Implementing Sustainable
Futures in Sweden
By Colin Fudge & Janet Rowe
February 2000
The Swedish Council for Building Research
Distributed By Coronet Books 
ISBN: 9154058627
218 pages, Illustrated, 6 1/2 x 8"
$52.50 Paper Original
OUT OF PRINT
Sweden has long been an acknowledge leader in Europe in terms of its welfare provision and its social democratisation and environment protection policies. These have made major contributions to the sustainability of its development, and the high standard of living enjoyed by the majority of Swedes.
It now faces new challenges from the globalisation of trade and the transfer abroad of capital and company ownership; its relatively recent membership of the European union; the new landlink with Europe, bringing with it development pressures and a shift in attention from North to South; and increasing levels of immigration and social inequality.
A key response has been its strategy of ecological modernisation, through which it hopes to regain the high ground economically, environmentally and socially. What does this mean in real terms in Sweden? How is the strategy being implemented at the local level in towns and cities? Who are the winners and losers, and to what extent will it enable Sweden to retain its position as international exemplar in sustainable development?
In this book, based upon a study carried out for the major Swedish Research Councils, we explore these questions. Using case study cities and towns, and through the scrutiny of national policy in the context of that of the EU, we examine issues of power and trust, perception and leadership, integration and implementation. We discuss the lessons which other communities grappling with these complex cross-cutting issues may learn from the Swedish experience.
Urban Planning
Return to Coronet Books main page