Slightly more expensive, a little faster but with maintained quality and civic influence. But the most important goal was not reached in BoStad2021, the six-year long project to build more homes in Gothenburg. These are some of the conclusions in Chalmers' follow-up research of the unique venture.
When 7,000 extra homes were to be built within the City of Gothenburg's program BoStad2021, the city planned for an unconventional construction process with a special organization and new working methods to build more homes in a shorter time. In 2015, Chalmers was commissioned to observe and research the initiative. The final report, which is now ready, answers both the question of how successful the venture has been, while at the same time pointing out important lessons to be learned in the future.
– A gathered project organization with a clear mandate is necessary to improve progress and create a holistic view. The city's new organization for urban development seem to take this into account, but creates a risk of a glitch in the process between planning and implementation, says Anders Svensson, Chalmers' project manager for the overall research project.
Of the 7,000 planned homes, only 4,000 were completed by 2021, but the goal will be achieved in 2023. The fact that the goal was not reached within the time frame has several reasons, including that the conditions for many of the projects were more difficult than assumed. But just as important as the number of homes is the quality of what is being built, says Anders Svensson.
Comparisons show that the quality of the projects within BoStad2021 was not worse than in compared projects in the ordinary production - but that it is a long way to go to the mixed-use city that the municipality and developers present as the ideal.
– The quality did not deteriorate because the detailed planning phase went faster. But we can see that the gap between the ambition of a mixed-use city and the built reality is annoyingly large in the projects within the BoStad2021 program as well as outside. An important lesson for both the municipality and the developers should be to avoid plots that have neither the conditions to achieve housing quality nor a mixed-use city, says Anders Svensson.
Reports (available in Swedish):
Participating researchers:
Joanna Gregorowicz-Kipszak, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Mathias Petter Gustafsson, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Anders Hagson, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Anders Svensson, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering