Paradoxes and Possibilities for a ‘Green’ Housing Sector:  A Swedish Case

Hagbert, Pernilla; Mangold, Mikael; Femenías, Paula

doi:10.3390/su5052018

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(40 reference statements)

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“…Although environmental management has been increasingly institutionalized in the Swedish construction industry over the last few decades (Gluch et al 2013), the improvements made are however inadequate in meeting for example greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the built environment (Francart et al 2018). Previous research has also found interpretations of sustainability in new residential development to be marketoriented and technology-centered (Hagbert et al 2013), where property developers, even in ambitious frontline projects, are not necessarily pushing the agenda beyond the mainstream (Hagbert and Femenías 2016;Storbjörk et al 2018). When it comes to aspects of affordability and social justice a more integrated understanding of socio-ecological sustainability remains largely unaddressed, particularly in relation to the environmental implications associated with different residential typologies and household configurations, underlining the need for more nuanced understandings of what type of development is represented as sustainable (Bradley 2009;Mulliner et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Actors in transition: shifting roles in Swedish sustainable housing development

Hagbert

Malmqvist

2019

J Hous and the Built Environ

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In planning for a future that fulfils sustainability goals, there is a need to explore how roles taken in socio-ecological transitions are perceived among different types of actors. Empirical insights from interviews with diverse actors involved in Swedish housing development are presented, addressing the roles, conflicting logics and power relations between different sectoral categories of actors and at different organizational levels. Key aspects that emerge relate to the shift from state to market in contemporary Swedish housing development, where private companies emphasize their role in shaping societal development as inherent to working with sustainability. Conflicting logics can be found between short-term economic interests and long-term planning and policy, as well as intra-organizational differences in competency and leadership. Conclusions point to that the role of third sector or community actors in pushing agendas and norms to bring about transitions could be acknowledged further. Yet there is a need to examine the power relations currently reproduced, and how these could be challenged in future housing development. This includes critically assessing the potential for new types of actors and cross-sectoral collaborations, but also instigating more fundamental discussions of the kind of society strived for, and the radical transitions needed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Actors in transition: shifting roles in Swedish sustainable housing development

Hagbert

Malmqvist

2019

J Hous and the Built Environ

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“…What is measured (and sought after) is sub-optimal total utility maximization, and not minimizing resource use (van Staveren, 2007). Such suboptimized interpretations also emerge in sustainable urban development projects (Hagbert et al, 2013), with a discourse on efficiency that fails to take a more holistic perspective on what should be sustained, for whom, and what is to be developed. Critiques of a growthcentered interpretation of sustainability also challenge whether this type of economic sub-optimization can ever be compatible with the socio-ecological transformations needed (Asara, Otero, Demaria, & Corbera, 2015).…”

Section: An Ethical Approach?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, planning needs to handle uncertainties and shifting understandings of societal problems as political and scientific paradigms change. Yet, a previously predominantly techno-centered notion of sustainability in housing and urban development has shaped the discourse for several decades (Hagbert et al, 2013;Jensen, Jørgensen, Elle, & Lauridsen, 2012), and continues to limit the perceived scope of action (Hagbert & Malmqvist, 2019), particularly with regards to social sustainability goals of ensuring a just distribution of power, resources, and opportunities.…”

Section: An Ethical Approach?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Examples of projects and policies analyzed include what are considered 'showcase developments' of Swedish urban sustainability located in the three largest cities-Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmöderived from our own and other primarily qualitative research on urban development and discourses on sustainability in these contexts (Bradley, Hult, & Cars, 2013;Hagbert & Femenías, 2016;Hagbert et al, 2013;Isaksson & Heikkinen, 2018;Tahvilzadeh, Montin, & Cullberg, 2017;Wangel, 2013). These include the developments of Hammarby Sjöstad and the Royal Seaport in Stockholm, Västra Hamnen and Hyllie in Malmö, and Kvillebäcken and the larger RiverCity development in Gothenburgrepresenting some of the largest urban development projects in Northern Europe.…”

Section: Critical Discourse Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has underlined the need to critically examine and address the prevalent discursive structures that shape contemporary building and planning, including assumptions of continuous growth and individualized consumption (Hagbert, Mangold, & Femenías, 2013;Naess & Vogel, 2012). In this article, we build on this research and set out to examine the contemporary discourse and practice of sustainable urban development in Sweden, and how this upholds certain sociotechnical imaginaries over others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the Potential for Just Urban Transformations in Light of Eco-Modernist Imaginaries of Sustainability

Hagbert

Wangel

Broms

2020

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This article approaches urban ethics through critically examining the production and reproduction of an eco-modern socio-technical imaginary of sustainable urban development in Sweden, and the conditions and obstacles this poses for a just transformation. We see that notions of ecological modernization re-present problems of urban sustainability in ways that do not challenge the predominant regime, but rather uphold unjust power relations. More particularly, through an approach inspired by critical discourse analysis, we uncover what these problem representations entail, deconstructing what we find as three cornerstones of an eco-modern imaginary that obstruct the emergence of a more ethically-engaged understanding of urban sustainability. The first concerns which scales and system boundaries are constructed as relevant, and how this results in some modes and places of production and consumption being constructed as more efficient—and sustainable—than others. The second cornerstone has to do with what resources and ways of using them (including mediating technologies) are foregrounded and constructed as more important in relation to sustainability than others. The third cornerstone concerns the construction of subjectivities, through which some types of people and practices are put forth as more efficient—and sustainable—than others. Utilizing a critical speculative design approach, we explore a selection of alternative problem representations, and finally discuss these in relation to the possibility of affording a more ethical urban design and planning practice.

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