Situations of Opportunity in the Growth and Change of three Stockholm City Districts

– everyday life, built environment and transport explored as Energy Usage Systems & Governance Networks.

What can change in buildings, transport systems and users’ habits, how great are the potentials, who are the actors? Research indicates that there are “Situations of Opportunity” in city development when the potential for change is large and resistance is low.

In this cross-disciplinary research project, called SitCit for short, we formulate it as a challenge: The energy use of three Stockholm City districts with contrasting properties is to be reduced to a sustainable level – in fifty years from now it should be 2 kW per person on the average.

How can we produce knowledge for change, contributing to urban sustainable development while retaining the complexity of the issue?

One focus is the development of a research strategy based on the concept of Situations of Opportunity. We merge Scenarios and Backcasting from the reserach tradition of Futures' Studies with a Case Study approach. The merge facilitates our using the normative vision of a 2 kW Society and helps us deliberate from prognosis.

How does a fully utilized Situation of Opportunity contribute to the 2060s vision of a 2 kW Society?

The other focus is on findings from the Stockholm districts. We give tentative answers to the introductory question and discuss how much the opportunities of the Situations contribute to urban sustainable development.