Politics and Planning in a Swedish Suburb

Abstract

The technical achievements of Swedish community planners are widely admired, but very little is known about the political processes through which their innovations are achieved. This article examines a recent decision to construct a large apartment house complex in a Stockholm suburb. A group of citizens objected to the plan proposed by the local government, and a conflict broke out that was not resolved until a national minister intervened, more than three years after the original plan was put forward. Analysis of this conflict and its resolution is used here to reveal the institutional framework within which planning decisions are made, the values that come to be contested in such choices, and the processes of bargaining and goal-modification which structure community development. This analysis leads to some conclusions concerning the impact of political structure and process on the quality of local planning in Sweden.

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