DESIGN PLACES FOR PEOPLE

INTEGRATED GUIDELINES FOR SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBOURHOOD DESIGN

Urban Morphology & Complex Systems Institute 2021

SERGE SALAT
CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Developed by: With the support of:

Author: Serge Salat, Civil Administrator, Architect and Urban Planner; President of the Urban Morphology

Suggested citation

insights and inputs on urban design and city form during

Advisor to the Director of the Department of Housing,

the development process: Deirdre Shurland, Valeria

Cederborg, Chantel van Beurden, Zahra Kassam,

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 2
CASE STUDY: Bo01 DISTRICT, MALMÖ, SWEDEN 6
CASE STUDY: HAMMARBY SJÖSTAD, SWEDEN 17
CASE STUDY: PARIS FIFTH ARRONDISSEMENT, A DISTRICT THAT HAS EVOLVED OVER 2000 YEARS 21
REFERENCES 28

1
 DESIGN PLACES FOR PEOPLE
INTRODUCTION
The design should bring together principles with
Each of our neighbourhoods has a unique character, elements of local character to invent unique places. It
enriched by culture and language and the legacy of should avoid the imposition of standardized solutions
families that have lived there for generations. Our which make it difficult to tell one location apart from
communities define our routines and create our another.
memories.
Design influences the human experience. Examples are
As stated in Malmö Bo01 Quality Programme: ‘It is exterior spaces created and scaled by architecture;
human beings and their needs that provide the starting clarity and legibility of the landscape structure;
point for all design and all planning and never, for diversity, variety, and linkage of components. The
example, the needs of motor traffic or technology (…) design quality impacts our safety, the ease of our
A district needs values which cannot be measured in travels, the fact that we have shops, community
the traditional manner: visual and acoustic facilities and schools nearby, and our children have
impressions, the experience of greenery and water, secure play areas. It also affects access to public
street space with “human” proportions, and the transport and the choice of homes to live in. Good
subconscious understanding, interpretation and design is essential to create sustainable locations on all
experience of one’s surroundings in a way which fronts: places that are socially just, environmentally
interacts positively with our biological origins, even in responsible, and thriving.
the distinctively man-made environment of the city’1.

1
Bo01 1999.
2
 Places for people, from formal to informal in the eco-neighbourhood of Viikki in Finland. Photos: ©Françoise Labbé.

The principle of universal design should guide the Key aspects of sustainable design are as follows:
development of sustainable neighbourhoods. All
people, regardless of their age, size, ability or disability § Create places for people. For areas to be used and
should be able to access, understand and use the place. loved, they must be safe, comfortable, diverse and
By considering the diverse requirements and abilities of attractive. They also need to be singular, and offer
people throughout the design process, environments variety and choice. Vibrant places provide
that meet the needs of all can be achieved. Universal opportunities for meeting people, playing in the
design, when integrated early in the planning, will street and watching the world go by.
reduce the necessity for costly renovations in the
medium to long term.

3
§ Enrich the existing. New development should resources – the climate, landform, scenery and
enhance the qualities of urban places. This means ecology – to maximize well-being and resource
encouraging a distinctive response that arises from conservation.
and complements its setting. § Mix uses and forms. Stimulating, enjoyable and
§ Make connections. Locations must be easy to convenient places meet a variety of demands from
access and be integrated physically and visually the widest possible range of residents and social
with their surroundings. This requires attention to groups. They also weave together different
how to get around on foot, bicycle, public building shapes, functions, tenure and density.
transport and the car – and in what order of § Design for transformation. New development
priority. needs to be adaptable enough to respond to future
§ Work with the landscape. Areas that strike a changes in lifestyle and demography. This means
balance between the natural and man-made creating flexibility in the use of property, public
environment and utilize each site’s intrinsic spaces and the service infrastructure.

Viikki Eco neighbourhood in Finland. Thresholds and transition zones between public and private spaces. Residents
appropriate these social exchange interfaces.

Check list of Sustainable Design Questions

—Context and distinctiveness. Does the design respond to the context, to the overall landscape, to the community
values and to the history of the area? How do the proposals create a sense of place and a unique identity?
—Resilience. Does the design consider natural hazards? Does it integrate robustness, coordination, inclusiveness,
redundancy, and reflectiveness (learning and evolving from experience)?
—Neighbourhood structure and image. Is the neighbourhood structure legible with a clear perception for its
inhabitants?
—Connections. How well is the new/redeveloped community connected inside and outside? Is the street pattern dense
and linked with no cul-de-sacs? How does the proposal create people-friendly streets?
—Public realm. How positive and well-designed are spaces? How safe, secure and enjoyable are the public areas?
—Layout. Is the layout based on fine grain perimeter blocks and a variety of structures giving human scale and rhythm
to the streetscape?
—Adaptability. Is the development separated into small enough land units to ensure adaptability and incremental
modification? How will the buildings cope with change in their functions?

4
To address these questions, the guidelines are divided The designer task is to organize a complex totality
into 8 strategies. which will be experienced sequentially. Viewers will
perceive parts through their movement. Moreover, this
DESIGN FROM CONTEXT structure shifts between scales, with the elements
DESIGN FOR RESILIENCE AND EVOLUTION arranged in a series of levels, so that people move from
SHAPE THE NEIGHBOURHOOD STRUCTURE AND the street or plaza, to the neighbourhood, and then to
IMAGE the city and metropolis. This requires a legible
CONNECT PEOPLE MOVEMENT AND STREET PATTERNS integration between levels, where each community
DESIGN STREETS AS PLACES FOR PEOPLE finds an identifiable place within the complex whole of
DESIGN THE PUBLIC REALM the city.
DESIGN A FINE GRAIN LAYOUT OF BLOCKS AND
BUILDINGS The strategies should be implemented in an organized
DEVELOP INCREMENTALLY WITH FINE-GRAIN PARCELS but open-ended way. A neighbourhood is a versatile
AND PLOTS and changing system, built for a lot of functions and
by many hands at different speeds. Neighbourhoods
These strategies do not work in isolation; they overlap are ceaselessly active, endlessly evolving. It is the urban
and reinforce each other to form the sustainable designer’s task to design them with qualities that can
community structure. The design goal is to create a survive perpetual transformation. A complete linkage
coherent pattern of development where the sum of from fine detail to the total system is improbable and
parts adds up to a greater whole. The movement lines undesirable. The strategies must be somewhat flexible
link neighbourhoods within and in between for the purposes of prospective change. Yet, the form
themselves. They connect the urban landscape and must be structured for fundamental functions:
organize its sequential discovery. The high-quality circulation, major land uses, focal points. Articulating
density and mix of uses take place inside positive public clearly the form will allow for future modification while
spaces that interact with the sun, wind and light. Green keeping key features. The neighbourhood will become
and bioclimatic approaches are scaling from the entire a remarkable place well designed and co-created by its
neighbourhood to blocks and building, forming a three- inhabitants along the flow of time.
dimensional green network through a variety of scales.
This composition is open-ended and endowed with The 8 strategies are explained through 3 case studies.
adaptive and evolving capacity. It is the total
orchestration and overlap of these strategies that Bo01 DISTRICT, MALMÖ, SWEDEN
create a dense and varied structure and maintain its HAMMARBY SJÖSTAD, SWEDEN
identity through change. PARIS FIFTH ARRONDISSEMENT: A DISTRICT THAT HAS
EVOLVED OVER 2000 YEARS

5
CASE STUDY: Bo01 DISTRICT, MALMÖ, SWEDEN
Bo01 was planned and built on a spectacular site overlooking the Öresund Strait between Copenhagen, Denmark, and
Malmö, Sweden as the European Millennium Housing Exposition, opening in 2001. The area is a former industrial estate
and port, where the ground was polluted.

Malmö Bo01 and Västra Hamnen.

This 18-hectare development represents the first step in the transformation of 160 hectares of industrial land. Density
is 122 people per hectare, and more than half of the area is dedicated to open space, making Bo01 an example of
neighbourhood that creates high-quality living with both density and green intensification.

6
 Left. Plan of the first blocks and promenade in Bo01. Right. Aerial view of Bo01. The buildings on the west and north
establish a wind and weather barrier protecting the smaller and heterogeneously organized interior buildings and
courtyards. Ever-changing building direction and arrangement create a dynamic character, full of unexpected spaces
and views within a walkable environment.

Outstanding urban design qualities have been achieved with an innovative participatory process in which the city
exerted control through ownership, objective formulation, and planning while involving stakeholders. The city hired
Klas Tham, a well-known architect, to craft the design and planning basis and serve as the main designer and director.
Tham balanced the technological goals of the project with an overarching concern for the social environment and for
elevating the aesthetic quality of the development2.

2
Austin 2013.
7
Design from context

A slightly distorted grid organizes all the Western Harbour. Perimeter buildings define the edges of the scheme and
block the wind while smaller buildings and open spaces in the interior create a more human scale. This microclimate
consideration was extended through the formation of largely enclosed mixed-use and residential courtyards.

Spirit of place is created in Bo01 by the ‘sensory, emotional and mental non-quantifiable human aspects of design’ and
by ‘highlighting the genius loci – the unique identity and quality of the place – the sky, the sea, the wind, the ground –
and its imageability’3. According to Klas Tham: ‘The plan has been sculpted by the grandeur of the site (the ocean, the
expanse of sky, the horizon, the sunset), by very strong exposure to the wind from the west, and by the broad-meshed
grid of boulevards in the district. This ensures orderliness and empathy on a grand scale and at the same time, gives
space to discover a teeming, less tangible world on the inside of the large squares’4.

Design for resilience and evolution

Diversity of scales and of architectural expression. Photos: © Françoise Labbé.

Diversity, a key feature of resilience, characterizes Bo01. Twenty-six architectural firms designed the houses, each one
given wide freedom of expression. Twenty developers and 26 architects were invited to build houses and apartments
of different sizes and tenure types. Bo01 created a place with the variety, detail, and pluralism that elude master-
planned communities with fewer participating architects, landscape architects, and developers.

Shape the neighbourhood structure and image

The Quality Program outlines the image of Bo01 as ‘strong, intrinsic identity of the part and the whole – the home, the
block, the street, the square, the park, the neighbourhood; intelligibility of structure, form and function, facilitating

3
Bo011999.
4
McCollum n.d.
8
participation by the residents’5. Two sharp contrasts ensure legibility and image while establishing meaningful
differences between the intimate scale of inner blocks and the wider landscape. These contrasts create both a well-
defined edge and a focal point, which are key elements for forming any neighbourhood image.

Linear promenades facing the open sea landscape or parks create a well-defined edge. Photos: © Françoise Labbé.

1. Well-defined edges are

- more formal buildings with colour unity facing the sea on the west-side.
- the large park on the east-side with its linear promenades.
By counterpoint, the shifted organization of blocks in the inside is maze-like with a high variety in the colour palette.

2. The focal point is the Turning Torso. It contrasts sharply in height with the surrounding low-rise small blocks. Santiago
Calatrava designed it at the scale of the wider maritime landscape and to be seen as far as from Denmark.

Turning Torso seen

© Copyright: from
Françoise Labbévarious locations in Bo01 Malmö. Photos: © Françoise Labbé

Connect people movement and street patterns

The Quality Programme (1999) describes people movement as the ‘wealth of information, mystery, surprise,
possibilities of getting lost and making accidental discoveries.’ Irregular streets and their rich set of interconnections
create visual variety, diversity in patterns, open spaces, and buildings.

5
Bo01 1999.
9
 Variety of pedestrian experience in Bo01 Malmö. Photos: © Françoise Labbé.

© Copyright: Françoise Labbé

Inner blocks intimate scale pedestrian experience in Bo01 Malmö. Photos: © Françoise Labbé.

Design the public realm

Slightly more than half of the neighbourhood is open space. Designed within a varied landscape, many social areas
initiate a broad range of experiences for people. Access to green zones and water, the use of daylight, and different
visual impressions create a sense of well-being. Bo01 also reveals diversity and variety in the design of its parks. The
Scania Portal (Scaniatorget) features etched pathways that allow stormwater to reach the sea with an austerity and
restraint reminiscent of Zen gardens.

10
 Left. Scania Portal (Scaniatorget) includes etched pathways for stormwater to reach the sea with an austerity and
restraint reminiscent of Zen gardens. Photo: Gary Austin.
Right. Ankarparken, designed by landscape architect Stig Andersso. The blue Lanternan building is in the distance.
Photo: © Françoise Labbé.

In contrast to typical seaside parks, with their hardened, protective edges, Anchor Park offers more detail and a more
introverted character than the dramatic views and scale of the western landscapes (Dania Park, Scania Portal, the
Promenade, and Scania Park). A variety of semi-public courtyards and small squares – linked by green corridors,
including parks and streets – fosters vitality, light, place to travel, and room to rest. Mediating transparent components
that are open to the outside, such as porches and balconies, ensure transitions between public and private areas. Public
space is not a homogenous entity in opposition to private space. It is a series of intermediary semiprivate and semi-
public levels.

The Green space plan for Västra Hamnen shows how main green areas are connected into a network. Source: City of
Malmö, ‘Design Principles’.

A network of parks and passages at different scales blends green and water streams offering both storm water collection
and active recreation for the inhabitants. All residents have access to a rich diversity of green spaces less than 300 m
from their homes. All the schools are at the proximity of green spaces so that students can choose to walk across the
green corridors instead of through the streets. The green network offers continuous walkways to the shoreline around
the neighbourhood perimeter. The various kinds of vegetation on the parcels, such as green walls and roofs, channel
surface water and form unique locations. An advanced system of sustainable urban drainage creates an ecological and
recreational environment. Water first drops from roofs to convert into a feature in a private garden court or to flow in

11
open channels inside the blocks and along streets. It streams to landscape filtering areas and to the saltwater canal or
the sea. When it rains, the neighbourhood becomes alive with the sounds of dropping and flowing water, providing a
feeling of location and enriching sensory experience.

Water urbanism at multiple scales in Bo01 Malmö. Photos: © Françoise Labbé

12
Design a fine grain layout of blocks and buildings

Left. Aerial view of Bo01 northern part.

Perimeter five-story white buildings buffer smaller more coloured buildings on the interior blocks. Photos: © Françoise
Labbé.

The block organization takes advantage of the ‘magnificence of its site – the sea, the great sky, the horizon, the sunset
and the Öresund Bridge’. The design of Bo01 includes a street grid distorted to shelter constructions from the wind.
Five-floor blocks face the sea, further protecting the inner buildings while reinforcing the character of the waterfront
promenade. They temper the microclimate – ‘the forceful winds from the west’6. The hierarchy of streets and public

6
Klas Tham, “Bo01: City of Tomorrow” (unpublished paper, March 2007). Quoted in Fraker 2013.
13
open spaces is highlighted with a gradient of colours, shapes, detailing, relation to green and water bodies. The
sequence evolves from large-scale exterior connection to water, to inner and more intimate water features in streets.
People can choose diverse routes according to the weather and their mood. The buildings positioned at shifted angles
form a rich variation of elongated triangular or trapezoidal outside shapes like those in European Medieval cities or in
Ströget in Copenhagen. These accelerated or slowed perspectives create a pedestrian journey full of surprises and
discoveries. Moreover, each plot has been given to one of thirty-four different architect-developer teams for detailed
design. The result is a high diversity of the block inner spaces with random, angled paths and small squares that differ
in scale, material and form. This quiet sheltered labyrinth belongs to the residents by contrast with the more public
promenade facing the sea.

A more intimate scale inside the blocks. Photos: © Françoise Labbé.

Develop incrementally with fine-grain parcels and plots

Twenty-six architecture firms and 20 development companies were gathered to create the astounding pluralism of the
neighbourhood. This contrasts with many multi-family schemes where repetition of the same building model, regardless
of orientation or context, results in a monotonous living environment.

Dividing the project into small development plots and assigning them to different architects fostered diversity of
architectural expression. While each team of architect developers had to obey urban design guidelines for height,
density, green spaces, they were free to elaborate their architectural responses to site conditions.

Lessons learned

High quality architecture, landscape architecture, and attention to the social environment are important aspects of
sustainability. The holistic definition of sustainability by the visionary planner resulted in aesthetics and social options
that match the high levels of technical performance. The project supports physical and psychological health by providing
immediate access to open space and opportunities for human interaction. The urban environment offers meeting points
and a well-balanced mix of housing activities, schools, and green areas, creating a vibrant community fulfilling the needs
for beauty, proportion, nature and water.

With over half of the neighbourhood area dedicated to open space, the population density is a positive example of a
compact urban settlement that doesn’t diminish the residents’ quality of life for the sake of density. Moreover, Bo01
created common spaces integrating various social groups which traditionally are separated, creating a location in which
all Malmö residents can easily access the sea. The landscape is diverse and beautifully illustrates responsiveness to the
environmental context. The public spaces are compelling and attract people to the seaside. More than any other

14
development Bo01 created a community with the variety, detail, and diversity that eludes master-planned communities
with fewer participating architects, landscape architects, and developers7.

Moving forward: bo01, bo02 and bo03

The Western Harbour has been selected as a national symbol of sustainable urban development and is one of the City
of Malmö’s largest and most important development areas. In the first phase, the spectacular demonstration
project Bo01 took shape, Sweden’s first climate-neutral district. Bo01 had become a fairly exclusive area. Flagghusen
gave city planners a chance to make the Western Harbour a broader and more diverse neighbourhood. Flagghusen, also
referred to as Bo02, was the next step. Here, experiences from Bo01 were put to use – sustainability had become the
standard. Flagghusen consists of 627 apartments, a preschool and a residency. The neighbourhood Fullriggaren, is the
third step, or Bo03. It consists of 550 apartments and is emerging through dialogue like that which Flagghusen
experienced.

In April of 2004, the ‘the creative dialogue’ started. Together with 13 developers and a test panel of engaged citizens,
the City of Malmö initiated a dialogue about architecture, planning, the environment and quality. The goal was that
improved dialogue would lead to a complete and detailed plan for realizing good, sustainable and affordable housing
at Flagghusen, near the Bo01 neighbourhood. The creative dialogue focused on four aspects of sustainability

- High architectural quality.

- Social sustainability: The focus was the flexible design of housing, safety and security, and common public spaces.
- Economic sustainability: Housing affordability realized through an efficient and thorough process.
- Ecological sustainability: This relates to several issues: energy efficiency, phasing out of toxic substances, high biological
quality, close proximity to recycling stations, local rainwater management.

Three years after its start, the first tenants moved into Flagghusen. The proportion of rented accommodations in
Flagghusen is 62%, which remains within the target of 60–70%. The project entails self-constructions (urban villas) and
a residence for residents aged 55 and older (Tornahem). A preschool opened in August 2009, and in 2010 a residence
for people with disabilities and special assistance needs opened. The apartments have been designed to meet higher
demands for adaptations necessary to accommodate disabled people than those set by the Housing Board’s building

7
Austin 2013.
15
$+;#3/*)&(,0!N?+!A$&;$/''+!%/33+-!=5+**+$!.&$!+B+$9&(+K!?/,!@++(!.&33&H+-C!H?)%?!?/,!3)Q+39!$+,#3*+-!)(!3&H+$!%&,*,!*&!
/-/A*!$+,)-+(%+,0!

"F@EHGBJHC%IJ%;?@MMKOCBJR

#B?DLNOI?PBE%AEB@HBP%OEN@J%XI??@C%IJ%;?@MMKOCBJR%/G@MB%H,%HKB%EIMKH*%=IBW%,D%HKB%A,GG,J%M@EPBJ%@JP%E,,D%HBEE@ABCR
CASE STUDY: HAMMARBY SJÖSTAD, SWEDEN

The 2009 version of the official master plan for Hammarby Sjöstad and its 12 sub-
districts. Different architects’ teams have detailed the subdistricts that are the result of a phasing and diversity
strategy. For consistency, the design authority for the master plan is the responsibility of the urban planning
department and not of the private architectural firms acting as temporary consultants.

Stockholm is at the forefront of eco-neighbourhood progress. In 1996, the City decided to redevelop the 160-
ha area (40 ha water excluded) of Hammarby Sjöstad in the south-east of Stockholm as part of its bid for the 2004
Olympic Games. Hammarby was a former highly polluted industrial and port area. The project targeted housing more
than 25,000 inhabitants in 11,000 apartments by 2017. The objective was to create a neighbourhood with half the
environmental impact of other districts built in the 1990s.

The targets included

- a total energy consumption of 60 kWh/m2 .
- a water intake reduced by 50% compared to the average water use in new housing in the city centre.
- the entire supply of energy from renewable sources.

Hammarby Sjöstad implemented an integrated approach that incorporates human-scale design, sustainable resource
use, ecology, and low-carbon transport.

Its strong environmental goals shaped the integrated plan, which covers land use, urban form, transport, building
materials, energy, water, and sewage. Articulated density, access to multiple modes of transit, an emphasis on reduced
car commuting, preservation and restoration of existing natural systems, and progressive construction and housing
policies make Hammarby Sjöstad an effective demonstration of comprehensive planning. Through the city’s
forethought in land acquisition, the planning department could efficiently coordinate mobility, land use, and
development.

Hammarby Sjöstad is an example of the design strategies presented in these guidelines.

17
Plan and design strategic density

Hammarby Sjöstad is a high-density district with an envisioned density of 15,000 people and 7,500 jobs per km2. The
integration of transport and land-use planning enhanced the project sustainability. The district spine is a 37.5-meter
wide boulevard and transit corridor, which connects key transport nodes and public focal points. It creates a
natural concentration for activity and commerce. Arrangement of infrastructure was essential to connect the
neighbourhood to the existing Stockholm networks. A comprehensive movement network includes trams, bike lanes,
ferry links and pedestrian routes. It was put in place before development. Alongside this, the provision of a car
pool with a priority parking have reduced car dependency.

Strategic density integrated with the natural and water landscape in Hammarby Sjöstad. Photo credit:
Françoise Labbé.

These policies and design measures have proven effective. Transport-related emissions
for inhabitants of Hammarby Sjöstad are less than half those of an average Stockholm citizen. They are less than a third
those on average in Sweden. In 2007, 79% of Hammarby Sjöstad residents walked, cycled or used public transport for
commuting8.

8
Iverot and Brandt 2011.
18
Design places for people

In Hammarby Sjöstad, the perspective is closed and a bridge curve gives rhythm to the pedestrian journey. Photo:
Françoise Labbé.

Hammarby Sjöstad combines subtly different inner spaces with openness and linkage by multiple water and
pedestrian connections. The flexible grid of small blocks incorporates variation in green areas and streets designed as
places for people. The facades delineate a complex and irregular enclosure of pedestrian zones, giving a sense of
rhythm, diversity, and variety to the walking experience. Urban morphology employs urban block patterns and sizing of
the centre city to create human scale. The process achieves diversity within coherence. The master plan results from
the combination of multiple sub-neighbourhood plans. Implementation fostered varied designs respecting the design
code.

The design incorporates flexibility and adaptability over time. The design of the ground-floor units along the
boulevard is adaptable enough to accommodate the community recreational and commercial uses.

Design with nature

The design blends the buildings with landscape and water, which act as drainage of rainwater, encouraging
biodiversity. the creation of new habitats, informal amenity areas and formal areas of open public
spaces. Limited building depths, recessed penthouse flats, large terraces and windows on water-facing facades ensure
the imbrication of buildings with nature. Most balconies overlook streets, waterfront walkways and green spaces. Many
apartment developments have a semi-open form, providing access to the green courtyards of the residential blocks.

19
 Water is a crucial element of the neighbourhood’s life and landscape. Photo credit: Françoise Labbé.

The water environment adds significant connections in the neighbourhood. Major non-road-based links create huge
areas of openness with the right proportion to building spacing and height. A network of interwoven parks, green
spaces, and walkways runs through the community to offer a counterbalance to the dense urban landscape. Vegetation
covers two wide bridges over a busy road. They provide both a link and a shortcut to the nature reserve just outside the
city.

Integrate neighbourhood systems

The Hammarby model is a unique eco-cycle system that seeks out opportunities to reuse energy, solid waste,
water, and wastewater from homes, offices, and other structures in the area in an integrated manner. It is a
balanced ‘closed-loop urban metabolism’.

Hammarby Model. Source: City of Stockholm 2011.

Urban metabolism is a model to facilitate the integration of the material and energy flows within cities. It provides a
framework to optimize the interactions of natural and human systems. In a circular metabolism, almost everything
is recycled. Sustainability is maximized in Hammarby Sjöstad through the use of green roofs, solar panels and eco-
friendly building products. The process integrated higher standards for buildings and appliances by inclusion in the
Design Code for each area. They comprised tighter insulation, better quality windows (especially in U-value and air
infiltration rating) to reduce air infiltration. Only renewable sources supply the energy.

20
Build vibrant local economies

Mixed uses create a complete and balanced community. The district accommodates approximately 20,000 people in
9000 housing units. Hammarby Sjöstad offers 200,000 m2 of commercial space providing jobs for 10,000 people. It is
now a middle-class suburb with strong property values. They increased by four to five times since construction of the
first parts. The neighbourhood also includes affordable housing, public and private rental, and privately-owned
properties.

Empower local communities

Hammarby Sjöstad offers many educational, cultural, and recreational programmes. It balances both private and public
space and ensures priority to what benefits the community. High-density living fosters a greater sense of community by
facilitating the development of programmes and processes that promote social interaction and cultural enrichment.
Family living is key to Hammarby’s success, with good-quality housing and community facilities for families, including
schools, community centre, and churches.

In conclusion, Hammarby Sjöstad is a highly liveable low-carbon, resource-efficient community. Compared to

conventional development, the project reduced air, soil and water emissions and pollution by 40 – 46 %, non –
renewable energy use by 30–47% and water consumption by 41–46%.

CASE STUDY: PARIS FIFTH ARRONDISSEMENT9, A DISTRICT THAT HAS EVOLVED OVER 2000 YEARS

Paris fifth arrondissement. Photo: Adrian Diez.

9
This case study draws on APUR 2001 and APUR 2017.
21
Key figures

Area 254.1 ha

Population and housing Jobs

58,850 inhabitants 53,520 jobs
2
Residential density: 23,170 h/km Job density: 21,070 jobs/km2

Number of dwellings: 39,651 Job/resident ratio: 0.9

Density of dwellings: 156 dwellings/ha Percentage of active population that lives and
has a job in the arrondissement: 71.6%

Mobility Commercial activity

70% of inhabitants do not own a car Ground floor premises: 3,053
9% drive to work Ground floor commercial premises: 2,491
20% walk or bike to work Ground floor commercial premises per 100 m of
street: 6.1 (one every 16 m on average)
60% take public transportation to work 41 commercial premises per 1,000 inhabitants

The primary operations that have established their urban landscape allow understanding historical neighbourhoods.
The relationship between the topography and the most important streets have transformed the original countryside
into a human landscape. The perennial structure of a city is carved in the land with the street and plot patterns. A
superstructure, more modifiable over time, mainly involves the built environment. In the land is first inscribed in a
lasting way the continuous network of linkages. They associate fragments of territory with each other and distribute
the private domain.

Topographical context

The fifth arrondissement is divided between the eminence of the Sainte-Geneviève mountain (60 m), which occupies
the central part where the Pantheon stands, and the large flat lands on the banks of the Seine. There, the river meets
the valley of the Bièvre, whose course, today canalized, runs between the mountain and the first slopes of the Butte-
aux-Cailles. We can easily read from the river the division that results from this geography: west of the Sully Bridge, the
built front, which alternates orderly and irregular facades interspersed with small streets, announces the morphology
of the interior.

Resilience and evolution

All the urban operations unfold according to various temporalities. The land structure is very stable and it is possible to
find the persistence of its layout after centuries of development. Associated with the main routes and with the local
distribution lines which allowed its subdivision, the land grid is a complex system. It is a reticulated net, thrown over
the topography, which delivers a human interpretation. It is a landscape recomposed thanks to the surveyor’s
instruments. At a later development stage, a wider irregular network of boulevards has articulated and linked the entire
city at a larger scale. These wider boulevards form the edge of the arrondissement. Reading the structure therefore

22
allows us to understand how, gradually, the city transformed from rural to urban. The land grid is a stable composition
ensuring the constant renewal of buildings, without altering its logic.

The fifth arrondissement has the longest history in Paris. Its current extent was home to the first established urban
settlement, traces of which can be seen in today’s topography. There, the Romans founded their city with a regular
plan: a grid that stretched from the Seine to the Sainte-Geneviève mountain. The rue Saint-Jacques layout, the cardo
maximus of Lutèce10 perfectly preserves the remains of this grid. Boulevard Saint-Michel follows, in its southern part,
the medieval route of rue de la Harpe11. Except for the theatre, the fifth arrondissement contains all the Gallo-Roman
monuments: the thermal baths, the forum (under the rue Soufflot), the theatre amphitheatre that was unearthed in
the 19th century12.

Gallo Roman Paris overlayered on present street patterns. Source: Michel Huard13.

The construction of the Philippe-Auguste wall at the beginning of the 13th century marks an important stage in the
arrondissement history. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it had remained sparsely populated, especially in its
southern part. Encompassing, by the royal will, the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève, it included vast undeveloped land. The
University located there: the Sorbonne, first, in the middle of the 13th century, then the numerous colleges, which are
at the origin of the Latin Quarter. These colleges, organized around large courtyards (enclosures such as can still be seen
in English university towns), occupy notable areas that will afterward allow the establishment of major Parisian high
schools. In the southern part, urbanization takes place later. It begins with the suburbs, along rue Lhomond (an ancient
street), rue Mouffetard that appeared during the High Middle Ages and which leads to the village of Saint-Marcel, rue
Saint-Victor and rue Saint-Jacques.

10
The withdrawals from the alignment of the 19th century gave a new lease of life to it, especially between Boulevard
Saint-Germain and Rue Soufflot.
11
Remains of an ancient street recently found show that it unintentionally restores the geometry of a secondary cardo.
12
The remains of the so-called “Julien” thermal baths have always been visible and are still well preserved.
13
http://paris-atlas-historique.fr/resources/paris+bas+empire+var+3c.pdf
23
 The fifth arrondissement in 1300. Source: Michel Huard14.

From the Middle Ages to the 17th century, abbeys15, convents16, and the Jardin des Plantes gradually occupied the
countryside beyond the wall of Philippe Auguste. As in many central arrondissements, the Second Empire profoundly
changed the topography of the fifth. The construction of rue des Écoles, boulevard Saint-Michel and boulevard Saint-
Germain easily connects it with the right bank. This is their explicit goal. But sections of old urban fabrics are preserved,
from rue Saint-Séverin to rue de Poissy or on both sides of rue Mouffetard.

14
http://paris-atlas-historique.fr/resources/paris+1300a.pdf
15
Saint-Victor.
16
The Ursulines, the Feuillantines, or the Val-de-Grace.
24
Structure and image

Urban landscapes and monuments in Paris fifth arrondissement. Source: APUR 2001.

Bringing together the main planted axes and gardens, public or private, in a single drawing, reveals what refers to nature,
the underlying city foundation. The monuments are another human tribute paid to the site and contributing to the
urban landscape. They orchestrate with the main axes and the squares, the major points that make the city landscape
legible: tops of slopes, intersections, axes, in the background or seen through centred perspectives.

The topography, combined with the monumental axes gives strength to the landscape of the fifth arrondissement.
Streets rise frontally (rue Saint-Jacques, boulevard Saint-Michel, rue Claude-Bernard) or progressively (rue Mouffetard,
rue Monge, rue Gay-Lussac). The most monumental composition is that which features the Panthéon, located practically
at the top of the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. The topography creates unique spaces. This is the case with the Place de
l’Estrapade, or the Place de la Contrescarpe, as well as the rue Mouffetard which also climbs up the slope.

25
 Urban structure and block patterns in Paris fifth arrondissement. Source: APUR 2017.

Street patterns

Street key benchmarks

Street area and width Street pattern connectivity

28.4 % of land area for streets 150 intersections/km2
Street length: 44 km
Street length per km2: 17.4 km
Average street width: 16 m

26
 Paris fifth arrondissement street widths. Source: APUR 2017.

Major streets, of different logic, doubly surround the arrondissement. The outer circle is heterogeneous. It combines a
section of Paris Grand Crossroad17, a segment of the circular boulevards18, and the quays of the Seine19. The inner circle
is more homogeneous: its Haussmannian breakthroughs are more voluntary in their layout. It surrounds the Montagne
Sainte-Geneviève with the streets Gay-Lussac, Claude-Bernard and Monge20. The strength of this double network does
not erase the previous historical routes, the rue Saint-Jacques, cardo maximus of ancient Lutèce, or the succession of
the streets Jussieu, Linné and Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire21 nor rue Mouffetard.

17
The boulevard Saint-Michel.
18
The boulevards of Port-Royal, Saint-Marcel and de l’Hôpital.
19
Saint-Bernard, Tournelle and Montebello.
20
Linked by the boulevards Saint-Germain and Saint-Michel.
21
Former street of the faubourg Saint-Victor.
27
Public realm

Green spaces key benchmarks

Green space area Green space distribution

12.8% of land area is green spaces 17 gardens
2
5.5 m per capita

Vegetation height map in Paris fifth arrondissement22. Source: APUR 2017.

The fifth has an area of green space of 324,300 m2 (including 235,000 m2 for the Jardin des Plantes), divided into
seventeen gardens. One of the fifth features is to have many medium-sized green spaces (between 1 ha and 3 ha). The
other gardens are smaller (less than 5,000 m2).

22
The vegetation heights map is obtained from infrared processing of remote sensing satellite photos. Alignments of
trees and plantations in public spaces since the 17th century have helped to structure the city. This plant cover is part of
the perception of a street, of the way it is experienced and of its identity. Vegetation contributes to the reinforcement
of biodiversity and the green network in the city, in particular by the large planted continuities (boulevards). The
representation of plant layers by height, from short vegetation to large-scale trees, provides an important indicator of
the biodiversity of public and private spaces.
28
U5;B91)=>5068=)J8A);8712C06J=

!"#$%&'()%*+,#% "#$!%!&'()%!%*+%, !"#$%&'(-).,'&,'-)'/#%*",0.)"1,'"#$!%!&'()%!

%*+%,
-!./0%*+. 1!./0%*+.
&!)%234!56!7%$8!%*+% 9:11!)%2;:-4!56!7%$8!%*+%
• ;<9 = &
• 3<9 =&
• &1' =& • 3<9 =&
• &'- =& • ?99 =&
• >?< =& • &999 =&
• 1?< =&
• ;3@'>9 =&

3BDH*%#hO@EBC%@E,OJP%:@JHKB,J%IJ%@%AIEA?B f-- G%E@PIOCR%0IMKH*%#hO@EBC%@E,OJP%:?@AB%PB%?@ !,JHEBCA@EFB%IJ%@%

AIEA?B f-- G%E@PIOCR

'6;07)40;691=

1,!)(!/33!)((+$!/$$&(-),,+'+(*,!H)*?)(!'+-)+B/3!H/33,C!*?+!#$@/(!./@$)%!&.!*?+!.).*?!),!/3'&,*!+D%3#,)B+39!%&(*)(#&#,0!
d+;#3/$!/(-!%&'A&,)*+!./@$)%,!@/3/(%+!+/%?!&*?+$0!N?+!3/**+$!3&;)%/339!$#(!/3&(;!*?+!&3-+,*!,*$++*,!E$#+!_/)(*Ll/%O#+,C!
$#+! 2&#..+*/$-C! $#+! N&#$(+.&$*G! &$! /$+! %&(%+(*$/*+-! )(! *?+! '+-)+B/3! %&$+! &.! *?+! 3+.*! @/(Q! E_/)(*L_wB+$)(!
(+);?@&#$?&&-G0! N?+! '+-)+B/3! %&33+;+,! &.! *?+! \/*)(! 8#/$*+$! 3+.*! /! 3+;/%9! &.! ?#;+! A3&*,! *?/*! ?/B+! (+B+$! @++(!
-),'+'@+$+-0!d+;#3/$!3)(+/$!./@$)%,!@&$-+$!*?+!,*$++*,!&A+(+-!)(!*?+!7M+, %+(*#$9C!a/#,,'/(()/(!@$+/Q*?$&#;?,"# &$!
?&#,)(;!+,*/*+,"$0

"#
_/)(*L2)%?+3!/(-!_/)(*LU+$'/)(!@&#3+B/$-,C!2&(;+!/(-!e3/#-+!5+$(/$-!,*$++*,0
"$
:&),,9!/(-!:&(*&),+!,*$++*,C!a+($)L5/$@#,,+!,*$++*,!/(-!:)+$$+L[)%&33+0
m
Urban fabrics in Paris fifth arrondissement. Source: APUR 2001.

30
 'EN@J%;@NEIAC%IJ%:@EIC%DIDHK%@EE,JPICCBGBJH*%PE@WIJM%N\%3,EIB%3@E,AKBR

'EN@J%D@NEIA%@E,OJP%:?@AB%PB%?@ !,JHEBCA@EFB IJ%@%f-- G%E@PIOC%AIEA?BR%(E@WIJM%N\%3,EIB%3@E,AKBR

3
,978M:6097)F0618B=)07<)FB3?=

N?+!A$)B/*+!-&'/)(!),!A/$*)*)&(+-!)(*&!A3&*,0!N?+9!$+,#3*!.$&'!*?+!+DA3&)*/*)&(!&.!*?+!&$);)(/339!/;$)%#3*#$/3!3/(-C!.$&'!
,#@-)B),)&(,C!$+;$&#A)(;C!.$&'!,*$++*!&A+()(;,0!N?+!A3&*!,*$#%*#$+!&.!*?+!.).*?!/$$&(-),,+'+(*!),!B+$9!?+*+$&;+(+&#,!.&$!
*?$++!'/)(!$+/,&(,0

L 53&%Q,!'/-+!&.!/!,)(;3+!A3&*C!)(*+$$#A*)(;!*?+!&$-)(/$9!A3&*,!.$/'+H&$Q<!y _&$@&((+C!Y/3L-+LU$z%+C!\9%w+,!\&#),L!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!3+LU$/(-!/(-!a+($) >YC!S%&3+!:&39*+%?()O#+T!^*$/%+,!&.!*?+!\/*)(!8#/$*+$!%&33+;+,!+(%3&,#$+,T!^W()B+$,)*9!&.!
!!!!!!!!!!!l#,,)+#!E.&$'+$!i)(+!a/33GT!^l/$-)(!-+, :3/(*+,
L [#'+$&#,!B&3#(*/$9!,*$++*,!+/%?!;+(+$/*)(;!*?+)$!3)(+/$!A3&*!3&;)%<!$#+!U/9L\#,,/%C!e3/#-+L5+$(/$-C!2/#@+$*
R/(*+C!2&(;+C!@&#3+B/$-!_/)(*L2/$%+3
L N&A&;$/A?)%!'&B+'+(*,!-),*#$@)(;!*?+!;+&'+*$)%!$+;#3/$)*9!&.!*?+!A3&*,<!2&#..+*/$-!(+);?@&#$?&&-0

:@EIC%DIDHK%@EE,JPICCBGBJH%F?,H%F@HHBEJC%@JP%F?,HCR%(E@WIJM%N\%3,EIB%3@E,AKBR

3
REFERENCES
APUR 2001. Paris et ses quartiers. État des lieux. Éléments pour un diagnostic urbain. 5e arrondissement.

APUR 2017. Atlas de l’espace public parisien. 5e arrondissement.

Austin, G. 2013. ‘Case Study and Sustainability Assessment of Bo01, Malmö, Sweden.’ Journal of Green Building 8 (3):
34–0.
http://www.collegepublishing.us/jgb/samples/JGB_V8N3_a02_Austin.pdf

Bo01, the City of Malmö, and Developers’ Representatives 1999. Quality Programme: Bo01 City of Tomorrow.

Fraker, H. 2013. The Hidden Potential of Sustainable Neighbourhoods. Lessons from Low-Carbon Communities. Island
Press.

Iverot, S. P., & Brandt, N. 2011. ‘The development of a sustainable urban district in Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm,
Sweden’ in Environment, Development and Sustainability, 13(6), 1043–1064.

McCollum, A. n.d. ‘Bo01 City of Tomorrow. Västra Hamnen, Malmö, Sweden.’

http://allanmccollum.net/amcnet/bo01.html

33