In the summer of 2022, Helsingborg invites the world to be a part of their H22 City Expo and ‘Urban Future’ will kick off the Expo on June 1 to 3, 2022.
The mid-sized Swedish city of Helsingborg is one of the most innovative and fastest transforming in Europe. A radical reorganisation of their internal structure has enabled them to race forward with innovation and sustainability at full speed. Urban Future is proud to kick off Helsingborg’s H22 City Expo, where the city will showcase its work so far and open up the city as a testbed and platform for collective global action.
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Preparing for the summer of 2022
“We want Helsingborg and the H22 City Expo to be the obvious international meeting place, where actors who work to make cities more sustainable meet and exchange experiences to accelerate this work globally. Therefore, we are incredibly happy that Urban Future sees Helsingborg and H22 City Expo as the natural arena for all ‘CityChangers’ in the summer of 2022”, says Lars Thunberg, Deputy Mayor, City of Helsingborg.
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Helsingborg: Co-creating a city that puts people and planet first
Gerald Babel-Sutter, CEO and Co-founder of Urban Future: “By sheer citizen numbers, Helsingborg will be our smallest ever host city. But at the same time, it will be one of the most innovative! Rarely do you find cities that are able to transform themselves so fast and so radically as is the case with Helsingborg. That’s why we’re so excited to bring the CityChangers community here, as the message for the world is clear: you don’t need to be a big city to drive change successfully! Everywhere in Helsingborg, you can see and feel the passion for driving change and innovation – so what better place could there be to meet and inspire open minds?”
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Urban Future Helsingborg 22 anticipates the participation of international decision-makers, influencers, and change agents who all work tirelessly to make cities more sustainable the world over.
In recent years, the municipality of Helsingborg has completely changed its mindset and way of collaborating with citizens, businesses, innovators, academia and other stakeholders in order to make change happen. Through the massive H22 initiative, Helsingborg is working with like-minded partners near and far.
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Urban Future is building digital bridges
The recent months have proven that digital alternatives cannot replace the energy in a room full of game-changers, the moment when you randomely meet a speaker you’re admiring over a cup of coffee, or when you’re cycling the city’s newest bike lanes with a group of cycling enthusiasts! Urban decision-makers especially need to see, feel, and get inspired by other urban places and neighbourhoods – li ve on-site.
But, in addition to the annual live event, building digital bridges will be a fantastic way to support urbanists from near and far over the upcoming months, where physical meetings are still challenging to organise while the pandemic rages on. Currently, there is a virtual event in the making that will be held by the end of September 2021. This virtual event will premiere a digital home base for the global community of around 50,000 CityChangers. The digital home base will provide the collective know-how and expertise of hundreds of experts – 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, free of charge. Users will also be able to generate and contribute their own content and connect with like-minded change-makers from hundreds of cities.
About ‘Urban Future’
Urban Future is the world’s largest meeting place for CityChangers, people who strive to make their cities more sustainable with passion and commitment. They implement tangible projects, thus vastly improving life in their city. Urban Future brings together our brightest minds, presenting itself as a neutral platform without any political agenda. The conference was co-founded in 2014 by Gerald Babel-Sutter and has taken place in a different European city every year. Since 2014, visitor numbers have tripled. The 2020 edition in Lisbon had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. 2021 will see the first fully-virtual event and will launch a new digital home base for CityChangers around the world.
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For more informatuon about Urban Future Helsingborg 22 click here.
Text Credits: Urban Future, UFGC
Due to covid-19, the website of the daily Swedish newspaper “Dagens Nyheter” is now for free until 1st of June. The site provides an interactive map service that shows the spread of the virus over time. The map looks unbalanced in a way that reminds me of a puzzle. If you change the cursor, you will see a red color which over time grows increasingly larger, spreading all over the image showing the Swedish landscape. It is also possible for the color to highlight the situation in the Scandinavian neighboring countries of Norway, Denmark and Finland. But these do not seem to be as affected by this reddish mess as Sweden. What is going on?
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Since mid-March, the overall consensus has been to shut down most of Europe’s societies. This trend is also visible on a global level and it may not be questionable since, after all, a pandemic ravages the world. In several countries such as France, the United Kingdom and Italy, war-like attitudes towards enemy preparedness have been evident in this crisis situation. For example, few could have missed French president Macron’s fiery speech about the importance of fighting this insidious enemy together, of standing united against this threat, which in turn has forced all the French into a spring-long quarantine.
What is it that makes Sweden not react in the same way? Here, the restrictions are much milder with open elementary schools and restaurants, with the only real prohibition not to exceed 50 people in places and public gatherings. The Public Health Authority encourages everyone to take their own personal responsibility in the crisis, with the addition of calling for social distancing, as not to forget to wash your hands frequently. We are also urged not to engage in any unnecessary travel and above all not to visit older relatives. Public transport shows signs with information about keeping a distance and calls on you to not beon that bus or train unless you have a socially important function.
How do people respond to the word ‘recommendation’ in the midst of a global crisis?
In response to this and to the contrasting clarity of foreign authorities in dealing with the situation, the Swedish norms seem to be tightening ever harder and also stifling the Swedes’ trust in the authorities. And rightly so, because how do people respond to the word recommendation in the midst of a global crisis? Rules may give a sense of how political power is wielded, but it can also generate security, respect and a confidence in strong leadership, qualities much needed in a situation like this.
In Sweden, the lack of distinct rules seems to have led to a general distrust in the Swedish authorities, and foremost the Public health authority. If the restrictions here are milder than in the rest of the world, this may add to the argument that the outgoing information on the situation ought to be well thought out. Last week, to inform about the spread of the infection in Stockholm, the public health authority communicated that with each confirmed case of covid-19, there are a 1000 of undetected cases. That would mean 6 million are carrying the infection in Stockholm alone. Clearly, this inaccurate claim was later withdrawn, but with the damage already made – removing further confidence in the public health authority.
Stockholm – the riskiest place to be in at the moment
The media is also not late to take advantage of the authorities’ actions in this situation, and when a strong fear is aroused, people demand and consume information like never before. Flyers with big headlines flicker by about the “New Corona virus” that spreads like wildfire across the world, causing death by suffocation to both young and old. I work in Stockholm myself – the riskiest place to be in at the moment according to the news and I get there by public transport on a daily basis. By the end of March, streets and squares around the Central Station were deserted and the atmosphere haunting, as if the places had been left behind. This persisted for some weeks.
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Playing Russian roulette
But over time people get bored. And above all, you do as others do. As the spring sun peeks out after a half-year-long darkness, it becomes irresistible for most Swedes not neglect their self-elected home quarantine. In a trance-like state, they eel out, dismissing the infection as now having hit a plateau, probably even reached its peak. Covid-19 may well take a break, so you can enjoy an ice cream in the sun. However, this seemingly innocent denial is actually more like playing Russian roulette. But it’s easy to seduce yourself now that the whole situation, similar to a bad horror movie, finally feels too bizarre. You just want to press the pause button and experience a better atmosphere, like hanging out with friends at the nearest cafe. And when there’s no clear prohibition…
Division of the community?
Anger, mostly in the form of passive aggression seems to be the prevalent reaction to this behavior. As the mass consciousness of Sweden is very aware of being politically correct, when someone does not conform and break against “the rules” which, not to forget, are actually recommendations, they really get the evil eye upon them, not only from their own social network, but from anyone with access to social media. You speak ill of those who defy the new-established norm and many friendships are put to the test. It can also be argued to be a question of class – that the real victims in the Swedish situation are the low-paid workers who don’t have the choice of working from home in a fancy summerhouse. Could it be that when the superiors do not give strict prohibitions, we set them up between each other, just to channel the tension? If the large mass is not curbed by the authorities, it is indeed the individual who is called upon to take his or her own responsibility, whose personality is being brutally exposed and thus put to the test, in the end even causing a division of the community?
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On the right track to recover in an unusually elegant way
In the country acclaiming the virtue of the concepts “just enough” and “common sense”, Sweden’s response can well be seen as rather paradoxical. As stated, compared to most other countries, Sweden has adopted a high-risk model for crisis management in a pandemic with an unknown virus. However, this response might not be so weird after all. In global statistical terms, Sweden is at the top regarding how much money is invested in research and science, as well as the proportion of researchers in relation to population. Sweden is also an extremely secular country – according to the World Values Survey, Sweden is in fact the country in the world that is most unique in terms of secular/ rational values and self-expression. In other words, it may not be a totally unfitting conclusion to argue that the idea of God is pretty much past its prime in this country, in favor of science and hipster culture. Although no one currently can predict the full consequences of this pandemic, it can be seen as refreshing that not all countries follow the same line. One can only hope Sweden is on the right track to recover in an unusually elegant way. What is easier to forecast, however, is how the epidemic suites can leave behind a bitter taste of dissociated community among the people. Not to mention the economic repercussions, although here Sweden cannot be seen as a distinct species.
Experiment of social conditioning
I would assume that when everyone in an entire nation such as France and Germany is forced to self-quarantine, it becomes a little easier for the mass to deal with, since someone, i.e. the state has had the final word. Opposed to this is the Swedish approach of letting everyone handle it themselves – which is a much riskier and at the same time very trusting way of dealing with this phenomenon. Still, for the sake of keeping trust in the authorities and to avoid societal fragmentation, an unknown massive threat may be better addressed by distinct rules rather than guidelines. Before all pieces of this puzzle are laid out, the Swedes might be pushed to the limit in an experiment of social conditioning.
The exhibition Nordic Urban Spaces at the Nordic Embassies Berlin shows Nordic architecture and urban planning. The exhibition is open until 28 September.
Like good Scandinavian design, the urban design projects of the “Nordic Urban Spaces” exhibition in Berlin stand out for their restrained, striking forms and pragmatic approaches. They are not functional buildings. Their planners have accepted the challenge of creating added value beyond pure utility, be it in terms of design, function, ecology, energy or participation. A simple example of this is the “Cykelslangen”, a 230 meter long and four meter wide bicycle ramp that opened in 2014. The slender, steel bridge winds its way through Copenhagen harbour. The construction of the Copenhagen office Dissing+Weitling architecture enables cyclists to quickly cross the Fisketorvet shopping centre area without coming into conflict with pedestrians.
In addition to the experience of having the ramp completely to oneself, it offers cyclists a spectacular view over the harbour. It lies between the modern building facades and above the water surface as an iconic design element.
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Best-Practice
Videos projected onto a wall convey the contents of the project much more impressively than the sparsely described photos, plans and diagrams on blackboards. Thanks to headphones, they allow us to immerse ourselves in the image videos, some of which are very atmospheric and well explained. Too bad, more of this would have benefited the exhibition in order to grasp the essence of the plans more quickly. As a current collection of Scandinavian best-practice examples, the project show is definitely worth a visit.
In cooperation with the Institute for Urban and Regional Planning of the TU Berlin, the Nordic Embassies in Berlin are showing 41 projects of different scales until 28 September: urban planning, parks and riverside promenades, bridges, public buildings, housing construction and underground stations are among them. But there are also examples of participation and ecological initiatives for adults and children. What they have in common is that most of the concepts in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland have already been implemented or are still to be implemented.
Important Facts:
Where: Nordic Embassies, Rauchstraße 1, 10787 Berlin, Germany
When: 6 June to 28 September 2018, Monday to Friday 10-19.00 h, Saturday and Sunday 11-16.00 h
