Sustainable Cities

Sustainable urban development is a very broad and topical research area at Linköping University. Research here is multidisciplinary and has many different points of departure - technical, economic and sociological. 

Urbanisation is a global phenomenon; more and more people move to cities, which then have an increasing effect on the climate issue as well as the management of common and scarce resources. 

The role of industry in cities is studied, alongside the influence of selected technical systems on human actions. Other important areas of research include mining cities, traffic planning, transport and city logistics, and the role of municipalities in the creation of a sustainable city. Research ranges from studies of cycling, traffic and sustainability in Norrköping and Linköping to the management of resources and sustainable development in the world's mega-cities.

Research

Ethanol production plant.

Industrial and Urban Symbiosis

Research is conducted into how local and regional collaboration that involves private and public organisations, and actors from different sectors, can bring opportunities for more efficient flows of material and energy, and other synergy effects.

Virtual Worlds: digital technologies in climate and biodiversity governance

Virtual Worlds explores the role of digital technologies in managing climate change and biodiversity loss. The program reviews how technology can improve environmental governance and include local knowledge for sustainable development.

Bild på solceller. Picture on suncell

To explore and visualize how cities are transitioning

Contemporary cities needs transition in a more climate-proof, low-carbon and sustainable direction.  This project explores and visualizes how cities’ transitions in the making can be understood and enabled.

News

Photo of PhD-student at her office.

Biogas in Brazil - a resource not being used

Brazil has a significant capacity for biogas production from organic waste that has not yet been realised. Hanna Zanatta has studied several societal aspects that affect the introduction of biogas systems.

Tank station for the fuel HVO.

Difficult to create sustainable transport chains

Both transport companies and trading companies have high ambitions with respect to sustainable transport. But researchers at LiU and Linnaeus University have shown that several challenges remain before the entire transport chain becomes sustainable.

architecture of Valla city in Linköping

Research to aid smart urban energy planning

Researchers at LiU are to develop a platform that allows municipalities and urban areas to obtain support when making decisions about energy. The FlexSUS project lies under the EU Horizon 2020 programme, and is led by Associate Professor Yang Liu.