Urban planning as a strategy to implement social sustainability policy goals? The case of temporary housing for immigrants in Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract

Planning is one of the envisioned strategies for reaching policy goals of urban social sustainability. However, the practical realization of this vision faces a number of challenges not least due to conflicts of interests and goals that arise in the planning process. There also seems to be a lack of understanding of the relationship between formal planning and social sustainability goals that are often normative and visionary. In order to bridge this knowledge gap, this paper investigates how urban social sustainability can be implemented in urban planning in the context of conflicts of interests and goals. In particular, we explore two questions: (i) whether and how planning procedures are interconnected with local policy goals for social sustainability; (ii) whether and how conflict affects the implementation of these goals through planning. The paper presents a qualitative case study of planning of temporary housing for immigrants in Gothenburg, Sweden, where a conflict of interests developed in conjunction with the planning. The local social sustainability goals are operationalized through the specific sub-goals of accessible and more equal living conditions, distribution of and equal access to housing for all groups in the community, and reduced social and ethnic segregation and discrimination in regard to housing. We identify shortcomings in the integration of local urban social sustainability goals into planning procedures and find that conflicts of interests as well as conflicts of priorities within and between the policy goals complicate their integration into formal planning procedures. More attention needs to be given to improved operationalization of the questions of priority and conflict resolution, both in planning and in urban social sustainability policy, if planning is to be considered a viable strategy for implementation of social sustainability goals.