Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm is crafting policies and using planning to create a more sustainable society. The planning system in Sweden is termed “community planning”, which is a system that focuses on enhancing or altering the production and consumption of society that is normally left up to the market to determine. Planning is about formulating strategies to improve the quality of life for Swedes and the quality of the natural environment. Planning and environmental policies focus on this “dual” purpose of urban development patterns and green space preservation—crafting guidelines and policies to ensure that humans are close to nature and that natural areas maintain their ecological functions.