Globalisation and urbanisation, climate change and new demographics have profound consequences – not just for large cities and metropolitan areas that often receive the most attention – but also for small- and medium-sized Nordic and Arctic cities. In the coming years, the Nordic thematic group on sustainable cities and urban development will explore the specificities of small- and medium-sized Nordic and Arctic cities, and how they can be made more sustainable. The first question to be investigated will be: what are the activities currently ongoing in smalland medium-sized Nordic and Arctic cities? In addition, we will analyse what small- and medium-sized cities are and how they may be defined in a Nordic context. Can small, urban and sustainable be a winning combination?
The challenges and potential for governing large Nordic city-regions and developing them toward greater sustainability were key concerns for the previous Nordic Working Group for Green Growth: Sustainable urban regions, which was active during 2013–2016. In the synthesis report, Towards Sustainable Nordic City-Regions (2016), some of the key challenges are highlighted; this report also indicates the potential for developing more sustainable urban regions through spatial planning and policy-making. Sustainability (social, economic and environmental) will continue to be a key issue for the new thematic group on sustainable cities and urban development. However, the main geographical focus will shift to small- and medium-sized Nordic and Arctic cities and their characteristics, in-line with the Nordic Cooperation Programme for Regional Development and Planning 2017–2020.
Policy and research themes
Many cities, irrespective of their size or location, struggle with facilitating economic growth while simultaneously trying to reduce their environmental impact, countering segregation, and creating attractive, inclusive urban environments. However, there are also unique challenges and potentials within small- and medium-sized Nordic and Arctic cities because of their local urban characteristics and socioeconomic conditions. These will be of key concern for the new thematic group, which will investigate this issue through different activities and projects over the next four years. Some activities and projects will focus directly on the social aspects of sustainability, which implies placing strategies for integration, housing, gender equality and quality of life at the core of urban development. Other projects will focus on the practical challenges of developing urban policies that contribute to attractive and sustainable urban environments in small- and medium-sized Nordic and Arctic cities. In the context of globalisation and urbanisation, there is also a need to ask fundamental questions about how urban and rural environments relate to one another, both as discursive categories and through material flow of people, goods, etc. The thematic group will also examine power relations in spatial planning; tensions between legitimacy and efficiency, where the challenge of combining democratically well-anchored inclusive planning processes with flexible market-oriented strategic planning processes are a key issue for further investigation.
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