along the waterfront, in between which secluded walkways out into the water have been built. Birch trees create the landscape for a beautiful waterfront park and rocky oak-woodland defines the edge of the district.

The area is easily accessible by public transport and the creation of new road and tram infrastructure has been central to the development. There are four tram stops in the heart of Hammarby Sjöstad - the tram connects the area directly to the underground network and there are plans to extend the tram further eastwards to connect directly to one of Stockholm's main transport hubs. Three new bus routes and one night bus also serve the area. In addition to new bus and tram infrastructure, a free ferry link across Hammarby Sjö has been introduced. The ferry takes five minutes to cross the lake, and runs every 10 to 15 minutes from early in the morning until midnight. Bicycles can be taken on board. Finally, residents have access to a car-pool in the area. There are between 20 to 25 cars in the pool and 270 residents have joined the scheme to date.

Community provision in the area includes a modern glass church building, two state schools (6-16 years), one private school, one pre-school and nursery, one GP practice, a library, a sports centre, a ski-slope, a football pitch and a basketball court.

Environmental Issues
According to the project coordinator at the Glass House, the main challenge for the environmental programme has been establishing contact with residents in order to encourage them to assist the Council in achieving environmental goals. A number of different methods have been used in order to reach residents and businesses, including exhibitions, a website and a newsletter. By far the most successful form of outreach has been the website, which receives an average of 9,000 hits per day. The website is also used as a tool for consultation and lobbying, for example residents have been invited to submit views on transport provision, which could then be used as a basis for lobbying Stockholm Transport to improve services further - this exercise has been extremely successful, and the Glass House has plans to roll it out to cover a range of other issues. The strategic planner acknowledged that even with the high level of resource to support environmental sustainability, it remains a challenge to continue to innovate and design sustainability measures into the later phases of development.

Residents Survey
A residents survey (805 responses) undertaken in 2005 revealed that: * residents are generally very satisfied with the environment in Hammarby Sjöstad. * two-thirds of all trips are made by public transport, bicycle or walking and a third of trips are car-borne. * the ferry is used as a link for a quarter of all trips. * a ferry link directly into the centre of Stockholm and an extension of the tram directly into the inner city were considered the highest priorities. * approximately 66% of households own a car, which is similar to the average for the inner city. * over half of all cars are parked in a private garage, the remainder on-street. * 8% of residents are members of the car pool, which is used mostly for shopping trips. * The library was the most frequently used service in the area, followed by hairdressers and dry cleaners. Priorities for additional service provision include another grocery store/supermarket, an off-license, a chemist and post-office services, a bank, a pub and a health centre.

Lessons learned

The particular lesson from the Hammarby Sjöstad case study is the powerful role that strong public sector leadership can play in ensuring development of the highest quality. The most striking feature of the area is the similarity between the Masterplan on paper, the aspirations it embodies and the physical environment as it has been developed. This has been achieved in a number of ways, and these are the key lessons to be drawn from the area:
* A strong Masterplan diagram, which forms the basis for land-use policy and the development of streets and public spaces * The preparation of detailed design codes for individual sub-neighbourhoods, which form the basis for contracts with developers * The appointment of different developers working with different architectural teams, to design sub-neighbourhoods, ensuring diversity and texture throughout the neighbourhood, within the unity which is established by the Masterplan * The innovative 'parallel sketches' process for sub-neighbourhood design, with the City acting as the final arbiter and preparing the final scheme * Strong environmental sustainability aspirations which are followed through at every level, including the preparation of the Glass House environmental education centre, as much to be a resource for local residents as for visitors * The use of land use policy to ensure that the neighbourhood has a mix of uses which is able to sustain a community * A strong design ethos which is applied to public buildings, most notably the church, as well as to private development * A well-resourced, highly skilled team within the City of Stockholm, capable of making careful judgments about design quality

Documents

  Hammarby Sjostad by Cas Poldermans 2006 (6,910 kb)

  Hammarby Sjostad Innovative Waste System Case Study (4,113 kb)

  Hammarby Sjostad Urban Design Case Study 2007 (11,338 kb)

  Hammarby Sjostad Urban Case Study (4,060 kb)

  Hammarby Sjostad Case Study Booklet (4,095 kb)

Resources

Envac Waste Systems (Sweden)

Hammarby Sjostad Community (Sweden) Radio Broadcast

Hammarby Sjostad Eco-Community (Sweden)