Type: Planning Project
Year: 2010


The project investigate how Swedish housing projects from the so-called Miljonprogrammet years (1961-1975) can be the green social city of the future. Four key challenges are addressed with the typical structure of Byälvsvägen in Bagarmossen in focus:

1. Large parts of the housing from the Miljonprogrammet, approximately 35% of the entire built mass in Sweden, is in need of renovation and technical upgrade. There is a need for energy saving solutions and the apartments have to be adapted to today’s needs and new family structures with larger families and more single households. A technical solution as well as spatial efficiency is needed.
2. Many of the housing areas from the Miljonprogrammet attract attention from preservationist today. This interest – from e.g. Stockholms Stadsmuseum – is sometimes a hinder for changes. New methods are needed to tackle this and find ways to develop and strengthen qualities in the buildings with solutions that build on the original ideas of the time the projects were conceived.
3. The dominant tenure in the Miljonprogrammet houses is rental apartments. The projects investigates how rental apartment houses can be developed to offer an increase in community space, new services and enhanced access to common space and thereby increase the attractiveness and encourage greater long-term responsibility, energy efficient use and management of the residents themselves.
4. Many housing areas from the Miljonprogrammet years have a bad reputation: despite good locations and in many cases good spatial standards many residents wishes to move away.
With these four starting points the over all aim is to demonstrate how run down houses from the Miljonprogrammet can become the green social city of the future. That is: new forms for co-operative housing with privately owned units that have access to common spaces for parties, work, play, guest accommodations, fitness, spirituality, culture and access to services such as locally produced food, laundry, repairs, etc. This form of housing is a strong international trend and it is requested from young people as well as young families and elderly. With a holistic approach on the housing conditions and the lifestyles Miljonprogrammet areas such as Byälvsvägen can be an example of a real zero emission living with improved quality of life.