Environmental policies and urban planning in Sweden. Goals, instruments and strategies

Abstract

The main topic of this paper is Swedish environmental policies and urban planning in the framework of the Rio declaration and the Agenda 21 document. Aside from the introduction the paper is in four parts. Taking its point of departure in a survey of the development of Swedish environmentalism during the 20th century until Rio I 992, the paper in the second part analyses the goals and instruments as formulated in the flood of official documents following the Rio Conference. The regulatory, financial and other instruments proposed to fulfil the official strategies are also examined, with special regard to the role of local government in implementing environmental policies. In the third part, some examples of urban environmental planning and policies are presented and critically discussed. In conclusion we briefly highlight some issues of principle to be addressed when examining the proccsses and outcomes of urban environmental policies and planning.