Sustainable urban and regional planning is one of today's biggest challenges, especially in view of the urbanization that is taking place around the world. Many cities and regions face major challenges when it comes to infrastructure projects. We have the possibility to integrate sustainability (environmental, social and economic) into the planning processes of urban infrastructure projects. But it isn’t happening, yet. Most planning practices lack both the strategies and the instruments to assess, adapt to and shape the social and environmental consequences of ongoing, rapid, technological change. This is particularly true for the energy and transport sectors. We must facilitate sustainable and socially inclusive innovations in these sectors, paying close attention to their impacts both on land use and strategic planning. These are some of the issues central to my research.
I have several ongoing projects. My ongoing project "The role of spatial planning in promoting sustainable energy transition in the transport sector" studies how municipal and regional actors handle strategic transport planning. The project is conducted in collaboration with municipal and regional actors and aims to evaluate and develop instruments and strategies that enable planners to take a more active role in creating a sustainable energy transition in the transport and mobility sector. The project " Governance, planning and implementation of urban micromobility in Swedish municipalities: towards a transport-efficient society (SPIM)" studies the planning of micromobility solutions such as walking, (electric) bicycles and electric scooters. The proposed project asks what is required from urban planning to meet the future needs of urban micromobility planning. The aim is to design new approaches and strategies, through collaboration with urban planners in different municipalities, to steer the development of cities towards more energy efficient transport solutions. In the project "Planners as Agents for the transition towards sustainable cities (PLANTS), we study transformative planning and contribute and integrate new knowledge into urban and regional planning programs in Sweden. The project includes five programs at three universities in Sweden: Linköping University, Stockholm University and Blekinge Institute of Technology.
