To better handle Stockholm’s growth, the city has underpinned its development strategy on active mobility and public transport and efficient use of space, understanding mobility as the cornerstone of sustainable growth.

Stockholm believes that making the city denser and more connected is indispensable to creating a thriving city that can grow equitably and sustainably in the face of challenges from globalization and climate change. With its new city-wide plan, Walkable City, Stockholm is promoting walking, cycling, and public transport over driving, as well as efficient use of space. To deliver on this vision, the city’s has extended its bicycle network by 7,000 m in 2015 and utilized measures like a congestion tax, which fines car use in the city center, to invest in walking, cycling, and public transport infrastructure. The mobility plan is crucial in helping Stockholm reach its goal of eliminating CO2 emissions attributable to transport by 2030.

20% decrease in traffic around the inner city since initiating Walkable City

Cities100 2016

Ensuring that sustainable growth occurs not only in the city center but also in peripheral communities, Walkable City Stockholm is investing in key strategic transit nodes to connect the entire city. In doing so, the city will not only boost its climate resilience and lower CO2 emissions but also reduce social disparities between neighborhoods by improving access to the city’s services and unlocking economic opportunities for all.

The challenge

Stockholm is one of Europe’s fastest-growing cities. The sustainability of its future growth and development depends on planning policies enacted today. In this context, the city is embracing a holistic development plan with a focus on connectivity, active mobility, and public transport to ensure equitable growth and climate resilience.

Co-benefits

Economic Increased connectivity to areas outside the city center will make these areas more attractive for investment.

Environmental The Walkable City plan will drive Stockholm’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Health The city is investing $122 million through 2018 to promote the use of bicycles, which will boost active mobility and reduce the incidence of illnesses related to sedentary lifestyles.

Social As part of Walkable City, Stockholm has created a special commission to investigate how the city can reduce unequal living conditions in order to increase the well-being of all inhabitants.

About Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous city in the Nordic countries and the city stretches across fourteen islands. Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. It is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. One of the city’s most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is well known for its decoration of the stations; it has been called the longest art gallery in the world.

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