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Evaluation of Sustainable
Urban District Developments
The case of Stockholm Royal Seaport
LOUISE HOLMSTEDT
Doctoral Thesis in Industrial Ecology, 2018
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
School of Architecture and the Built Environment
Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering
SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
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TRITA-ABE-DLT-1838
ISBN: 978-91-7873-036-0
Printed by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm, Sweden 2018
Akademisk avhandling som med tillstånd av KTH i Stockholm framlägges till offentlig granskning för
avläggande av teknisk doktorsexamen i Industriell ekologi fredagen den 14 december kl. 9:15 i
Kollegiesalen, KTH, Brinellvägen 8, Stockholm.
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”Man får inte va dum, då blir man militär”
(Frank Årman, 1953 – 1991)
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Abstract
Urban sustainable development is now seen as one of the keys in the quest for a
sustainable world and increased interest in developing sustainable urban districts
has become an important feature of urban sustainability. However, if cities and
their districts are to be part of this transition, it will be necessary to determine the
state and progress of urban developments. Evaluation and follow-up activities must
therefore be an integral part of modern sustainability work.
This thesis investigated evaluation methods and strategies for determining
progress towards sustainable urban district development. The Stockholm Royal
Seaport district in Sweden was used as the research arena in studies based on
urban metabolism theories, including a single case study approach, focus group
interviews, the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development and quantitative
data analysis. The thesis main results can be summarised as follows.
A structured frame for use in theory and practice can strengthen programme
development and minimise the risk of built-in problems in environmental and
sustainability plans for new urban districts. The proposed evaluation model for
Stockholm Royal Seaport displayed strengths regarding core evaluation activities,
such as communicating a strong vision and recognising continuity in the evaluation
process. It displayed weaknesses as regards organisational structure and system
boundaries.
The proof-of-concept implementation of a Smart Urban Metabolism
framework enabled real-time evaluation data on district scale to be generated and
processed. The implementation process also led to identification of limitations in
the framework, such as access to business sensitive data, failed integration of data
streams and privacy concerns. Dynamic, high-resolution meter data can provide a
higher degree of transparency in evaluation results and permit inclusion of all
stakeholder groups in urban districts. The frequently used energy performance
indicator kWh/m2 (Atemp) was shown to be an insufficient communication tool to
mediate knowledge, due to conflation of consumption and construction parameters
and the need for prior knowledge for full understanding.
Keywords: Evaluation, Follow-up, Sustainable urban development, Sustainable
districts
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Sammanfattning
Hållbar stadsutveckling betraktas idag som en av nycklarna i strävan efter en
hållbar framtid och det ökande intresset för att utveckla hållbara stadsdelar har
blivit ett viktigt inslag i urban hållbarhet. Om städer och dess stadsdelar ska ingå i
hållbarhetsövergången måste det emellertid bli möjligt att fastställa tillståndet i
dem. Utvärdering och uppföljning måste därför bli en integrerad del av modernt
hållbarhetsarbete.
Denna avhandling undersökte därför utvärderingsmetoder och strategier för
att bekräfta framsteg mot hållbar stadsdelsutveckling. Stadsdelen Norra
Djurgårdstaden i Stockholm, Sverige har använts som forskningsarena och genom
resultat baserade i teorier från urban metabolism, inkluderande en enskild
fallstudie, fokusgruppsintervjuer, ramverket för strategisk hållbar utveckling och
kvantitativ dataanalys kan avhandlingens huvudsakliga resultat sammanfattas
enligt följande.
Ett ramverk som kan användas både i teorin och praktiken kan förbättra
kvalitén vid programutveckling och minimera risken för inbyggda problem i miljö-
och hållbarhetsplaner för nya stadsdelar. Den föreslagna uppföljningsmodellen för
Norra Djurgårdsstaden visar styrkor kring grundläggande uppföljning så som
kommunikation av en stark vision och att uppföljningsprocessen bör vara
kontinuerlig. Modellen är svagare i områden gällande organisation kring
uppföljningen och systemgränser.
Konceptimplementeringen av ett ramverk för smart urban metabolism
resulterade i möjligheten att generera och hantera realtidsdata på stadsdelsnivå.
Implementeringen ledde också till identifiering av begränsningar i ramverket,
exempelvis gällande tillgång till företagskänslig information, integrering av
dataflöden och integritetshänsyn. Dynamiska och högupplöst mätdata kan öka
transperensen i utvärderingsresultat samt möjliggöra att alla intressegrupper i en
stadsdel kan få tillgång till information. Den ofta använda energiindikatorn
kWh/m2(Atemp) visades vara ett otillräckligt kommunikationsverktyg på grund av
att den blandar konstruktions- och konsumtionsparametrar samt att den i viss mån
kräver förkunskaper för fullständig förståelse
Nyckelord: Utvärdering, Uppföljning, Hållbar stadsutveckling, Hållbara stadsdelar
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Acknowledgments
I have not been alone on the journey towards this dissertation and I would like to
take the opportunity to express my appreciation to my fellow travellers. First of all,
over the course of this work I have encountered countless of inspiring, interesting
and wonderful people who supported me in one way or another. Unfortunately it is
impossible to acknowledge you all, but I truly hope that you feel my appreciation
even if your name is not mentioned below.
My deepest gratitude goes to my co-supervisor Nils Brandt. Thank you for
introducing me to the research world and to the field of sustainable urban
development, teaching me to navigate complex research subjects and projects and
for always having faith in me. Without you this thesis had not become reality. I also
would like to express my appreciation to my main supervisor Maria Malmström.
Thank you for lending me your sharp eyes, great mind for details and for always
encourage me to push one step further to improve the quality of my work.
Additionally I would like to extend my gratefulness to my second co-supervisor
Karl-Henrik Robèrt. Thank you for sharing your deep knowledge in strategic
sustainable development, your outstanding ability to find ways forward and your
infectious enthusiasm.
Dear colleagues, both old and new, at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Thank
you for creating an inspiring, friendly and fun work environment! Hossein
Shahrokni, Anders Nilsson, Sophie Pandis Iveroth, Stefan Johansson, Kristin
Fahlberg, Marie Appelgren and Pia Stoll: thank you for being the best possible
companions in our joint journey towards understanding urban sustainability. Olga
Kordas, Oleksii Pasichnyi, Kateryna Pereverza, Olena Tatarchenko, Aram
Mäkivierikko and David Lazarevic: thank you for the always inspiring and
interesting conversations on urban transitions. Fredrik Gröndahl, Per Olof Persson,
Björn Frostell, Monika Olsson, Larsgöran Strandberg, Daniel Franzén, Karin Orve,
Kosta Wallin, Emma Risén, Isabelle Dubois, Rajib Sinha, Rafael Laurenti, Jagdeep
Singh, Mauricio Sodré Ribeiro, Hongling Liu, Jean-Baptiste Thomas, Guanghong
Zhou and Joseph Pechsiri: thank you for all of your encouragement and support,
and for making the former Industrial Ecology department such a great place.
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Friends and family, thank you all for your curiosity in my research, for always
patiently hearing me out and for providing much appreciated reality checks when a
geeky mind wanders off. Finally, Richard, my darling husband! Thank you for
being my number one cheerleader, for always standing by my side with
encouragement and support and for putting up with me over the past few years.
You are the theme song of my life!
Stockholm, June 2018
Louise Holmstedt
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List of Appended Papers
This thesis is based on Papers I-IV.
Paper I: Holmstedt, L., Brandt, N. & Robèrt K.-H. (2017). Can Stockholm
Royal Seaport be part of the puzzle towards global sustainability? –
From local to global sustainability using the same set of criteria.
Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, Part 1, pp. 72-80
My contribution to this paper was data collection and analysis, writing the paper,
and publishing.
Paper II: Holmstedt, L., Shahrokni, H. & Brandt, N. (2018). How to evaluate
and follow-up sustainable urban districts developments? Submitted
My contribution to this paper was data collection, data analysis and writing the
paper.
Paper III: Shahrokni, H., Årman, L., Lazarevic, D., Nilsson, A. & Brandt, N.
(2015). Implementing Smart Urban Metabolism in the Stockholm
Royal Seaport: Smart City SRS. Journal of Industrial Ecology 19(5),
pp. 917-929.
My contribution to this paper was initial idea development and analysis, and
critically reviewing the paper before submission.
After this article was published, I changed my surname from Årman to Holmstedt.
Paper IV: Holmstedt, L., Nilsson A., Mäkivierikko, A. & Brandt, N. (2018).
Stockholm Royal Seaport moving towards the goals - potential and
limitations of dynamic and high resolution evaluation data. Energy &
Buildings 169, 15 June 2018, pp. 388-396.
My contribution to this paper was part of idea development and analysis, writing
the paper, and publishing.
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Contents
1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Aim & Objectives of the Thesis ..................................................................................... 3
1.2 Scope & Limitations ...................................................................................................... 5
2 Background & Review of Research Area ........................................................................... 7
2.1 Sustainable Development, its Advancement & Spread ................................................. 7
2.2 Sustainable Urban Development .................................................................................. 9
2.3 Why the District Scale? ................................................................................................ 11
2.4 Industrial Ecology & Sustainable Urban Development .............................................. 13
2.5 Evaluation ..................................................................................................................... 15
2.5.1 Evaluating Sustainability .................................................................................. 17
2.5.2 Evaluating the Built Environment.................................................................... 19
2.6 ICT Aiding Evaluation Data Collection ...................................................................... 20
2.7 Stockholm’s Approach to Sustainable Urban District Development ......................... 21
2.7.1 Stockholm Royal Seaport, Stockholm’s Second Large Scale Sustainable Urban
District Development ...................................................................................................... 23
3 Methods ........................................................................................................................... 29
3.1 Qualitative Approaches ............................................................................................... 32
3.1.1 Single Case Study ................................................................................................. 32
3.1.2 The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development ................................ 33
3.1.3 Interviews & Workshops .................................................................................. 35
3.2 Quantitative Approaches ............................................................................................ 38
3.2.1 ICT & Real-Time Evaluation Data in Stockholm Royal Seaport .................... 39
4 Results & Discussion ........................................................................................................ 41
4.1 Determination of Sustainability Targets Facilitated by a Structured Frame ............. 41
4.2 Key Evaluation Processes to Determine Progress towards Sustainability ................ 43
4.3 Implementation of an ICT-enabled Framework Managing Evaluation Data ........... 48
4.4 Potential & Limitations of Dynamic, High-resolution Meter Data ........................... 50
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4.5 Methods Discussion ..................................................................................................... 54
5 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 57
6 Future Research & Author’s Reflections ........................................................................ 61
References ............................................................................................................................... 63
1. INTRODUCTION
1
1 Introduction
The world is faced with the massive challenge of breaking the unsustainable spiral
of modern living. To begin the transition towards a world in balance with the
Earth’s limitations, better and smarter use of its finite resources must become a
reality (e.g. Rockström, 2010; Steffen et al., 2015). To date, more than half of the
world’s population lives within an urban setting and this trend is expected to
continue (United Nations, 2018). In addition, the population of the world is
growing, creating even greater pressure on limited resources (UNFPA, 2014). With
the continuing urbanisation trend, the world’s cities have therefore become a focal
point for modern sustainability work (Williams, 2010; United Nations, 2015a).
Cities have for long been centres of economic growth and innovation, but are also
the geographical centre of major resource and energy use, waste generation, land
degradation, carbon emissions etc. (Metzger & Rader Olsson, 2013). However,
thanks to their configuration, they also hold potential to function as one of the keys
in the required transition towards sustainability (e.g. Rees & Wackernagel, 1996;
Niza et al., 2009).
As cities represent both part of the problem and the solution in the quest for
sustainability, they hold good potential for improvement (Grimm et al., 2008).
Governments, academia and numerous other stakeholders have therefore devoted
much attention to sustainable urban development trying to incorporate the ideas of
sustainability into the reality of cities. Lately, the creation of sustainable urban
districts has attracted strong interest and has also become and expansion route for
many growing cities (e.g. Fränne, 2006; Medearis & Daseking, 2012; City of
Malmö, 2013). Furthermore, the development of new sustainable urban districts is
often subject to more rigorous sustainability objectives, intended to better meet
future sustainability challenges (Pandis Iverot & Brandt, 2011; World Smart City,
2017).
However, with increasing time, effort and resources being devoted to sustainable
urban development and sustainable urban district development, assessment of
results and progress become vital. Without, it becomes impossible to ensure that
investments are used and directed in the best possible manner, to confirm that
1. INTRODUCTION
2
urban developments are heading in the desired direction and to avoid future
mistakes and lock-ins (Robèrt et al., 2010; Davidson & Venning, 2011; Sharifi,
2013). Evaluation of the built environment has largely been a matter of assessing
construction features and building performance parameters (Leaman et al., 2010).
However, accounting for sustainable urban development will require incorporation
of considerable additional aspects and parameters (Brandon & Lombardi, 2005).
Understanding and determining the mode of the built environment can thereby
become increasingly complex to encapsulate and manage.
With respect to evaluation, the intermediate district1 scale also poses an
opportunity to better understand and develop the processes and mechanisms
needed in the evaluation process. Many of the components constituting the built
part of modern societies are relatively well studied and understood as single units
(Sharifi, 2013). However, the systems and the interconnections between the
individual units when assembled are less explored and developed. Incorporation of
a systems perspective, i.e. viewing cities and their district not as single building
blocks but rather as a whole, will be necessary in order to fully understand their
potential. As city districts to a great degree comprise similar functions and
structures to full-scale cities, they can function as small-scale models in the work of
developing evaluation routes and processes for evaluating urban sustainability.
Practitioners and researchers have increasingly started to acknowledge that the
district scale is a good arena for deepening the knowledge base on urban
sustainability (Sharifi & Murayama, 2013). Therefore, some progress regarding
how to evaluate the outcome has also been made. Several of the better-recognised
and standardised third-party evaluation programmes are now including the district
scale in their concepts (e.g. BRE, 2011; USGBC, 2013; IBEC, 2014). This is an
advance and one example of a step towards a more systematic approach for
evaluating sustainable urban districts, as it includes encapsulation of processes,
themes and aspects to be considered (Sharifi & Murayama, 2013).
Other advances in sustainable urban district evaluation are evident in the growing
number of district developments with the stated ambition of being sustainable (e.g.
Joss, 2010; Kwang, 2016). This ambition often leads to the formulation of
sustainability goals and visions for the development that in turn results in a
stronger incentive to evaluate the outcomes. In addition, many of these new
1 The notation ‘district’ is used interchangeably with ‘neighbourhood’ or ‘community’ in the literature.
1. INTRODUCTION
3
developments attract more attention than conventional developments and/or are
marketed more strongly, creating pressure to demonstrate progress (Covenant of
Mayors, 2013; Sustainable Cities Platform, 2017). Both higher ambitions and
pressures have resulted in evaluation activities have moved up on the agenda to an
increasing extent (Shen et al., 2011; Hiremath et al., 2013; Braulio-Gonzalo et al.,
2015).
While progress has been made in the area of evaluating and monitoring the built
environment and its development towards sustainability, many challenges still
remain. One fundamental challenge lies in the sustainability concept itself. While
the well-recognised Brundtland definition have been in use since the 1980s stating
that sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
(World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p. 31) sustainable
development continuous to be a somewhat value-based subject with a multitude of
interpretations in use (e.g. Lélé, 1991; Robert et al., 2005; Ramsey, 2015),
complicating evaluation of the subject. Related to determine what sustainability
entails in the built environment is also how to select which parameters to follow
within the system. The challenge constitutes of how to select, narrow down and
design a process without distort the evaluation results and/or mistakenly exclude
vital parameters. Examples of other remaining challenges include collection of
evaluation information, its use and presentation.
1.1 Aim & Objectives of the Thesis
Securing trustworthy, valid and correct information on sustainability initiatives in
the built environment is necessary in order to support, guide and, in particular,
determine progress towards a sustainable future (Lombardi, 1999; Brandon et al.,
2017). However, taking on the task of evaluating the systems making up modern
cities and their districts is a challenge comprising multiple dimensions (Brandon &
Lombardi, 2005). The challenge is partly to secure the evaluation process itself, i.e.
create a functioning, inclusive and transparent process managing all parts of the
system under evaluation. Another challenge is to secure and collect the necessary
information from the system in a usable format and in a manageable way (Brandon
& Lombardi, 2005; Saiu, 2017). The research in this thesis has therefore been
carried out from two perspectives: considering the evaluation process, what it
should entail and what is needed to secure the process, and the processes of
collecting evaluation information, managing it and presenting it to end-users.
1. INTRODUCTION
4
The work presented in this thesis builds upon findings relating to development of
an evaluation process for Stockholm Royal Seaport2, an urban district under
construction in Stockholm, Sweden. As a response to a growing population, the
Stockholm City Council decided to start the work on transforming a former
industrial and harbour area into a new mixed-used urban district in 2008
(Stockholm City Council, 2008). In the planning process, it was also decided that
the area should have high sustainability and environmental ambitions. An
environmental and sustainability programme was therefore formulated, and will
act as the backbone for the development (City of Stockholm, 2010). The ambitions
set in the environmental and sustainability programme for Stockholm Royal
Seaport are high, raising questions about how goal fulfilment can be confirmed for
the district. Evaluation and follow-up ideas are listed in the environmental and
sustainability programme, including presentation of an evaluation model for
continuous follow-up of the district. The ambition is also for evaluation to be
performed in all development phases, from planning to operation, and to be
inclusive to all stakeholders within the district (City of Stockholm, 2010, pp. 46-
49).
The main aim of this thesis was thus to investigate and develop evaluation methods
for determining progress towards sustainable urban district development, and their
implications, using Stockholm Royal Seaport as the test arena.
Specific objectives of the work were to:
1. Test whether a structured frame can facilitate the process of determining
sustainability targets in urban district developments, while also
accounting for a holistic approach to sustainability (Paper I).
2. Describe key evaluation processes needed to determine progress towards
sustainability at the urban district scale and determine whether the
proposed evaluation and follow-up model for Stockholm Royal Seaport
can manage the evaluation process for the district (Paper II).
2 For full details of the Stockholm Royal Seaport development and the evaluation model, see Section 2.7.1
1. INTRODUCTION
5
3. Describe and analyse the implementation of an ICT-enabled framework
for real-time management of sustainability evaluation data at the district
scale (Paper III).
4. Analyse the potential and limitations of using dynamic, high-resolution
meter data for evaluation of energy consumption in buildings and
households (Paper IV).
1.2 Scope & Limitations
Investigating routes to determine progress towards sustainability in the built
environment at the district scale was the main scope of this thesis. However, the
main focus was on the environmental aspects of sustainability, for two main
reasons. After an initial analysis of the Stockholm Royal Seaport environmental
and sustainability programme it became clear that its main focus is on
environmental aspects (Årman et al., 2012a; Årman et al., 2012b). Both the social
and economic aspects of sustainability are to some extent integrated, the social
more than the economic, but environmental sustainability dominates (City of
Stockholm, 2010). Consequently, since much of the research in this thesis revolved
around the implications and implementation of Stockholm Royal Seaport’s
environmental and sustainability programme and the processes for evaluating the
district’s performance in accordance, the programme posed a limitation and the
natural focus became on environmental sustainability. Additionally when this
research started, the Stockholm Royal Seaport district was just in its cradle of
construction. Planning and ground sanitation work had started, but the district was
not built or inhabited. Therefore, information and especially evaluation
information from the district was from the beginning limited and fragmented.
However, preparations for the evaluation process had been initiated, e.g. follow-up
of building standard plans from the contractors. This led to an initial focus on
environmental performance as the active stakeholders at the time mainly worked
within this sphere. Limiting the scope to environmental sustainability was
consequently a matter of information and data accessibility.
The Stockholm Royal Seaport district was used as the arena for the research
presented in this thesis. Consequently, some of the results may be limited by
context-specificity and the preconditions set out for the district. Such preconditions
include e.g. a Stockholm setting, i.e. implementation of the district was planned
within the deciding organisational structure of the City of Stockholm. Other
considerations are the geographical and ecological preconditions of the area, e.g.
1. INTRODUCTION
6
Nordic climate zone, key ecological species etc., which may not necessary directly
translate to other areas.
Additionally, for clarification, the term ‘built environment’ refers to man-made
structures providing a setting for human activity. Thus the built environment in
this case ranges from individual buildings to the full district scale, including
supporting infrastructure and the spaces in between. The term ‘built environment’
is also used interchangeably with the term ‘urban developments’.
2. BACKGROUND & REVIEW OF RESEARCH AREA
7
2 Background & Review of Research Area
As previously mentioned, accounting for sustainability in the systems making up
modern cities is a complex task to manage, as it comprises multiple dimensions.
Consequently, the work in this thesis intersected a number of different subject
areas. In particular, since the work was carried out from the dual perspectives of
the evaluation process and securing and collecting evaluation data, broader
consideration of surrounding topics was important. This chapter provides a brief
overview of the most important background components.
2.1 Sustainable Development, its Advancement & Spread
The industrialisation of the world significantly impacted human history and
marked a new era that forever shifted the interplay between humans and their
environment (Vitousek et al., 1997). While technology and inventions significantly
increased production capacity, and dramatically changed human life and lifestyles,
the aftermath and the continuing impacts on the Earth’s ecosystems are now one of
the greatest global challenges (e.g. Rockström et al., 2009; Reid et al., 2010;
Rockström, 2010). For almost a century, industrialisation was principally seen as
positive, as its effects improved prosperity for mankind in many important areas
such as food production, medicine, housing, prolonged life etc., ultimately leading
to a better way of life. However, in the 1960s concerns began to be raised regarding
degradation of environments (Carson, 1962; Wolman, 1965). Later, in a special
issue of the Ecologist entitled ‘A Blueprint for Survival’, Goldsmith and colleagues
formulated the need for change and stated that: “the principal defect of the
industrial way of life with its ethos of expansion is that it is not sustainable”
(Goldsmith et al., 1972, p. 15). In the same year, the world’s first Environmental
Summit was held in Stockholm, on the topic of Human Environment. It gathered
representatives from the member states of the United Nations, who for the first
time discussed international environmental issues (United Nations, 1972).
However, sustainable development truly entered the common language of the
world in the late 1980s, with the publication of the Brundtland report (Du Pisani,
2006). This renowned report presented an approach for achieving a desired future,
2. BACKGROUND & REVIEW OF RESEARCH AREA
8
acknowledging the need for development enabling the human population to co-
exist with its environment and for safeguarding the world’s ecosystems, but also the
need for action for social and economic prosperity for the whole of the Earth’s
population (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). The
Brundtland report had a great impact on the global community with regard to
sustainable development and led to the first Summit on Sustainable Development
in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Rio conference became an important milestone for
sustainable development, with further clarification of the Brundtland definition,
including the three pillars of sustainability, and the creation of Agenda 21, urging
member countries to formulate polices to minimise environmental impact and
improve the social conditions of individuals and the community (United Nations,
1992).
In the following years, yet another milestone was reached with the creation and
signing of a binding international emissions reduction agreement, the Kyoto
Protocol, in 1997 (United Nations, 1998). In more recent times, global sustainable
development work has largely focused on the threat of climate change due to
human activities and an important breakthrough came in 2015, when the Paris
Agreement was signed. With its central aim of keeping the global temperature rise
below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, it represented the first time
that nations came together for the common cause of strengthening the global
response to climate change (United Nations, 2015b).
Another recent development in the work towards sustainable development came in
2016, when the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) came into force (United Nations, 2015d).
The SDGs were based upon the existing Millennium Development Goals, which had
been criticised for being too narrow in their approach to sustainable development,
and therefore the SDGs were formulated with a wider range of topics to take the
development further. Moreover, the SDGs were developed by a broad stakeholder
base, including civil society, academia and governments (Thomson, 2015). The
overall aim of the SDGs is to end all poverty, but they also recognise that such
development needs to happen simultaneously with other strategies, e.g. fighting
inequity, improved global health, education, environmental protection etc. (United
Nations, 2015c). While the SDGs are not legally binding, they call for action by all
member countries, irrespective of income level, to pursue prosperity while
protecting the planet (United Nations, 2015d).
2. BACKGROUND & REVIEW OF RESEARCH AREA
9
While the global community has been actively working on sustainable development
for the past 45 years and progress has been made, achieving sustainable
development is a continuous and ongoing process. The goal of sustainable
development on global level could be summarised as identifying ways for mankind
to secure a livelihood for every person on the planet, while at the same time
securing the world’s ecosystems. However, in order to achieve that global goal, it
must be possible to prioritise, react and take action. As sustainable development
constitutes a multitude of challenges, affecting many different areas, the subject
can be broken down into sub-themes. By addressing each sub-theme, sustainable
development can become more manageable than the overall goal. Over the years,
numerous important sub-themes have been identified, e.g. climate change,
eutrophication, deforestation, poverty, equality etc., leading to more precise and
practical addressing of the subject (e.g. Mulder et al., 2011; United Nations, 2015c).
2.2 Sustainable Urban Development
Sustainable urban development is one of these evolving sub-themes. As most of the
world’s population lives within an urban setting, the urban environment and how
to transform it into a sustainable habitat has attracted great attention among
scholars, planners, practitioners etc. (e.g. UN-Habitat, 2008). Urban regions of
today are fully dependent on hinterland resource use, and consequently more
pressure and demands are placed on outside resources as cities grow. This means
that the effects of resource use in urban regions extend far outside their physical
boundaries, through import of goods and energy and export of wastes and
emissions (e.g. Rees & Wackernagel, 1996; Satterthwaite, 2011). Resource use also
tends to be higher in urban regions, mainly owing to a higher level of consumption
associated with an increased standard of living (Satterthwaite, 2011). On the other
hand, cities are economic drivers, centres for innovation, the location of work
opportunities, education, research etc. This means that finding ways of balancing
the seemingly conflicting and contradictory pros and cons of urban living is a great
challenge (Rees & Wackernagel, 1996).
Sustainable urban development could provide a frame for identifying solutions to
these challenges, as it could be viewed as sustainable development applied in the
context of urban settlements aiming to manage the consequences rising, and
ultimately prevent future consequences (Koch & Ahmad, 2018).
While sustainable urban development emerged and was mentioned in the
Brundtland report in the 1980s (World Commission on Environment and
2. BACKGROUND & REVIEW OF RESEARCH AREA
10
Development, 1987), a unified definition of the subject has yet to be agreed. As a
result, several notations and definitions are proposed in the literature. For
instance, Camagni (1998, p. 6) states that sustainable urban development is:
A process of synergistic integration and co-evolution among great
subsystems making up a city (economic, social, physical and
environmental), which guarantees the local population a non-
decreasing level of well-being in the long term, without
compromising the possibilities of development of surrounding areas
and contributing by this towards reducing the harmful effects of
development on the biosphere.
Similarly Lee (2007, p. 6) propose the following definition for a city moving
towards sustainability:
A city moving toward sustainability improves public health and
well-being, lowers its environmental impacts, increasingly recycles
its materials, and uses energy with growing efficiency
Wu (2014, p. 213) define urban sustainability as:
An adaptive process of facilitating and maintaining a virtuous cycle
between ecosystem services and human wellbeing through concerted
ecological, economic, and social actions in response to changes
within and beyond the urban landscape
While these definitions somewhat differ in their perspectives, a common
denominator is that sustainable urban development not only needs to manage and
secure desired development onsite within the physical boundaries of the urban
area, but should also ultimately account for the impacts of the urban area and its
relations to its surroundings and the global context.
Reflecting the ambiguity of the subject and possibly because of local variations and
interests, numerous approaches and focuses can be found among urban sustainable
development projects. However, a popular approach in attempts to target and
reduce negative impacts from urban areas is to encourage the metabolic flows to
mimic the characteristics of ecosystems. These characteristics usually entail
reduction of energy and material flows and/or aim to convert the urban metabolic
flows from linear to circular, more in line with how natural ecosystems operate (e.g.
Girardet, 1993; Rogers & Gumuchdjian, 1997). Examples of such initiatives can be
found world-wide, for instance in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi (Crot, 2013), the
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Vauban district in Germany (Medearis & Daseking, 2012), Hammarby Sjöstad
(Fränne, 2006) and Västra Hamnen (City of Malmö, 2013) in Sweden, BedZED in
the United Kingdom (Hodge & Haltrecht, 2009), Treasure Island (City and County
of San Francisco, 2017) and Portland (d’Ersu, 2017) in the USA. A feature in
common for these projects that is coherent with the ideas of mimicking natural
ecosystems is the quest to minimise energy use and/or transition to non-fossil
energy sources, reduce the need for personal transportation, minimise waste and
emissions etc.
While sustainable urban development has climbed up the global agenda for many
years, as reflected in SDG no. 11 (United Nations, 2015a), much work remains. The
increasing number of urban sustainable development projects world-wide could be
taken as a reflection of progress (Joss et al., 2011), but criticism has also been
raised regarding the risk of the concept becoming just a buzzword without real
content and impact (Joss, 2015). Scrutinising the real outcomes will therefore be an
important part of future work, in order to confirm progress within the area
(Portney, 2013).
2.3 Why the District Scale?
Historically, cities evolved when mankind was able to abandon the nomadic
hunter-gatherer life in favour of agricultural societies as farming techniques
developed (e.g. Oliveira, 2016). As a result, every urban area has its unique
characteristics, determined by a number of interrelated factors such as population
size and density, physical space, economic functions, labour supply and demand
etc. (Frey & Zimmer, 2001). There is thus no unified definition of cities, but
Satterthwaite (2011, p. 1763) describes a city centre as “a concentration of people
and enterprises and their buildings and wastes, infrastructure and usually some
public institutions.”
On a highly simplified level, cities could be viewed in terms of their physical
appearance, with buildings, street blocks and connecting infrastructure (Gullberg
et al., 2007). While this view is correct, it does not tell the full story. For the
physical structures in cities to be functional, comfortable and secure, several
functions are required, e.g. heating/cooling, water supply, sewage facilities, waste
disposal possibilities, food supply, transportation etc. (White, 2002). All these
functions generate inflows and outflows of energy and materials, creating a more
complex situation. How these functions are implemented, used and managed is one
key to altering the city’s overall environmental impact (Fraker, 2013b).
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Furthermore, in most cases these functions have evolved over the course of time
and have been developed, implemented and improved over the years as technology
has advanced and needs and living standards have progressed. In addition,
implementing the subsystems to supply these functions often involves large
financial investments and political decisions, which combined can result in
reluctance and/or difficulties in making larger system shifts within a city’s
infrastructure, regardless of sustainability benefits (Fraker, 2013a). It can therefore
be a substantial undertaking to transform and shift a whole city towards more
sustainable operations.
As large-scale systems shifts and transformation of an entire city at once can be
associated with numerous challenges, finding ways for step-wise transitions could
be more desirable. To date, much of these transitions have been addressed by
aiming to improve individual structures within cities (Morgan, 2013). While
buildings represent an important and large part of the system in need of transition,
the building level is too narrow to incorporate all the required aspects of a
sustainable built environment (Sharifi, 2013). Moreover, concentrating on
buildings neglects the spaces and functions in between, which are an equally
important part and impact the overall performance. The urban district scale
therefore represents a promising entity, as city districts are usually large enough to
include required parameters and systems while retaining a holistic view, but at the
same time are smaller and less complex than a full-scale city (Fraker, 2013b;
Sharifi, 2013). In addition, city district development has become a common
expansion route for growing cities and is also now more commonly used as a way to
address and implement sustainability actions into the built environment, often
with higher ambitions with respect to sustainability than the norm (Sharifi, 2013;
Joss, 2015). Concepts such as ‘eco districts’, ‘smart districts’, ‘net zero districts’ etc.
have emerged, reflecting drives to introduce sustainable practices at the district
scale (Sharifi, 2013; Kwang, 2016). Furthermore, district developments with a
pronounced sustainability focus have become a form of urban laboratory for testing
new ideas and technologies, and could also act to lower the threshold to engage
essential stakeholders and drive development (Flurin, 2017).
However, it is vital to point out that some important challenges remain to be
managed when working with the district scale. Similar to the city scale, there is
variation in how to define the borders of an urban district. Some propose that it
could be defined by its geography and physical size (Taylor, 2012), by functions
(Barton et al., 2003) or by administration boundaries (Dempsey et al., 2012). With
these variations, it is important to specify carefully, for each case, what is intended
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as the urban district. Specifications regarding relations to systems and/or functions
not present within the district itself but used, e.g. airport, hospitals, wastewater
treatment plants etc., also need to be addressed. Furthermore, information and
data collection can pose a great challenge, as information is rarely collected with
the correct resolution (Pandis Iverot & Brandt, 2011; Shahrokni et al., 2015).
While challenges remain to be addressed, the urban district scale shows promise
with regard to enabling a better understanding of the modern built environment,
its interconnections and sub-systems, while still maintaining a holistic view and
possibilities to incorporate the full scope of sustainability. Therefore the district
scale also shows promise as an entity to start transforming the built environment in
line with sustainability.
2.4 Industrial Ecology & Sustainable Urban Development
In the late 1980s, Robert Frosch and Nicholas Gallopoulos published the article
‘Strategies for Manufacturing’ presenting ideas on comparing the industrial
system’s approach to usage of energy and materials with that of Nature (Frosch &
Gallopoulos, 1989). This publication is often considered the starting point for the
field of Industrial Ecology (IE), which has since grown and evolved. While the field
of Industrial Ecology sprang from industry and often is defined as “the study of
technological organisms, their use of resources, their potential environmental
impacts, and ways in which their interactions with the natural world could be
restructured to enable global sustainability” (Graedel & Allenby, 2010, p. 32), it
has since spread into other areas of application. Reasons for this spread can be
found within the definition of the subject, with its holistic systems approach to
examining technical systems and their environment. As technical systems do not
necessarily need to be limited to industrial processes and can include most techno-
social systems, Industrial Ecology has become a useful field for transitioning
towards sustainability (Garner & Keoleian, 1995). Furthermore, as the built
environment could be viewed as a technical system and, as previously described,
requires incorporation of a holistic approach to transition towards sustainable
operations, Industrial Ecology ideas have proven to be a useful match for
sustainable urban development (Kennedy, 2016).
Originally, the field of Industrial Ecology was closely related to material and energy
flows of manufacturing processes, aiming to abandon linear resource use in favour
of creation of an industrial ecosystem, i.e. transformation to a cyclic process
(Erkman, 1997; Harper & Graedel, 2004; Korhonen et al., 2004). Therefore, the
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analytical tools dominating the field sought to find answers to ‘What if?’ types of
questions, e.g. what if certain product materials were exchanged, could this reduce
the environmental impact while still maintaining the quality of the product?
Methods providing guidance on such questions that have been extensively used in
the field of Industrial Ecology include e.g. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)3, Material
Flow Analysis (MFA)4 and Industrial Symbiosis (IS)5.
While these analytical tools have proven helpful for identification of problems and
highlighting what needs to be managed, they have been less successful in providing
solutions (Ayres & Ayres, 2002). Therefore, Industrial Ecology scholars often point
out a need for additional tools focusing more on ‘Why?’ and ‘How’ types of
questions (Jackson & Clift, 1998; Andrews, 2000). Such an approach would mean
incorporation of theories resembling those in social sciences, e.g. political science,
psychology, business science etc. (Ayres & Ayres, 2002). Evolution of the discipline
and its application outside industry further supports the need for broadening the
input base, as the complexity of many of the examined systems means that
additional information is required in order for them to be fully understood and
analysed. Since the discipline of Industrial Ecology has been operational for less
than 30 years, development and evolution of the field can be expected, especially as
new applications are introduced. New theories and tools are therefore continuously
being added to the Industrial Ecology discipline, to better explain the systems
under study (Graedel & Lifset, 2016).
Industrial Ecology in relation to sustainable urban development began to emerge
on a limited scale in the mid-1990s (Kennedy, 2016). However, with the linking of
urban metabolism theories6 (Newman, 1999) and social ecology (Fischer-Kowalski
& Hüttler, 1998), cities and urban sustainability became a more widespread
interest for the Industrial Ecology community. Since then, there have been growing
numbers of studies trying to frame the multidisciplinary aspect of urban
sustainability supported by Industrial Ecology. The research focus and study area
in these studies have differed, but have included: waste systems (e.g. Murphy &
Pincetl, 2013), urban infrastructure (e.g. Agudelo‐Vera et al., 2012; Ramaswami et
3LCA is a method for identifying the environmental impact of a product or process in each stage of its life cycle. 4MFA is a method for quantifying the stocks, flows, inputs and losses of a resource. 5IS is the organisation of industrial organisms and their processes so that waste from one process can serve as raw material for another. 6Urban metabolism is described in more detail in Chapter 3.
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al., 2012), carbon mitigation (e.g. Kennedy & Sgouridis, 2011), city-scale industrial
symbiosis (e.g. Vernay et al., 2013) and energy reduction (e.g. Reiter & Marique,
2012). The diversity of Industrial Ecology studies in relation to sustainable urban
development reveals a few vital aspects: Industrial Ecology can assist the built
environment in transition to sustainable operations in many different areas, and
the Industrial Ecology discipline is a useful guide for orienting and highlighting the
complexity of cities.
To date, it can be said that the discipline of Industrial Ecology covers roughly three
types of metabolism: industrial, urban and socio-economic (Kennedy, 2016). This
development has led to an additional number of studies which incorporate these
holistic perspectives and the practical applications of Industrial Ecology (e.g.
Kennedy et al., 2007; Broto et al., 2012; Newell & Cousins, 2015). However, while
Industrial Ecology has played a role in creating understanding and knowledge
regarding the metabolism of cities, work remains to be done. Future work needs to
include broad perspectives on urban metabolism, its mechanisms and
interrelations, but also more detailed perspectives, e.g. regarding specific flows
(Kennedy, 2016).
2.5 Evaluation
Evaluation has probably been an informal part of human behaviour for as long as
mankind has made conscious decisions. It has allowed humans to make judgments
by reflecting on their current state and the measures that have taken them there
(Shadish & Luellen, 2005). Evidence of more formalised evaluations can be traced
back several hundreds of years, further emphasising that, at an early stage in
history, contemplating cause and effect was perceived as important to making
informed decisions (Hogan, 2007). However, evaluation as a discipline has a
shorter history, and it was not until around the 1960s that it evolved into a distinct
practice (Calidoni-Lundberg, 2006).
Much of early evaluation work has its roots in programme evaluation7. In the post-
World War II era, governments around the world, especially in the United States,
funded programmes advocating social improvement. However, questions were
raised with respect to the actual outcomes and efficiency of these programmes,
7Programme evaluation is the systematic investigation of a programme, project or incentive, its outcomes, impacts and effects.
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which resulted in pressure to scientifically investigate the outcomes (Hogan, 2007).
At the time, much focus was placed on the possibility to present definite statements
regarding programme success, i.e. evaluation of the programmes themselves,
mostly with the purpose of finding evidence for continuation of funding (Shadish &
Luellen, 2005).
Over the years, evaluation research and practice have evolved, adding to the
complexity of evaluation activities. The field and its applications have diversified
from programme evaluation favouring quantitative methods to accepting and
including qualitative approaches and numerous other fields of application
(Kellaghan, 2010). A multitude of evaluation approaches are thereby in use, and
determining the right approach to choose is sometimes the objective of the
evaluation (Calidoni-Lundberg, 2006). In general terms, evaluations can be
formative or summative, where the formative evaluation is normally performed
before or during a project and the summative evaluation on completion of the
project (Hogan, 2007). While it can be argued that no distinct separation should be
made between the two, the formative approach generally tries to confirm project
performance and design (Beyer, 1995) and the summative approach tries to
confirm project impacts and achievements (Brown & Gerhardt, 2002).
While, evaluation might appear as a seemingly straightforward area attempts to
formulate a standard definition has not been entirely successful (Scriven, 1991;
Karlsson, 1999). Partly this could be explained by its implementation i.e. evaluation
activities are performed within a diversity of fields and areas, all which uses their
own language and procedures. Another explanation could be found within the fact
that evaluation theory and its practical implementation does not always align
(Chelimsky, 2013). However, Scriven (1991) proposed a conceptual definition
stating that “Evaluation is the process of determining the merit, worth and value
of things and evaluations are the product of that process.” An evaluation should
thereby be viewed as an interdisciplinary process or tool to create a holistic view of
the evaluated area. This will in turn set demand on a number of functions required
to accomplish the end goal. Theoretically, this can be managed by carefully plan the
evaluation process, beforehand plan for its design, implementation and reporting.
The design phase of an evaluation process should thereby consider vital queries
such as: ‘What are the questions asked?’, ‘How the results should be used?’ and
‘Who is the result recipient?’. Consideration should also be taken of the process
itself, ensuing that it is systematic, methodical and transparent. Furthermore,
decisions need to be taken regarding system boundaries, scope, data sources etc.
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(Scriven, 1994; Karlsson, 1999). An equally important and related task to planning
the design of the evaluation process is deciding how it should be performed and
reported. Important stakeholders and information holders need to be identified
and engaged in the process and the reporting format needs to be agreed
(Yarbrough et al., 2011).
However, this theoretical approach can be challenging to implement in practice
and, depending on the area under evaluation, these pre-requirements can become
complex. The reality in practice is often that evaluation activities are not well
planned and integrated (Gertler et al., 2016). Rather, evaluation is often an activity
which is added on in a late stage or after a project has been finalised (Calidoni-
Lundberg, 2006). The reasons for this differ, but it is important to identify why the
situation arises and the implications if the evaluation process fails. As these
situations can be topic-specific (Yarbrough et al., 2011), the following sections
elaborate on the implications from the sustainability and built environment
perspectives.
2.5.1 Evaluating Sustainability
Evaluation of the sustainability concept is an area which has grown with the
increased debate on global sustainability (Schröter, 2010). World-wide, attempts
have therefore been made to create trustworthy approaches to monitor the concept.
As sustainability work involves multiple dimensions, approaches for evaluation of
sustainability also need to be designed to be comprehensive, robust and capable of
assisting multiple stakeholder groups in taking informed decisions over both a
spatial and temporal scale (Sharifi et al., 2012).
However, many attempts have encountered difficulties when put into practice,
partly due to the loose definition of the subject (Schubert & Stömer, 2007; Sharifi &
Murayama, 2015). To date, no single unified definition is in use or agreed upon,
which can create a problem since the nature of sustainability thereby becomes
value-based and possible to interpret in multiple ways. Furthermore, many
sustainability initiatives are careless in determining how they define sustainability
(Allwinkle & Cruickshank, 2011; Randhawa & Kumar, 2017). From an evaluation
standpoint this represents a vital shortcoming and a challenge. Designing,
performing and interpreting the results of an evaluation where the end goal is
unknown can be pointless (O’Connell et al., 2013).
Despite the ambiguity in defining sustainability, there has been a general
consensus for some time that the concept rests upon the three pillars of ecological,
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economic and social sustainability (e.g. Elkington, 1994; Hák et al., 2007; Vos,
2007; Kuhlman & Farrington, 2010). Lately, institutional sustainability, referring
to the interactions between societies and their governance, has also emerged as a
fourth dimension and is becoming more widely recognised (Komeily & Srinivasan,
2015). While applying the three (or four) pillars of sustainability is a common way
to describe the sought-after balance, it can also be a way to highlight the complexity
in evaluating sustainability. The balancing and overlap of the pillars to obtain
sustainability suggests a need for integration, collaboration and interdisciplinary
actions, which then need to be incorporated into the process of determining
achievements (O’Connell et al., 2013). In addition, different views regarding the
weighting of the pillars can result in higher emphasis in certain areas. As an
example, many of the ideas in evaluating progress towards sustainability have their
origin in different impact assessment frameworks. Although many frameworks
today claim to evaluate progress towards sustainability, their environmental legacy
is strong, while often overlooking social, economic and institutional aspects
(Wangel et al., 2016). Navigating among the many aspects that need to be
considered in a sustainability evaluation process can be daunting, but it highlights
one main challenge, the scope of the subject. Limiting the input, e.g. through
focusing on environmental issues, is one common route taken, but this significantly
impacts the results if the end goal is to evaluate progress towards sustainability
(Brandon & Lombardi, 2005).
Creating a comprehensive and inclusive, yet manageable, evaluation process for
determining progress towards sustainability may never be fully unified but a few
critical aspects need to be generally considered. Due to the broad nature of the
subject, evaluation information will most likely need to be collected from several
stakeholder groups. The need for multiple stakeholder involvement is hence a
potential challenge for a functioning evaluation process (Shahrokni, 2015). The
challenges lie partly in creating a common understanding between stakeholders on
the need for collaboration. Collaboration between non-natural partners can be
complex for a number of reasons, including protection of business and business
ideas, difficulties in appreciating the value of the activity or legal reasons
(Shahrokni et al., 2015). Creating a common understanding can act as a facilitator
to make stakeholders engage in the processes, and thereby find ways to overcome
obstacles on the way.
The time aspect also needs to be considered because, since sustainability work
should be a continuous process, the process of evaluating such work also needs to
be continuous (Brandon & Lombardi, 2005). The time aspect can pose a severe
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challenge, as it will require long-term engagement by affected stakeholders and set
demands on the processes and evaluator (Yarbrough et al., 2011). Introducing
evaluation plans early can be one way to overcome this challenge, by creating a
mutual understanding among stakeholders regarding why and how the evaluation
should be performed. Furthermore, by introducing evaluation ideas early in the
process, potential barriers to evaluation can be identified at a stage where they can
be managed without potential loss of evaluation information.
2.5.2 Evaluating the Built Environment
As described in Section 2.3, the built environment consists of numerous systems
and functions supporting, sustaining and facilitating the city lifestyle. However, in
order to understand these systems, their impact and why they are important to
monitor, further details are needed. In addition, societies as they are known today
are far from sustainable, meaning that changes need to be made for the cities of
tomorrow if mankind is to overcome the global sustainability challenge (Rockström
et al., 2009; Robèrt et al., 2013). Evaluating the built environment and ongoing
initiatives and projects to bring about this change is necessary for confirmation of
progress. However, blindly evaluating, without first considering what the desired
outcome should be, will probably not guide cities and urban districts in the right
direction. The evaluation process should therefore begin by finding answers to
questions such as ‘What is a sustainable built environment?’ and ‘What is a
sustainable urban district?’, and from there start to sort and design the evaluation
process (Brandon & Lombardi, 2005).
Evaluating the built environment is not just about the construction sector and its
impacts, since the built environment affects, and is affected by, several different
sectors. Among the most significant sectors to consider are e.g. land use, space
efficiency, water and waste systems, energy systems and transportation. These
sectors, among others, therefore need to be incorporated into the evaluation
(Brandon & Lombardi, 2005; Gullberg et al., 2007). For instance, as cities grow
and become more populous, more natural space will be claimed to expand the built
environment. Natural areas are seldom restored, which can lead to degradation and
suppression of natural habitats, increasing the risk of disturbed local ecosystems
(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; United Nations, 2012). Modern cities
are dependent on transportation to support their inhabitants with goods and
necessities and to carry people within and around the city. The transport sector is
dominated by fossil fuels, making it one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas
emissions (Chapman, 2007). In addition, the infrastructure for transportation
requires large physical spaces and vast quantities of materials. Cities are dependent
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on outside energy inputs for operation of many of the systems providing the
necessities and comforts associated with cities, e.g. electricity, heating/cooling,
good and services etc. Global energy production is largely based on fossil fuels and
nuclear power, meaning that energy production and ultimate energy use contribute
to global warming and long-lived radioactive waste products. Waste and residues
are part of the built environment and have increased in volume with the trend for
cities to become larger and more densely populated (Baccini, 1997; Baccini &
Brunner, 2012). Furthermore, waste streams are becoming more complex (Singh et
al., 2014), posing challenges with regard to health aspects, resource efficiency and
resource recycling (Wilson et al., 2012).
The example sectors listed above need to be further analysed and broken down into
greater detail when designing the evaluation process. Moreover, prioritisation
among sectors may be necessary, depending on the scope of evaluation but also on
local conditions, e.g. protection of specific biotopes, scarcity of water etc.
Mainstreaming a process for evaluating the built environment can therefore
become a challenge and perhaps not fully desirable. A certain degree of flexibility to
accommodate local conditions and prerequisites can be vital. The importance of
local adaptation can also be seen in several of the third-party certification
programmes found on the market, where country-specific editions are emerging,
e.g. BREEAM-SE (SGBC, 2016) and Citylab (SGBC, 2018).
2.6 ICT Aiding Evaluation Data Collection
The built environment has been acknowledged as an important arena in the
transition towards a more sustainable future, but collection of evaluation data for
confirmation of progress has long been a challenge. Effectively gathering evaluation
data and/or data on sustainability parameters can rapidly become complex
(Brandon & Lombardi, 2005). A vast number of parameters and data points can be
considered for collection and a large number of possible indicators can be
formulated for presentation of results (e.g. Bell & Morse, 2001; Becker, 2005;
Årman et al., 2012b; Årman et al., 2012a). A significant breakthrough therefore
came when information and communications technology (ICT) solutions began to
be introduced as a tool for collecting information in cities and building stocks
(Lombardi & Trossero, 2013). These new ICT-based solutions and development of
the internet provided new opportunities to collect and manage evaluation data,
both in terms of facilitating the collection process itself and also with regard to
following potential new parameters.
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ICT-based solutions have also provided the possibility for increasing the frequency
at which feedback can be given, as real-time metering can now be performed on
many of the common parameters found in the built environment (Hilty, 2008).
Progress in meter technology and building installations has also made it possible to
separate energy and material flows in buildings, enhancing the potential for
customisation and providing e.g. occupants with a better way of understanding
their personal consumption patterns and actions (Hilty et al., 2011). Individualised
indicators, customised to suit the receiver, have thereby become a possibility. With
more abundant and more easily accessible information from smart metering
systems, receivers of evaluation information should be able to react faster and
make more conscious decisions, ultimately easing the sustainability transition
(Shahrokni et al., 2015).
While significant improvements have been made with respect to evaluating the
built environment and ICT-based solutions have simplified the collection and
management process, the full practical potential still remains to be unfolded. Many
ongoing initiatives around the world are working on how best to use the potential
of the technologically advanced and connected cities now emerging (e.g. Kwang,
2016; World Smart City, 2017). However, there have also been criticisms about
overconfidence in what ICT and so-called ‘smart cities’ really can accomplish (e.g.
Hollands, 2008; Vanolo, 2013). Nevertheless, ICT can enable the creation of
technological infrastructures that has the potential to facilitate a transition towards
sustainability by facilitating relevant information collection (e.g. Anttiroiko et al.,
2014; Lee et al., 2014).
2.7 Stockholm’s Approach to Sustainable Urban District Development
Stockholm has a relatively long history of environmental work and was the first city
to receive the European Union’s Green Capital Award, in 2010 (European Green
Capital, 2009). The Stockholm Conference in 1972 was not only a starting point for
much of the environmental work in the world, with the creation of the United
Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the Stockholm Declaration, but
also made Stockholm somewhat of a role model, due to the Swedish Government’s
encouragement in gathering the members of the United Nations to the conference
and to the success of the outcome (Hårsman & Wijkmark, 2013).
In the past few decades, much of the environmental and sustainability work in the
City of Stockholm has focused on the development and implementation of new
urban districts with an environmental and sustainability focus and profile. One
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starting point for this approach came when the City of Stockholm applied to host
the Olympic Games in 2004 (City of Stockholm, 1996b). Stockholm did not win the
bid for the Games, but the planning for what was intended to be the Olympic
Village had proceeded during the decision processes, and as a result it was decided
to continue with the implementation plans. Stockholm’s first sustainable urban
district development, Hammarby Sjöstad, thereby became a reality.
Initially, the plans to develop the Hammarby Sjöstad site started in the early 1990s,
before the initiative to apply for the Olympic Games, as a response to increased
demand for housing in Stockholm (The Stockholm Town Building Office, 1991). An
environmental and sustainability profile was later added to the district’s
development plans, as it was a request from the International Olympic Committee
to incorporate an environmental focus in the application. To manage the request,
an environmental programme was formulated for Hammarby Sjöstad, and this was
later accepted by Stockholm City Council (City of Stockholm, 1996a).
The plan for the environmental programme initiated for Hammarby Sjöstad was
that it should function as a guiding tool for the development, creating consensus
regarding the objectives for the development. It was based on the idea of
minimising the metabolic flows within the district and rested on an guiding vision
stating that the development should be “twice as good” as state-of-the-art
technologies in the mid-1990s (City of Stockholm, 1996a, p. 4). To further specify
the vision, overarching aims were incorporated into the programme, e.g. “natural
cycles should be closed as near to the local level as possible” and “the need for
transportation shall be minimized” (City of Stockholm, 1996a, p. 7). The
overarching aims also acted as the starting point for formulation of the operational
goals, an attempt to quantify the overarching aims into practical, implementable
and measurable targets. Examples of the operational goals were “80% of
commuting is by public transportation, bicycle or walking” and “supplied energy
demand shall not exceed 60 kWh/m2, whereof electricity shall not exceed 20
kWh/m2” (City of Stockholm, 1996a, pp. 15-16).
In 2009, the Hammarby Sjöstad project was evaluated with the aim of investigating
how the environmental programme, with its vision, overarching aims and
operational targets, was reflected in the results of the environmental work within
the district (Pandis & Brandt, 2009). Apart from findings regarding how the
operational targets was fulfilled and reflected in the environmental performance of
the district, the evaluation also revealed four main aspects which should be
considered for successful implementation of environmental and sustainability
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plans in future development projects with similar goals. It was found that a strong
and easily communicable vision was important. In addition, a need for clearly
formulated and well-established overarching aims and operational targets was
identified. Other aspect to transfer to new development projects was the
importance of a good project organisation and incentives for implementation.
Furthermore, lifestyle choices were identified as important to be incorporated into
future environmental and sustainability programmes, as the evaluation showed
that lifestyle becomes more important as technical solutions improve, thereby
transferring a larger part of the impact to personal choices (Pandis & Brandt, 2009;
Pandis Iverot & Brandt, 2011).
2.7.1 Stockholm Royal Seaport, Stockholm’s Second Large Scale Sustainable
Urban District Development
In 2008, the City of Stockholm decided to develop yet another former industrial
and harbour area into a residential and commercial space, and the Stockholm
Royal Seaport district was therefore initiated (Stockholm City Council, 2008).
Similarly to Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm Royal Seaport was intended to be one
of three8 new initiatives within Stockholm to meet high environmental and
sustainability ambitions (Stockholm City Council, 2009). The City Council
therefore gave the Development Department the task of leading the work on
preparing an environmental and sustainability programme for the site. The
programme was jointly formulated by several departments within the City of
Stockholm, academia and other key stakeholders, and frames future aspirations
within eight main areas9,10.
In 2010 the programme was approved by the City Council, meaning that it gained
political support (Stockholm City Council, 2010). The evaluation results from
Hammarby Sjöstad were used as inspiration for the programme development,
aiming to incorporate lessons learnt into this new development (Pandis & Brandt,
2009; City of Stockholm, 2010, p. 5). As a result, it was decided that, while the
programme should act as the backbone for the development, it should not include
specific goal levels and prerequisites. By decoupling the programme from e.g.
8The two other areas were the mainly privately owned western part of Liljeholmen called Lövholmen and the publicly owned million programme area Järva. 9The focus areas are: climate-adapted and green outdoor environment, sustainable energy systems, sustainable recovery systems, sustainable water and wastewater systems, sustainable transport, environmentally adapted residential and commercial premises, sustainable lifestyles and sustainable businesses. 10My translation from Swedish to English.
2. BACKGROUND & REVIEW OF RESEARCH AREA
24
technological advances during the development and construction phases, the idea
was that the programme could better serve its purpose of being a guiding tool for
the total duration of the development. The programme therefore aims at framing
future environmental and sustainability visions, overarching targets and
operational targets, rather than specifically stating goal levels. The programme puts
forward the overarching vision for the development, stating that “Stockholm Royal
Seaport shall be developed into a world class environmental city district” (City of
Stockholm, 2010, p. 11), as well as future desired scenarios and operational targets
for the eight main focus areas (City of Stockholm, 2010). The Stockholm Royal
Seaport district will be developed in stages, and for each construction phase an
action programme will instead be developed with specifications and goal levels.
However, while the programme is designed to be generic and with a continuous
focus, it still includes some long-term specified goals. This is partly due to the fact
that Stockholm Royal Seaport has been selected as one of 18 projects around the
world to be part of the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), which aims to develop
climate-positive urban districts (City of Stockholm, 2010, p. 16). Climate-positive
development implies that when fully developed, net greenhouse gas emissions from
Stockholm Royal Seaport should be less than zero. Furthermore, the programme
states long-term goals within ecological, economic and social sustainability, as well
as further milestones for climate actions. Some examples of these goals are given
below.
Climate Actions11
By 2030, Stockholm Royal Seaport is fossil-free
By 2020, CO2 emissions are below 1.5 tonnes per person (CO2-eq.)
Ecological Sustainability Goals
Stockholm Royal Seaport has low use of energy, materials, water and
other natural resources
Stockholm Royal Seaport focuses on sustainable energy use, eco-cycle
solutions, environmentally efficient transport and buildings, and
sustainable production and consumption patterns
11 The climate goals are not consumption based
2. BACKGROUND & REVIEW OF RESEARCH AREA
25
Economic Sustainability Goals
Stockholm Royal Seaport contributes to innovation, development and
marketing of Swedish environmental technology and knowledge within
sustainable urban district development, and to the development of
sustainable enterprises, products and services
The principles of Life Cycle Costing shall be applied in the construction
of the Stockholm Royal Seaport district
Social Sustainability Goals
Stockholm Royal Seaport is a place where “it is easy to do the right
thing”12 and its inhabitants develop the ability and knowledge to live and
work sustainably
Stockholm Royal Seaport promotes social integration through mixed
forms of housing ownership, housing in different sizes and integration
with existing buildings
(City of Stockholm, 2010, pp. 13-14)
One further development from the Hammarby Sjöstad environmental programme
is the incorporation of evaluation and follow-up ideas for the Stockholm Royal
Seaport district into the programme itself. A vital obstacle and drawback with the
Hammarby Sjöstad development was that it became difficult to determine whether
goals were fulfilled, due to lack of a plan for how this should be done. This lack of a
plan resulted in several different complications, such as loss of valuable evaluation
data, unmeasurable and poorly formulated goals etc. (Pandis & Brandt, 2009). By
incorporating a plan for evaluation and follow-up into the Stockholm Royal Seaport
environmental and sustainability programme, the idea was that the subject of
evaluation would be better integrated into other processes, increasing the status of
the activity and thereby also better securing the possibilities to confirm outcomes
(City of Stockholm, 2010, pp. 46-49). Furthermore, evaluation should be possible
in all development phases, and for several resolution levels. Figure 1 shows the
schematics of the evaluation and follow-up model for Stockholm Royal Seaport.
12English translation of the district’s catchphrase ”det ska vara lätt att göra rätt”
2. BACKGROUND & REVIEW OF RESEARCH AREA
26
Figure 1: The proposed evaluation and follow-up model for the Stockholm Royal Seaport development. Source: City of Stockholm (2010).
The City of Stockholm is now in the process of implementing its second new large-
scale sustainable district development project. This is an opportunity to take
advantage of lost opportunities discovered in the Hammarby Sjöstad project. For
instance, the continuous, high-resolution and dynamic evaluation ideas are an
ambitious new approach for the Stockholm Royal Seaport development and have
not been tested previously in practice in a Stockholm context. The City of
Stockholm has leverage in the Stockholm Royal Seaport development, as the City is
the main land owner in the area. The City of Stockholm can thereby set demands
on interested developers early in the procurement process. This has been used as a
route to ensure that set outcomes can be reached, as developers in the Stockholm
Royal Seaport district will be required to ensure that established goal levels are
2. BACKGROUND & REVIEW OF RESEARCH AREA
27
fulfilled and that evaluation is possible. Goal levels and requirements will be set for
each construction phase, in a binding action programme13. Furthermore, technical
advances have enabled enhanced possibilities to use ICT-based solutions for
information collection and openness in installing and using ICT in residential and
commercial buildings within the development is also expressed in the programme,
as an aid to secure the evaluation process (City of Stockholm, 2010, p. 55).
13For the first two development phases the action programmes was not binding, as they were planned before the environmental and sustainability programme was legally valid.
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3 Methods
To meet the research objectives established for this thesis (see Section 1.1), a
combination of methods was used. There were several reasons for this multiple
approach. Encapsulating the aspects of sustainability in the built environment is a
multidimensional challenge (Gray, 2010; Fraker, 2013b). As a result, no single
method can completely fulfil the necessary requirements. Furthermore, the work
focused on two main perspectives; the evaluation process itself and related
challenges linked to following and evaluating sustainable urban district
developments, and the collection, integration and use of high-resolution, dynamic
data. The research strategy was therefore a combination of qualitative and
quantitative approaches, as presented in Figure 2.
One method that includes many of the qualities required to address the issues in
this thesis is urban metabolism, which was therefore used as a foundation and
starting point for the research. Urban districts contain numerous materials and
energy streams, contributing to the overall impact of the development.
Understanding the flow, use and content of these streams can be an important
starting point in understanding how to reduce environmental impact and improve
environmental sustainability. It can also be a good starting point for evaluation and
follow-up activities, as it can highlight what needs to be monitored, and why. Urban
metabolism analysis possesses these qualities with its underlying analogy of
mimicking Nature’s way and approaching the city’s inflows and outflows by viewing
it as a living organism (Zhang, 2013). Furthermore, while urban metabolism
studies have explored the sustainability of cities for some time (e.g. Newcombe et
al., 1978; Kennedy et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2009), it is now also gaining a reputation
of being applicable on the district scale (Codoban & Kennedy, 2008), thereby
enhancing the knowledge of district metabolism. In addition, urban metabolism
studies can be performed both qualitatively and quantitatively, depending on the
extent to which the analysis is taken. The method thereby allowed for inclusion of
the varying character of the thesis objectives, as well as the dual research
perspectives. Figure 2 further illustrates the research strategy, with urban
metabolism at the base, the inclusion of qualitative and quantitative approaches
and what these implied specifically in this thesis.
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Figure 2: Research strategy employed for the work presented in this thesis.
The urban metabolism approach has some limitations, however. For example, data
availability can be limited when performing it on urban districts, as specific data
with the required resolution level and detail are rarely collected (Codoban &
Kennedy, 2008). In this thesis, this limitation was managed in two ways. For the
qualitative approaches (Papers I, II and partly III), data availability was not
required or necessary due to the nature of the objectives, as the main focus was on
the evaluation processes, what it should entail and how to secure it. In the
quantitative approach (Paper IV and partly Paper III), where data availability was
vital, it was one of the research goals to ease data collection and access in the
Stockholm Royal Seaport district, meaning that the research addressed the data
issue rather than being dependent on it.
Urban metabolism studies have also been criticised for being too fragmented and
concerns have been raised regarding the plethora of approaches, definitions,
system boundaries etc. that are in use (Barles, 2009). While several attempts have
been made to mainstream and harmonise the method regarding e.g. system
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boundaries and indicators (Pincetl & Bunje, 2009; Baccini & Brunner, 2012), the
broadness and umbrella-like approach of the method can be eligible and positive,
as it allows for inclusion of multidimensional types of problems (Broto et al., 2012;
Zhang, 2013). As the method was applied to the physical and geographical
preconditions of the Stockholm Royal Seaport district in this thesis, it was possible
to reduce some of the concerns regarding fragmentation in the method.
The remainder of this chapter provides further details regarding the qualitative and
quantitative research methods used in the thesis. Figure 3 provides details
regarding the content and interconnections between the research strategy, the
thesis objectives and appended papers. Objectives 1 and 2 of the thesis (Papers I
and II respectively), are addressed in the first of the two main research routes, the
evaluation process itself. Objectives 3 and 4 (Papers III and IV, respectively) are
addressed in the other main route, that of data collection and dynamics.
Figure 3: Content and interconnections between research strategy, specific objectives and appended Papers I-IV. SRS = Stockholm Royal Seaport.
3. METHODS
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3.1 Qualitative Approaches
Qualitative research is commonly used in social science and is the preferred
method when investigating information of a non-numerical character from a
bottom-up standpoint (e.g. Murray, 2010). It was a vital approach in this thesis, as
several of the objectives required stakeholder input and affect issues of a non-
numerical character. Furthermore, qualitative research includes a number of
methods, e.g. case studies, in-depth interviews, focus groups etc. (Flick, 2014),
which were necessary approaches in order to meet the thesis objectives. The
following sections therefore describe the qualitative methods used and the specific
details of the research presented in this thesis.
3.1.1 Single Case Study
All of the work presented in the thesis (see Figure 3) was carried out within the
sphere of the Stockholm Royal Seaport development; with its environmental and
sustainability programme (City of Stockholm, 2010) and planned evaluation
process (City of Stockholm, 2010, pp. 46-49) (Papers I and II), and related dynamic
data collection and use (Papers III and IV). As a consequence, the Stockholm Royal
Seaport district was used as a single case study. Case studies can be carried out as
single, multiple or embedded cases, and are the preferred method when
investigating and implementing new phenomenon requiring contextual data in a
real-life context (Scholz & Tietje, 2002; Yin, 2009). The case study approach also
allows for in-depth analysis of the study area and is useful when the investigator
has little or no control over the event (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2009). In this thesis,
it provided necessary contextual insights regarding implementation of a guiding
environmental and sustainability document in urban developments with related
stakeholder networks, as well as providing a context for dynamic sustainability
evaluation of urban districts.
The Stockholm Royal Seaport development was suitable as a single case study for
many reasons comparable to those identified by Pandis Iveroth (2014) in the
Hammarby Sjöstad development and by Shahrokni (2015) for the Smart Urban
Metabolism implementation in the Stockholm Royal Seaport development. The
first reason is that the environmental and sustainability programme developed for
the Stockholm Royal Seaport district is a unique approach to sustainable urban
development, due to its pronounced views regarding the holistic and overarching
tactics. As one of the first large-scale district developments aiming to comply with a
comprehensive environmental and sustainability plan developed in advance, the
Stockholm Royal Seaport development can therefore be of interest to many urban
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development projects with similar aspirations. The second reason is the Stockholm
Royal Seaport project’s novel approach to urban district evaluation, with the
incorporation of evaluation ideas into the district’s environmental and
sustainability programme. Consequently, implementing such a model into practice
has not fully been tested before and mistakes will likely be made. It can therefore
be useful to describe not only the early attempts at its implementation, but also the
processes and barriers to its implementation in order to generate knowledge. The
third reason is that developing the Stockholm Royal Seaport district in accordance
with its environmental and sustainability programme will require coordination and
collaboration between many different stakeholder groups. A single case study can
therefore provide insights regarding opportunities and barriers to collaboration,
particularly regarding areas of responsibility, conflicts of interest and information
sharing. A fourth reason is that many of the structures in Stockholm Royal Seaport
are equipped with ICT-based solutions for information collection, so the district
provides an opportunity to better understand the use of dynamic, high-resolution
meter data. Access to such data is not yet the norm in Sweden and thus the insight
from the Stockholm Royal Seaport district can give a better understanding that is
possible to transfer to other projects.
Two main limitations regarding the single case study as a research method are
commonly raised. One regards the restricted possibilities for generalisation, so the
contribution to scientific knowledge has been questioned (Yin, 2009). However,
e.g. Flyvbjerg (2006) argues that this is misunderstanding and builds upon the
argument of statistical generalisability grounded on sample-based generalisation
seeking knowledge about objective scientific facts and therefore not applicable to
single case study design. The second main limitation of the single case study is that
it can lack objectivity, e.g. the investigator can be so involved in the research that
biased results can be produced (Benbasat et al., 1987). This limitation can be
reduced if the research is performed as a group effort, as was the case in this thesis.
3.1.2 The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development
The Stockholm Royal Seaport development has set out to become an
environmentally and sustainably sound new district. However, that intention raises
questions regarding what this implies for the development (Paper I). The
development will lean on its environmental and sustainability programme for
guidance, but it is not known whether the programme can manage its task. To shed
light on the matter, a practical and clear method for analysis of the programme was
essential. The method also needed to manage the fundamental question of what a
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sustainable and environmentally sound city district should comprise in a
Stockholm context.
The method selected was the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development
(FSSD), due to a number of reasons. This framework explicitly presents a practical
definition of sustainability, with its eight sustainability principles (i-viii below) at
the core (Broman & Robèrt, 2017). Furthermore, the FSSD uses backcasting from
the sustainability principles in a generic five-level model developed for analysis of
systems with a methodical approach. These levels comprise: 1) the systems level,
describing the overarching system with its sub-systems within society and natural
systems; 2) the success level, describing the system at success; 3) the strategic
guideline level, describing guidelines for a step-wise transition towards compliance
with the success level; 4) the actions level, putting forward concrete actions
towards the desired success aligned with the strategic guidelines; and 5) the tool
level, describing concepts, methods and tools for monitoring the transition between
the current state and desired success.
The framework’s success level (level 2 in the generic model described above)
includes the eight basic sustainability principles within which any sustainable
scenario must exist, all of which are applicable for the global and the local scale.
These sustainability principles state that in a sustainable world, Nature is not
subject to systematically increasing:
i) concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust
ii) concentrations of substances produced by society
iii) degradation by physical means
and people are not subject to structural obstacles to:
iv) health
v) influence
vi) competence
vii) impartiality and
viii) meaning-making
(Broman & Robèrt, 2017)
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According to Broman & Robèrt (2017) these universal principles are applicable for
the whole of civilisation, and are devised as an exploration of the Brundtland
definition into operational boundary conditions for redesign of civilisation at large.
They are easily interpreted in the local context by simply stating that the
sustainable district does not contribute to violation of the universal principles: ‘Do
we contribute to the violation of those principles, at any scale?’
In Paper I, they were used to describe a holistic template for an ecologically
sustainable planet with regard to the sustainability principles. This template was
then used to frame and identify the most important sectors for urban development,
in order to adapt these sectors to local conditions and prerequisites. The integrated
local-global template was used to analyse how the environmental and sustainability
programme for Stockholm Royal Seaport relates to the full scope of ecological
sustainability and thereby look for a way to improve sustainability assessments of
the district.
3.1.3 Interviews & Workshops
The research interview is one of the dominating methods used for information
collection in qualitative research (e.g. Yin, 2009; King & Horrocks, 2010). In
general terms, the research interview can be described as a guided conversation
between the researcher and respondents and is useful for uncover the story behind
a respondents experiences and tracking in-depth information on a subject (Warren,
2001; Kvale, 2007). In more specific terms, the main task in interviewing is to
understand the meaning of what the respondents are saying in relations to their
world and the specific topic (McNamara, 1999). The research interviews can be
categorised in varying ways, but common strategies are the structured, semi-
structured and unstructured interview (e.g. DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006).
The structured interview is characterised by a set of predetermined questions
which are addressed to the respondents, often with a limited set of response
categories. The advantages of this interview approach is e.g. that the interview
generates easily analysed results but it sets high demands on questionnaire
development (Wilson, 2014a). The more commonly used semi-structured interview
is more open than the structured, allowing for new ideas to be brought up during
the interview while still having a set of predetermined topics and/or themes to be
explored (Given, 2008a; Wilson, 2014b). The prepared topics and questions in
semi-structured interviews are normally in an open-ended format, allowing new
questions to be formulated over the course of the interview (DiCicco-Bloom &
Crabtree, 2006). The semi-structured interview can thereby uncover previously
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unknown issues, however results can become more difficult and time consuming to
analyse (Wilson, 2014b). The unstructured research interview takes the openness
even further. The conversation in an unstructured interview is usually only guided
by general goals of e.g. the research project and the interviewer has little influence
over the direction the interview is going (Given, 2008b). The unstructured
interviews lower the demands on how the interviewer phrases the questions but on
the downside requires a flexible and skilled leader as each interview is a novel event
(Wilson, 2014c).
A variation of the qualitative research interview with a single respondent is the
focus group interview were the interview is performed with multiple respondents at
the same time (Gavora, 2015). The intention of focus group interviews is to collect
information, opinions and knowledge through group interaction on a
predetermined subject (Morgan, 1996). The group interaction is an advantage in
focus group interviews, as it can create the potential of broader insights to be
developed, compared to single interviews (Liamputtong, 2011). Furthermore, it is a
good technique to use if it is possible to identify a number of individuals who share
a skill set or common factor. However, the goal is not for the respondents to reach
consensus regarding the subject but rather gather a variety of opinions and
viewpoint (Gavora, 2015). Commonly raised drawbacks with focus group interviews
can be identified in the realm of group dynamics (Liamputtong, 2011). A focus
group interview depends on the participants to feel comfortable to share and
express their opinions and to actively take part in the discussion. If the topic of
discussion is sensitive, the power structure of the group is uneven or if certain
respondents have dominating personalities it can influence the discussion (Keller,
2013).
In this thesis focus group interviews were used to determine whether the evaluation
ideas and model (see Figure 1) presented in the Stockholm Royal Seaport
environmental and sustainability programme are sufficient for demonstrating
progress in the district. Furthermore, the focus groups interviews intended to shed
light on how to manage the evaluation process in practice (Paper II). The City of
Stockholm had assigned seven working groups consistent with each of the focus
areas presented in the environmental and sustainability programme14 to further
develop the operational goals stated in the programme. These groups were selected
14 The focus area sustainable business was not yet assigned a working group and was therefore not included in the interview study
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for the focus groups interviews as they consisted of stakeholders largely responsible
for the implementation of the operational goals in Stockholm Royal Seaport and
thereby also shared a common skill set. Another advantage with selecting the
predetermined working groups were that the participants were already used to
working together, facilitating group dynamics during the focus group interviews.
Each group consisted of five to seven representatives from different city
departments, but also other stakeholders important and relevant to the specific
focus area. Seven semi-structured focus groups interviews were conducted. Each
interview was recorded and transcribed.
The focus group interviews were preceded by an in-depth analysis of the
environmental and sustainability programme, and metrics and indicators were
formulated15. The programme analysis also included an initial identification of
potential barriers to practical implementation and goal fulfilment. The in-depth
analysis was used as a starting point for the focus group interviews, with the overall
intention of deepening understanding of the operational targets in the
environmental and sustainability programme, of obtaining stakeholder input on
the results of the in-depth analysis, of better understanding the planned evaluation
process and of initiating a discussion on the potential barriers to practical
implementation of the programme and evaluation process (Papers I and II).
In addition, in order to determine whether the proposed evaluation and follow-up
model could manage the evaluation process for the district, it was essential to
identify and frame what this process could entail (Paper II). A review of the
literature in the field of evaluation in general, and evaluation and follow-up of the
built environment in particular, was therefore conducted. The intention with the
review was to identify vital categories, process steps and parameters which need to
be considered in district sustainability evaluations. As a consequence, the review
did not intend to be fully comprehensive with regard to specific evaluation details,
e.g. indicator selection or specified data points, but sought rather to showcase the
essentials. The literature reviewed included technical manuals for some of the best-
known neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools, evaluation frameworks in
use and evaluation governance. Documents reporting experiences from evaluation
activities performed in practice were also included.
15 See Paper II for full description and results from in-depth programme analysis
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Stakeholder input was also required for the primary implementation of a new
framework managing data collection, integration and calculation engine in the
Stockholm Royal Seaport district (Paper III). The framework is based on the idea of
urban metabolism previously described in this chapter, but for its implementation
stakeholder input was required for several reasons. The in-depth analysis of the
programme revealed a potential approximately 150 indicators in need of
management (Årman et al., 2012b). While many of the potential data points and
indicators were being collected for e.g. billing reasons, finding ways of collecting,
integrating and using those for the purpose of evaluation was not tested and
secured. The information is collected by several different stakeholders and
organisations within the city. Using the existing information for other purposes
would thereby require a level of interoperability allowing integration of data
sources, which would require collaboration between data owners. Furthermore, it
was identified that only about 15% of the initially identified indicators can be
managed by existing technical solutions (Brandt & Nordström, 2011), meaning that
finding ways of integrating remaining indicators was vital. Data owners, city
departments and other significant stakeholders therefore needed to come together.
This was accomplished through a partner project consisting of 18 partners with the
goal of meeting the operational goals in the Stockholm Royal Seaport
environmental and sustainability programme. Through partner workshops
addressing themes such as integration of real-time data from smart meters in
homes and buildings with real-time data from other significant data providers (e.g.
utility providers and waste management companies), decision and development of
initial key performance indicators and discussions on system boundaries, the SUM
framework was developed and implemented.
3.2 Quantitative Approaches
While much of the research presented in this thesis was qualitative with regard to
developing and deepening the understanding and securing the evaluation process
for the Stockholm Royal Seaport district, in the future quantifiable data will be
required in several areas, e.g. energy conservation, in order to follow progress in
the district. Quantitative research methods entails a structured way of collecting
and analyse data from different sources and usually includes the use of tools e.g.
computers, calculation software or statistical programmes to derive results
(Golafshani, 2003; Wu & Little, 2011). Unlike qualitative information the nature of
quantitative data is numerical or measurable (Denzin & Lincoln, 1998). A
quantitative research approach is therefore appropriate when the research question
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can be inquired by numerical or measurable information (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992).
However, qualitative research data does not need to be strictly limited to natural
occurring numerical information as non-quantitative phenomenon can be turned
into quantitative data (Wu & Little, 2011). As quantitative research methods often
entail a level of standardisation one main advantage is that results can be easily
compared and generally require less time for data collection and analysis than a
qualitative research approach (May & Williams, 1998). However, one general
disadvantage can be limited understanding regarding underlying details in
collected data which can influence the results (Eyisi, 2016).
3.2.1 ICT & Real-Time Evaluation Data in Stockholm Royal Seaport
Quantitative data analysis of energy use in building and households were made
possible through the SUM development (Paper III), resulting in the possibility to
collect high-resolution, dynamic evaluation data from two residential buildings
within Stockholm Royal Seaport. The data from the buildings was analysed with
the purpose to better understand the potential and limitations of how access to
more detailed energy evaluation information can be used in transitioning towards
sustainability by energy savings in buildings and households (Paper IV). The
quantitative data analysis was therefore in this thesis used as a mean to study how
the information could be used and not to for the purpose of specifically analyse the
collected data e.g. by determining its statistical significance etc. Using qualitative
analysis in Paper IV also allowed for the possibilities to compare results against set
goal levels and commonly used energy indicators. Four energy streams were
selected for the analysis: building electricity, district heating, hot tapwater and
household electricity, for two main reasons. First, they are the most commonly
consumed energy streams in multi-dwelling homes in Sweden (Energirådgivaren,
2011). Second, these four streams are solely related to living environment, i.e. are
used and consumed within the physical building, representing an important
delimitation for understanding of energy consumption in buildings and
households.
Each building studied contains a total of 20 apartments, varying in size from 51 to
100 m2. The two buildings are identical in terms of layout, i.e. have the same floor
area and number of apartments, are located next to each other and are designed to
have the same energy performance. Both buildings are equipped with onsite meters
for measuring consumption of building electricity and district heating with
resolution down to building level, and of hot tapwater and household electricity
with resolution down to household level. Data were collected onsite, but organised
and stored by a third-party operator. The datasets were retrieved for analysis from
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the third-party operator through an online information platform. Readings on a
daily basis were available starting in 2014. However, due to incomplete datasets in
2014 and 2015, the analysis was limited to data from 2016. Furthermore,
calculations of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2) were made using emissions factors of
43 g CO2/kWh (IEA, 2011) for the Swedish electricity mix and 90 g CO2/kWh for
district heating Based on a hot tapwater temperature of 55 ℃, an inflow water
temperature of 10 ℃, water density ρ(H2O) of 1000 kg/m3 and water heat capacity
(Cp(H2O)) of 4.19 kJ/kg,℃, each m3 of hot tapwater produced from heat-exchanged
district heating corresponds to 72 kWh (Gode et al., 2011). Atemp is 1801 m2 per
building16.
16Atemp is all building floor area heated over 10 ℃.
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
41
4 Results & Discussion
This chapter summarises and discusses the results contained in Papers I-IV. Paper
I presents an analysis of the environmental and sustainability programme for
Stockholm Royal Seaport from a holistic, ecological sustainability perspective.
Paper II describes key evaluation routes for sustainable urban district
developments, including an analysis of the proposed evaluation and follow-up
model for Stockholm Royal Seaport. Paper III describes the first implementation of
Smart Urban Metabolism (SUM) ideas in Stockholm Royal Seaport. Paper IV
analyses and highlights the potential and limitations in using dynamic, high-
resolution meter data for evaluation of energy consumption in buildings and
households. The chapter concludes with a discussion regarding methods choices.
4.1 Determination of Sustainability Targets Facilitated by a Structured
Frame
Paper I tested whether a structured frame could facilitate the process of
determining sustainability targets in urban district developments, while also
allowing a holistic approach to sustainability. The Stockholm Royal Seaport
environmental and sustainability programme served as a show case for
sustainability targets and FSSD was used to frame the sustainability concept. The
systematic review took its starting point in a global holistic perspective of
sustainability, the sustainability principles of FSSD, and scaled down to the
Stockholm Royal Seaport district. Through this, it was possible to uncover
perspectives in the Stockholm Royal Seaport environmental and sustainability
programme that had not previously been addressed.
The analysis revealed that the environmental and sustainability programme puts
forward a relatively successful vision and overarching goals compared to the
suggested holistic template for some areas, e.g. how to handle green areas,
restoring a polluted industrial site and making better use of the land for a growing
population in Stockholm. However, for most other areas problems were identified.
These problems were typically identified within the realm of implementation, i.e.
the transition between theory and practice, or where the district perspective was
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42
too narrow a starting point, i.e. what seems sustainable for the district will cause
problems outside it. For instance, the Stockholm Royal Seaport environmental and
sustainability programme does not present a clear definition of what is meant by
sustainability. Trying to frame the concept of sustainability for an urban district
without clearly defining what should be framed poses a major obstacle to achieving
a successful outcome. Lacking a definition not only creates problems with regard to
correct versus incorrect requirements, but also creates organisational difficulties,
as it makes it difficult to ensure that the involved stakeholders understand and
work towards the same end goal. It also hampers the evaluation process, as the end
goal is not clear. As the aim of the environmental and sustainability programme is
to provide a frame for the development to reach sustainability, this is a crucial
drawback. In a larger perspective, it also emphasises the importance of providing a
clear definition and explanation of the end goal, as vital strategic questions could
be more easily revealed and it could ease identification of key stakeholders, secure
collaborations and develop required governance models.
Other identified problems were important governance and planning conflicts
between the local district and the surrounding city. The environmental and
sustainability programme for Stockholm Royal Seaport is setting the success level
of the development, and the end goal is for Stockholm Royal Seaport to become a
sustainable urban district. However, for many of the areas managed by the
programme, the governance and planning strategies are not aligned with the
strategies for the same area within the city or the outside region, despite being
completely dependent on each other. It is vital to acknowledge these governance
and planning conflicts, since the intention for Stockholm Royal Seaport is for the
local agenda to act as a role model, having positive effects on its surroundings (City
of Stockholm, 2010, p. 36). Without management and better alignment, the risk is
instead that the scenario will be reversed; the local or regional agenda will
influence the more ambitious planning strategies within Stockholm Royal Seaport.
Furthermore, a situation can thereby be created where key questions and/or
decisions are risked being bounced around and not be properly addressed, since no
stakeholder within the district fully owns the question. As an example, a need for
major system shifts was identified in Paper I for a number of areas in Stockholm
Royal Seaport, e.g. transportation, waste and energy systems, which are not solely
dependent on the individual district, but rather are influenced by the rest of the city
or extend even further outside the system. The environmental and sustainability
programme acknowledges that such a whole system shift is needed, but does not
present any paths for achieving this at an operational level.
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
43
Many of the problems in the Stockholm Royal Seaport programme identified in
Paper I were derived from the fact that several parts of the stated vision and goals
lie outside the scope of influence of the main project owner, the City of Stockholm
and the city’s Department of Development. This highlights the importance of
stakeholder involvement and of ensuring that all concerned stakeholders, both
within city departments and outside the city, are willing and interested in
collaborating in understanding their role and importance in the larger system
perspective. Planning and developing new sustainable urban districts is a process
engaging many stakeholders, all of whom need to be aware of the end goal in order
to avoid counterproductive decisions, sub-optimisations or path dependencies
which could later be regretted. Coordination of time frames, shared views of the
end goal and a holistic perspective are therefore necessary for successful transition
between theory and practice.
The need to break old planning and implementation patterns was also identified in
Paper I. The environmental and sustainability programme for Stockholm Royal
Seaport was developed with a broad stakeholder base, and the programme
acknowledges that implementation would benefit from broader stakeholder
involvement than the conventional (City of Stockholm, 2010, p. 37). In Paper I, it
was identified that the risk with the conventional routes of implementation for
Stockholm Royal Seaport is of stakeholders becoming compartmentalised, i.e.
working within their own spheres, which can lead to counterproductive decisions,
loss of the holistic perspective and long-term strategic essentials. The need for
breaking traditional implementation patterns also became evident when
accounting for the future. Much of the future success of Stockholm Royal Seaport
depends on the operations of the district when finalised. However, different city
departments and private stakeholders than those involved in the planning and
implementation phase will take over the majority of the operations. If these
stakeholders are not aligned, the results will mostly likely be business as usual.
4.2 Key Evaluation Processes to Determine Progress towards Sustainability
Paper II primarily sought to describe key evaluation routes for sustainable urban
district developments through a review of the evaluation literature and practical
district evaluation examples. The main findings from the review are summarised in
Table 1. Seven main categories were identified and 21 sub-categories provide
further explanations. Table 1 was intentionally designed without detailed
specifications, but rather comprised generic categories, process steps and
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
44
parameters. It was designed in this way as the essence of it was to encapsulate key
parameters which must not be overlooked in a functioning evaluation process.
Adaptation to e.g. a specific district development, higher level of detail or to local
conditions could instead be made within each of the identified categories if
necessary
Table 1: Summary of key evaluation routes identified as important for consideration when evaluating sustainable urban district developments (from Paper II)
Main category Sub-category Explanation Example
references
Evaluation
process
- Transparency
- Systematic process
- Target groups
- System boundary
Securing a
transparent and
systematic process
with well-defined
system boundaries
targeting the right
audience
(Scriven, 1994;
Karlsson, 1999;
Kennedy &
Sgouridis, 2011;
ICLEI, 2012)
Evaluation for
sustainability
- Definition of
sustainability
- Comprehensive
and holistic
- Vision
- Scope
Clearly express how
sustainability is
defined for the
specific case,
including vision and
scope of the
development
(Bentivegna et al.,
2002; Rockström,
2010; BRE, 2011;
Pandis Iverot &
Brandt, 2011; Sharifi
& Murayama, 2013;
USGBC, 2013; IBEC,
2014; Steffen et al.,
2015; Broman &
Robèrt, 2017)
Criteria - Well defined and
explained
- Validity
Which sustainability
criteria are selected
and are they guiding
the development
towards the end goal
(Rockström, 2010;
Robèrt et al., 2013)
Themes - Selection of
relevant and
relatable themes
Which themes
should be included
and why, e.g. land
use, water, energy
transportation etc.
(BRE, 2011; USGBC,
2013; IBEC, 2014)
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
45
Main category Sub-category Explanation Example
references
Indicators - Well formulated
- Manageable
- Guiding
Identification and
formulation of valid
measurable
indicators and key
figures guiding
towards the end goal
(Kristensen, 2004;
Stanners et al.,
2007; Tanguay et al.,
2010)
Data collection - Quantitative
- Qualitative
- Access/securing
data
- Privacy
- Periodicity
Metering and
technical
installations for
information
collection.
Identification of
values that are not
physically
measurable.
(Darby, 2006;
Keivani, 2010;
Brandt &
Nordström, 2011;
Smith et al., 2011)
Organisation
structure
- Stakeholder
collaborations
- Stakeholder
inclusion
Identify and secure
functioning
organisational
structures and
stakeholder
collaboration
(Bulkeley & Betsill,
2005; Bayulken &
Huisingh, 2015)
The findings in Table 1 were in a second step used as a point of reference to analyse
the proposed evaluation and follow-up model for the Stockholm Royal Seaport
district (see Figure 1) in order to determine whether the model can manage the
evaluation process for the district. The analysis revealed that the proposed model
had a number of vital shortcomings in most of the seven main categories. Through
the analysis, it was determined that even though the model is designed and
developed with the intention to ensure that it will be possible to evaluate the
Stockholm Royal Seaport district in a continuous and dynamic way, it lacks vital
elements, definitions and process steps to fulfil its aim. On the positive side, the
model is relatively well designed when it comes to the core of evaluation strategies:
it provides an easily understandable and communicable vision, it acknowledges
that the evaluation process should be continuous, and it is relatively clear who the
target groups are and what the intended scope is.
The analysis further revealed that the model design is weaker in defining
sustainability and in determining and defining system boundaries. For example,
the model was designed to provide a route to secure and determine sustainability
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
46
and goal fulfilment in Stockholm Royal Seaport, but since very little clarification is
provided regarding what this ultimately should mean, it is debatable whether it can
fulfil this ambition. The Stockholm Royal Seaport environmental and sustainability
programme provides a vague overview of what is meant, by stating that all three
pillars of sustainability should be included and that the district’s vision should align
with the holistic view. However, translating that into practice through the model
will require more specification. Sustainability criteria would need to be selected
and would also need to be sufficiently precise to be usable in practice. A clear
definition of sustainability and correlated criteria would also reveal whether some
areas are overlooked in the evaluation process, much as demonstrated in Paper I.
Dividing sub-issues into themes can further ease the process of navigating among
the diverse aspects in need of consideration and identified in both practical and
theoretical cases in the Table 1 compilation. Theme categorisation could also make
it possible to place results from the specific case into the bigger picture, which
could be important in order to benchmark the results.
The model also showed deficiencies in the management and use of indicators. It
recognises that indicators should be used to present results but little guidance or
specifications is provided regarding how to approach the selection of indicators or
the management of these. Indicators are intended to facilitate the presentation of
results, reducing complexity and making it possible to provide customised
feedback. However, they also need to be well-formulated, manageable and
trustworthy, which can pose a challenge in the area of sustainable urban
development. Deciding on which indicators should be presented, why they are
important, for whom and to what degree of resolution is vital in order to obtain and
present trustworthy results on progress within the district. The only guidance on
this matter presented in the proposed model for Stockholm Royal Seaport is that
indicators should be used and also that the indicators should be related to the
district’s vision. The programme presents a few overarching and well-recognised
indicators, mostly related to energy and climate mitigation, but nothing about how
to approach the larger scope of sustainability or how indicators should be selected
or managed. This is a critical drawback, as the model should facilitate the
evaluation and follow-up processes and thereby also be able to clearly present the
outcomes for the district. Moreover, even with the generically designed
environmental and sustainability programme, the vision and operational targets for
each of the eight themes presented in the programme create a large number of
possible indicators. Adding on specifications, as is done in the construction phase,
will most likely further increase the possibilities. Managing the indicator process
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
47
will thereby be a key feature for the success of the model and needs to be better
integrated.
Information collection and management were also identified as underdeveloped in
the proposed model. When suitable, the model states that data should be collected
with the aid of technical solutions, but for the broader scope of evaluating progress
towards sustainability, complementary information that most likely cannot be
collected with ICT-based solutions will need to be obtained. The challenges
surrounding real-time data collection, customised feedback and integration of data
streams are not addressed by the model or the programme, but can pose
complications in practice, an issue addressed in Papers III and IV. In order to be
able to determine that the Stockholm Royal Seaport development is moving
towards its desired goals, it must be possible both to collect data and organise data
into the desired indicators, meaning that data retrieval and its related process must
function. The model as it stands today cannot sufficiently manage these issues, and
consequently cannot function as the aiding tool it is designed to be regarding data
collection if not better integrated.
In the environmental and sustainability programme for Stockholm Royal Seaport it
is pointed out that a broad and inclusive project organisation is likely needed to
successfully implement the ideas in the programme (City of Stockholm, 2010, p.
37). A broad and inclusive project organisation has also been identified as
important for improving many of the identified problems in the proposed model.
However, guidance on how to practically implement such a broad organisation is
not further described or incorporated neither into the programme nor into the
evaluation and follow-up model. City administrations in Sweden generally work
within their own sphere, on limited parts of the development and during a specific
time. Devising ways to enhance stakeholder collaborations and create joint routes
towards the end goal is vital to avoid counterproductive decisions. However, this
can be challenging for a number of reasons, e.g. conflicts of interest or lack of
experience of working with broader stakeholder involvement. The complexity of
forming a rigid and inclusive organisation also increases with the time frame,
which must be considered when developing new urban districts. Responsibilities
will also shift substantially between stakeholders from the early planning stage to
the operational phase of the district, but nevertheless they should have the same
intentions. There are usually also shifts in stakeholder involvement, from mainly
city departments and developers in early stages to maintenance (e.g. housing
associations) and private companies in the operational phase. Gathering, including
and engaging the diverse and large number of stakeholders needed to evaluate the
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
48
district’s performance will be a great challenge and should therefore be part of the
proposed model.
4.3 Implementation of an ICT-enabled Framework Managing Evaluation Data
Paper III presents the first implementation and evaluation of the SUM framework
in Stockholm Royal Seaport. Through stakeholder collaborations, four key
performance indicators were selected to be a primary part of the SUM framework
implementation: kWh/m2, CO2-eq./capita, kWhprimary energy/capita and share of
renewables (%). The SUM framework was implemented in one of the first
development phases in the Stockholm Royal Seaport district, and agreement to
stream live anonymised information on household level was reached with 40
apartments. The implementation of the SUM framework resulted in the possibility
to produce real-time feedback in the Stockholm Royal Seaport district and also
provided the possibility to evaluate experiences on implementation of the
framework.
Securing, planning and managing the evaluation process is of course an important
part of being able to follow urban developments, but equally important is
collection, management and presentation of information, which should ultimately
mediate the state of the urban district development. Access to evaluation
information, especially on a district scale, can pose a great challenge and the SUM
implementation therefore addressed a pressing issue in many urban district
developments. The SUM framework rested upon urban metabolism ideas, but also
addressed the issue of scarcity of valid information in urban districts by merging
ICT-based solutions with the original ideas. The implementation of the SUM
framework was successful, in the sense that it enabled possibilities to generate real-
time feedback streams in the Stockholm Royal Seaport district. However, much
could also be learnt from the implementation process itself. Several obstacles were
encountered during the implementation, which could generate knowledge for
future work.
The main experiences vital to highlight from the implementation process were
found within the realm of identification of incentives to share information, data
collection and integration, and feedback. When project partners were approached
and asked to participate, the questions ‘Why?’ and ‘What’s in it for us?’ were often
posed by the private stakeholders. Convincing and getting the private stakeholders
on board was therefore a challenge, partly because of difficulties in conveying the
value of sharing information and the possibilities to develop business models and
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
49
value chains. Consequently, it became important to find answers to the ‘Why?’ and
‘What’s in it for us?’ questions that arose. The first question was easy to answer (To
help the city make better use of resources), but the second was more problematic.
The business models and value chains emerging from digital economics are in their
infancy and getting private stakeholders on board at an early stage was a challenge.
The solution, in this case, was to offer a business model platform where data and
services could be given or sold. The underlying idea was that where there is an
efficiency to be made, there is likely an opportunity for business. The platform was
also built upon a trust-based agreement stating: “Please share your data with us. If
we can derive value from it, there is a high likelihood that you can too, and if not,
you can pull your data services back once the project ends”. Data were eventually
provided, but an important experience from this was that not all insights and
benefits can be uncovered before integrating data and making it available. Thus
without sharing and integrating data, potential future benefits may be lost.
In parallel to the initial hesitancy to share information, there was also the challenge
of overcoming the technical difficulties in actually being able to share information.
Systems are typically design to prevent intrusions and asking project partners to
create a connection was difficult in terms of both trust and technical specification,
even with agreement from each project partner to share real-time data. The
solution was instead to reverse the process, i.e. data were sent to an external layer
with no direct link to the partners’ internal information platforms. This
demonstrates the challenges in adopting new approaches and integrating partners’
opinions. It also shows that proof-of-concept is sometimes necessary to overcome
problems.
Challenges regarding feedback were not technical, but rather involved managing
the issue of how information can be made meaningful for the recipient. The SUM
framework aimed at becoming a tool valuable for all the stakeholders in Stockholm
Royal Seaport, from citizens to the city authorities. For some stakeholders such as
developers and city officials who have clear targets, feedback design could be
relatively straightforward as they need feedback on those targets. However, for
other stakeholders, and particularly residents, producing information that was
perceived as meaningful feedback was more complicated. Despite interviews with
residents aimed at findings ways to provide feedback with appropriate context
which could facilitate better decisions, the challenge largely remained.
Despite the above challenges and issues, in a wider perspective Paper III provided
unique experience on how the SUM approach can aid urban metabolism in cities
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
50
with high sustainability targets and, ultimately, ease the process of monitoring. It
also demonstrated the possibilities of integrating multiple recipients and provided
customised real-time feedback, with future potential to add more information
streams. In a short-term perspective, the SUM framework could serve as a
foundation for realisation of the Stockholm Royal Seaport district’s sustainability
programme with regard to monitoring the goals set and the possibilities to provide
real-time feedback. Moreover, in the field of Industrial Ecology the lessons learnt
from this thesis could serve as a basis to advance SUM, and other cities that have
set high sustainability targets can use the results when implementing their
monitoring plans. Trying to put SUM in a larger, long-term perspective could have
several implications, however. For instance, as new digital infrastructures become
more abundant, the vision could be that anyone in a city or city district would be
able to receive real-time feedback on the system consequences of their choices. In
an optimal situation, these consequences should include local and global impacts
regarding environmental, social and economic aspects. If further developed, SUM
could play an important part in achieving this vision. However, achieving it would
also require research and incorporation of many more information streams.
Hurdles to overcome include how to accommodate the metabolic flows and how to
provide real-time feedback on consumption streams such as food and goods.
Implementation of these streams was not considered in the SUM framework in
Paper III, but should be considered in future attempts. Access to such feedback
could help citizens to make more informed decisions and could also help users to
more self-governance.
4.4 Potential & Limitations of Dynamic, High-resolution Meter Data
Using real-time readings from two residential buildings in the Stockholm Royal
Seaport district, Paper IV examined the potential and limitations of using dynamic,
high-resolution meter data for evaluation of energy consumption in buildings and
households. Increased resolution and dynamics showed potential from both the
building and household standpoints. It provides a possibility to increase the level of
detail in evaluation results, thereby increasing the transparency regarding how and
where energy is consumed, eases detection of deviations in structure performance
and enables inclusion of stakeholder groups such as building occupants that are not
usually considered in building evaluation.
Inclusion of all stakeholder groups affecting the total energy consumption of a
building is important, as increased knowledge can influence behavioural actions,
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
51
enable conscious decisions and potentially ease transition towards sustainability by
decreased resource and energy use. However, to have an impact, the information
needs to be understandable. Concerns regarding the commonly used building
evaluation indicator energy use per heated floor area (e.g. kWh/m2, Atemp) have
therefore been raised for a number of reasons. This indicator shows a mixture of
construction and consumption parameters, so it may not be understood by all
information receivers and, most importantly, ‘area’ is not the sole determining
factor regarding energy use.
Figure 4 shows energy consumption and carbon emissions originating from the
occupants’ consumption of hot tapwater and household electricity in relation to
apartment area in the two buildings studied in Paper IV. As can be seen from the
figure, apartment size is not the determining factor for how much energy and
carbon is consumed and emitted. The results also show that use of hot tapwater
emitted more carbon than use of household electricity. As the impact factor for
district heating is twice as high as for electricity this is not surprising, but may not
be common knowledge for all end-users.
Figure 4 Annual energy consumption and carbon emissions per energy type in 2016, related to apartment area in the two buildings studied in Paper IV
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
51 59 62 62 62 62 62 62 74 76 76 76 76 84 84 84 84 91 100 100
Ca
rb
on
Em
iss
ion
pe
r H
ou
se
ho
ld A
re
a
[kg
CO
2/m
2]
En
er
gy
Co
ns
um
pti
on
pe
r H
ou
se
ho
ld A
re
a
[kW
h/m
2]
Household Area
Household Electricity Hot Tap Water Carbon Emissions
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
52
Several challenges to fully exploiting the potential of dynamic, high-resolution
evaluation data were identified. The data need to be systematically collected,
creating a demand for meter equipment and continuous management of collected
data. Potentially sensitive household consumer data need to be managed with
regard to integrity. The incentive to react to the evaluation information may also
need to be strengthened for the commonly consumed energy streams in
multifamily homes in Sweden. Furthermore, indicator adaptations need to be
considered, in order to better exploit the full potential of dynamic, high-resolution
evaluation data.
Much of research performed in this thesis focused on the requirements and
processes needed to ensure that sustainable urban districts can be evaluated and on
what should be incorporated and considered in the evaluations. However,
quantifiable data are needed to confirm progress and be able to benchmark against
set goal levels, especially within certain areas such as building performance,
emissions levels etc. Introduction and development of ICT-based solutions
therefore represents an important advance when it comes to ways of better
understanding the built environment, as it could aid information collection. ICT
entering the built environment has also opened up new ways to evaluate and new
ways to use information in the quest for sustainability.
Building performance is currently generally evaluated on a yearly basis with a static
indicator presenting energy use per heated floor area, e.g. kWh/m2, Atemp. This
static indicator provides an overview of the performance of the structure, but leaves
room for improvement regarding the transparency of results and inclusion of
stakeholders. The indicator reveals little detail of the specifics of the performance,
thereby limiting the understanding it can mediate. If the resolution were better, it
could aid the process of tracing and/or detecting deviations as they occur, leading
to possibilities to shorten respond times for maintenance, reduce inconvenience for
tenants and save resources. Another issue with the indicator kWh/m2, Atemp is that
it contains a mixture of consumption and construction parameters. In Sweden, hot
tapwater is generally produced from heat-exchanged district heating, which is a
construction feature, while the amount consumed depends on the residents’
behaviour regarding the resource. Higher data resolution could be a way to
overcome this mixing of data and thereby improve the transparency in evaluation
data. Dynamic, high-resolution building evaluation data also allow for a degree of
flexibility regarding data presentation. For instance, presentation of pure
household consumption streams could become a reality. This would mean a
significant improvement with regard to inclusion of a stakeholder group largely
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
53
overlooked in building evaluation, namely the residents. Providing information,
with the residents as the main information receiver, on energy flows that the
residents can influence could lead to more conscious use of these energy streams.
It was shown in Paper IV, that the potential to use dynamic, high-resolution meter
data for energy evaluation was promising from both a building and household
perspective. However, to utilise this potential it must become common practice.
This is naturally to some extent a matter of data accessibility, as technical
installations need to be in place and this can present a challenge both with regard
to physical space in the buildings and the added cost associated with the
installations. Furthermore, if more detailed information is to have an impact, it
needs to be understandable without prior knowledge. Carbon emissions, and
energy as a measure by itself, can both be difficult to relate to fully. Communicating
these in ways appropriate to the receiver, e.g. by visualising the information, will
therefore become important.
As Figure 4 revealed, heated floor area is not the determining parameter regarding
resource use, but kWh/m2, Atemp is still the most frequently communicated energy
indicator for multifamily homes in Sweden. The indicator served a purpose when
detailed information was not accessible and when building evaluation was mainly
an issue of assessing constructional energy saving measures. This finding is
important, as it reveals a vital drawback in the conventional indicator for
presenting energy performance in building stocks. The findings in Paper IV
indicate that kWh/m2, Atemp is a blunt measure, as energy consumption is more
reliant on other parameters, most likely the number of residents in the apartment
unit and their consumption habits17. With the acknowledgement that the built
environment needs to be part of the solution to achieve sustainability, the kWh/m2,
Atemp indicator will not be an adequate communication tool. Furthermore, the
requirements set for the Stockholm Royal Seaport district demand that evaluation
of individual energy streams is possible and that the evaluation process is
transparent and inclusive for all stakeholders in the district. To fully exploit the
potential of this added information and include all stakeholder groups present,
better adapted indicators need to be considered.
17 Number of inhabitants in each apartment is not included in the study due to privacy reasons regulated by Swedish law.
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
54
A few challenges with dynamic, high-resolution meter data for energy evaluation
have already been raised, but it is important to mention other challenges
encountered during the course of this work. The two buildings studied in
Stockholm Royal Seaport were specifically selected because of the possibilities to
collect and analyse building performance data and occupant information with high
dynamics and resolution. Readings were first initiated in 2014 but, due to poor data
quality in 2014 and 2015, the information for those years could not be used for
further analysis. While the quality issues can have several sources of origin, this
highlights the importance of functioning management, knowledge of the installed
system and a clear plan for implementation to avoid loss of valuable information.
One additional challenge is that of personal integrity. All household consumption
data collected and analysed in this thesis were decoded, meaning that it was not
possible to link collected information with specific residents. This represented a
research limitation, e.g. since it was not possible to analyse and show energy use
per capita, but also a management challenge, since individual energy use is perhaps
one of the more interesting indicators for the individual consumer. One way to
overcome this challenge could be that consumers agrees to share their information,
but whatever solution is chosen, careful consideration is needed to avoid abusing
the integrity of the residents.
Another identified challenge concerned the incentive to react to the supplied
information. As the systems are set at present in Sweden, electricity is relatively
affordable and has a static billing tariff, meaning that there is a low monetary
incentive for reducing and/or shifting electricity loads. Moreover, the costs of
heating, water and hot tapwater are generally included in the monthly service
charge in multifamily homes, meaning that the costs are hidden to the individual,
which also reduces the monetary incentive for resource savings.
4.5 Methods Discussion
Analysing and investigating sustainable urban district development can be a path
lined with many challenges, much due to the ambiguity of the subject. Finding
suitable methods can therefore be difficult, and meeting the thesis objectives
therefore required a multiple approach, as previously explained in Chapter 3. While
the research strategy used may have been somewhat unconventional compared
with that employed in research on technical subjects, the mixed strategy was
necessary and is commonly encountered in the field of Industrial Ecology. One
explanation for the methodological challenges may lie in the fact that the field of
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
55
Industrial Ecology is relatively young, still under development and establishing
itself in new fields of application. As new areas of application are added, new
methods are adopted in an ongoing process, but meanwhile existing tools are also
adapted and used to the best extent. In addition, sustainable urban district
development could arguably also be categorised as a new field where method
adaptation is ongoing.
Linking Industrial Ecology and urban metabolism theories has been an important
advance in better understanding cities and urban districts. Industrial Ecology and
urban metabolism are an appropriate fit due to the characteristics of cities, with
their inflows and outflows of energy and materials. Ultimately, sustainable urban
development should aim at achieving the most cyclic system possible and urban
metabolism can therefore also be used to better understand how to evaluate the
journey towards sustainability. Urban metabolism theories were therefore used as a
starting point for this research, as described in Figure 2, as it possess many of the
qualities required to address the issues dealt with in the thesis. One of these
qualities was the possibility to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Papers I-III all required stakeholder input and the contextual setting of the
Stockholm set-up to be manageable and addressed in greater detail. Paper IV
required quantitative data, which it was possible to derive through the work and
results from the qualitative studies. The umbrella-like nature of urban metabolism
studies is sometimes criticised, but in this work it was crucial for information
collection, as no single route could fully provide required information. Instead, the
combination of qualitative approaches used, which entailed the single case study
setting, interviews and workshops with appropriate stakeholders and qualitative
use of the FSSD, provided possibilities to penetrate and realise the thesis
objectives. Furthermore, as in-depth urban metabolism can include quantification
of specific energy and material streams, it was able to provide a base for all four
research objectives in this thesis (Papers I-IV).
The FSSD used in Paper I is an independent methodology not usually associated
with urban metabolism, but it could be argued to fit under the umbrella of urban
metabolism in this case. Since FSSD was used to describe a holistic template for an
ecologically sustainable planet with regard to the framework’s sustainability
principles and to frame important sectors for urban development, it was much in
line with the ideas of urban metabolism when applied to the Stockholm Royal
Seaport case. It can thereby be viewed as a supplementary tool for identification of
gaps from the desired scenario in the realm of urban metabolism to reach urban
sustainability.
4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
56
Urban metabolism work has long struggled with limited access to valid data,
limiting the possibilities to perform detailed studies. The problem has become
more severe as urban metabolism has started to be applied on the district scale.
Gaining access to detailed information on the district scale will ultimately
determine the progress and the state of development. The development and initial
implementation of the SUM framework could therefore be seen as a way to
overcome the information scarcity. While development of the SUM framework was
a modest start, it shows the potential to develop both urban metabolism and
Industrial Ecology by introducing and merging ICT as a facilitator for information
collection.
A vital question working in a single case study setting is that of how results
translate outside the study area and how generalizable they are (Yin, 2009). It was
therefore important to review the thesis results in this light. Several of the
presented results are independent from Stockholm Royal Seaport and thereby fully
transferable to other district development projects with the intention to
incorporate sustainability. The importance to account for both local and global
sustainability and include a holistic approach in goal setting and implementation
presented in Paper I, acknowledging the complexity of evaluating for sustainability
and the importance to secure the evaluation process as presented in Paper II, the
ICT-enabled framework based in urban metabolism presented in Paper III and
value of dynamic, high-resolution meter data presented in Paper IV are all
examples of such results. Results which were unfolded in a Stockholm Royal
Seaport and Swedish setting could nevertheless be relevant for other sustainable
district developments, as adaptations could be made to other contexts and
experiences transferred. Such results include those coupled to the specifics of the
environmental and sustainability programme and the proposed evaluation model
in Papers I and II. In addition, they include organisational concerns, stakeholder
collaboration and the unfolded potential barriers regarding these presented in
Papers I, II and III.
5. CONCLUSIONS
57
5 Conclusions
Evaluating the built environment with the objective of determining sustainability
will involve a need to account for both local and global sustainability. Ultimately,
this means that local district development should adopt a holistic approach to
sustainability and also include this perspective in goal setting and implementation,
as shown in Paper I. In the Stockholm Royal Seaport case, applying a structured
frame (FSSD) to analyse the environmental and sustainability programme framing
the goals for the development revealed that the programme complied relatively well
with the suggested holistic approach to sustainability in theory, but suffered from
shortcomings when translated into practice. Too narrow a perspective on the
sustainable urban district and lack of robust sustainability principles and use of
these for identification of key strategic question were the main identified reasons. A
structured and all-embracing framework, sufficient to use in both theory and
practice, made it possible to identify the weaknesses in the programme. The results
indicated that use of a structured frame in the programme design phase can
strengthen the programme and minimise the risk of built-in problems.
The work presented in Paper II shows the complexity of evaluating for
sustainability. The main challenges in designing and implementing a functioning
evaluation process to determine sustainability in the built environment lie within
the ambiguity in defining sustainability, the difficulty in incorporating a holistic
approach to sustainability and the greater organisation and management demands
of the process. Analysis of the Stockholm Royal Seaport case verified some of the
theoretical results presented in Table 1. The Stockholm Royal Seaport district
represents a development where the evaluation process is clearly stated to be
important, but nevertheless struggles with the full implications. The proposed
evaluation model was shown to manage core evaluation activities well; it provides a
strong and easily understandable vision, it acknowledges that the evaluation
process should be continuous and it is generally clear who should benefit from the
evaluation information. The evaluation model also demonstrates the practical
utility of grouping sustainability aspects into themes and the possibility and value
of selecting themes which could be relatable. However, the model cannot manage
the process generated by the ideas of a more holistic and dynamic evaluation
5. CONCLUSIONS
58
process necessary in the field of sustainability. It shows drawbacks in the areas of
indicator selection, data collection and organisational structure. Furthermore, the
model and the underlying environmental and sustainability programme fail to
address how sustainability is defined and which system boundaries should be used.
To ease information and data collection, an ICT-enabled framework based in urban
metabolism was introduced and tested in Stockholm Royal Seaport (Paper III). The
framework implementation provided unique experience and proof-of-concept on
how SUM can help cities with high sustainability targets to collect and process
information from urban districts. Implementation of the SUM framework resulted
in the possibility to provide real-time feedback on four key indicators. It also led to
the identification of several limitations in the framework. The most significant
limitations were access to business-sensitive data and trust among data owners,
unclear business opportunities for industrial partners, a steep learning curve for
members of the consortium and privacy concerns. Operational and technical
limitations identified were dominated by failed integration of data streams,
incomplete datasets and data gaps.
The analysis of the potential and limitations of using dynamic, high-resolution
meter data for evaluation of energy consumption in buildings and households done
in Paper IV identified potential for both the building and household standpoints.
Dynamic, high-resolution meter data can improve the understanding mediated by
the evaluation information compared with conventional static building evaluation.
By increasing the level of detail in the evaluation results, deviations in structure
performance can be detected more easily and stakeholders not usually considered
in building evaluations can be included. The possibility to achieve comprehensive
stakeholder inclusion is important, as the total energy consumption of buildings is
affected not only by construction parameters, but also by the behaviour actions of
its occupants. However, for occupants to react to the information provided, it needs
to be understandable. Concerns have been raised regarding the commonly used
building evaluation indicator energy use per heated floor area (e.g.
kWh/m2(Atemp)). It has been identified as an insufficient communication tool for
two main reasons, energy consumption is mainly reliant on parameters other than
floor area and it mixes construction and consumption information, making it
difficult to interpret without prior knowledge and.
Four main challenges to fully exploiting the potential of dynamic, high-resolution
evaluation data were identified. Data need to be systematically collected, creating a
demand for meter equipment and continuous management of collected data.
5. CONCLUSIONS
59
Potentially sensitive household consumer data need to be managed with regards to
integrity. The incentives to react to the evaluation information may need to be
strengthened for the commonly consumed energy streams in multifamily homes in
Sweden. Furthermore, adaptations of indicators need to be considered, in order to
better exploit the full potential of dynamic, high-resolution evaluation data.
6. FUTURE RESEARCH & AUTHOR’S REFLECTIONS
61
6 Future Research & Author’s Reflections
This thesis investigated evaluation approaches at the district scale, using
Stockholm Royal Seaport as the test arena. The work was a promising start on how
to understand, approach and conduct sustainability evaluation of urban city
districts, but work remains to be done. In Papers I and II, the main focus was on
the evaluation process and how to secure and perform sustainability evaluations of
the built environment. In Papers III and IV, data accessibility and use of dynamic,
high-resolution evaluation information were investigated. In all cases, more
research is required.
Paper I convincingly demonstrated that a holistic all-embracing frame could
facilitate determination of sustainability targets, as showcased using the Stockholm
Royal Seaport environmental and sustainability programme, but the knowledge
obtained needs to be better transferred into practice. Potential for formulating
better guiding sustainability programmes was shown, but the key to achieving
sustainability improvements will lie in its practical future application. Future
studies should focus on how the process demonstrated could be reversed, i.e. how
to develop and formulate these guiding documents from a robust frame instead of
determining at a later stage whether the documents can meet the goals set and
guide progress towards sustainability. Related evaluation activities also need to be
raised on the agenda.
Paper II successfully identified key evaluation processes required to evaluate the
state of an urban development, but an important reflection is that in many cases
the evaluation process is added at a later stage. The problems arising with the late
approach have been revealed earlier, but an interesting aspect is that this pattern
seems to keep being repeated. The evaluation strategy should preferably be
developed alongside planning of an urban district development, but how to achieve
this need to be further investigated and developed. A possible barrier, and a
possible explanation for the repeated late approach pattern seen in Sweden, could
be the use of conventional planning routes. Planning and realising new urban
developments is a time-consuming endeavour involving numerous governing
bodies, city offices etc., all of which work according to a predetermined agenda.
6. FUTURE RESEARCH & AUTHOR’S REFLECTIONS
62
Transforming the process by making room for changes, e.g. evaluation demands
and strategies, will be a challenge, but a necessary step to break the recurring
pattern.
Some required future work with regard to SUM framework implementation is
mentioned in the Results & Discussion (Chapter 4), as part of the results from the
implementation process. However, a vital and important aspect for the future will
be indicator adaptation. As identified in both Papers III and IV, there is a need to
develop more suitable indicators for the end receiver as new stakeholder groups
begin contributing to transformation of the built environment. There are many
challenges in deriving such indicators, but they are urgently needed so that
everyone affecting the built environment can take actions to make it more
sustainable. Following on from Paper IV, further studies regarding specific
personal energy saving potential need to be performed. Paper IV successfully
demonstrated the potential for using dynamic, high-resolution meter data for
energy evaluation in buildings and households, but it did not attempt to quantify
the energy savings potential. Quantifying possible energy savings should therefore
be a future step, as well as scaling up the analysis to include additional buildings
and households.
REFERENSES
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