IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i11p4454-d365164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Developing Citylab Post-Construction—A Swedish Certification System to Evaluate the Sustainability of Urban Areas

Author

Listed:
  • Jonas Lind

    (Sweden Green Building Council, Långholmsgatan 34, 117 33 Stockholm, Sweden
    Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering (SEED), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Tove Malmqvist

    (Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering (SEED), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Josefin Wangel

    (Department of Urban and Rural Development, SLU Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7012, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden)

Abstract

This paper describes the development of Citylab Post-Construction, a Swedish certification system for evaluating the sustainability performance of urban areas in a post-construction phase once the area is inhabited. The process design was based on transdisciplinary and research-through-design approaches, and involved experts and practitioners within Swedish urban planning, real estate and construction sector. This paper is not highlighting the certification system per se, but rather the process of developing it, with the aim of increasing the understanding of such design processes. A previously developed, but so far untested, framework of key considerations for certification systems was used to clarify benefits and drawbacks of different design decisions. The framework was used in all steps of the process, from defining the overall structure, to selecting indicators, formulating detailed requirements and assessing comments of the open consultation of a draft version. The framework of key considerations proved useful in supporting this process, by highlighting conflicts as well as synergies and creating transparency with respect to trade-offs needed between being e.g., scientifically credible but still practical enough. While it is difficult to separate the framework from the process in which it was put to use, we believe that the framework can be supportive also in other processes, both for developing new certification systems or for refining and evaluating existing ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonas Lind & Tove Malmqvist & Josefin Wangel, 2020. "Developing Citylab Post-Construction—A Swedish Certification System to Evaluate the Sustainability of Urban Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-22, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4454-:d:365164
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4454/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4454/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonas Lind & Tove Malmqvist & Josefin Wangel, 2019. "Key Considerations When Designing Certification Systems for Urban Sustainability and Implications for The Swedish Post-Construction System Citylab," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Amr Ah. Gouda & Houshmand E. Masoumi, 2018. "Certifications systems as independent and rigorous tools for assessing urban sustainability," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 308-321, July.
    3. Sofie Pandis Iverot & Nils Brandt, 2011. "The development of a sustainable urban district in Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1043-1064, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xavier Faure & Tim Johansson & Oleksii Pasichnyi, 2022. "The Impact of Detail, Shadowing and Thermal Zoning Levels on Urban Building Energy Modelling (UBEM) on a District Scale," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Adil, Ali M. & Ko, Yekang, 2016. "Socio-technical evolution of Decentralized Energy Systems: A critical review and implications for urban planning and policy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1025-1037.
    3. Attila Buzási & Bettina Szimonetta Jäger, 2021. "Exploratory Analysis of Urban Sustainability by Applying a Strategy-Based Tailor-Made Weighting Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Anette Hallin & Tina Karrbom‐Gustavsson & Peter Dobers, 2021. "Transition towards and of sustainability—Understanding sustainability as performative," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1948-1957, May.
    5. Daniël M Bossuyt & Federico Savini, 2018. "Urban sustainability and political parties: Eco-development in Stockholm and Amsterdam," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(6), pages 1006-1026, September.
    6. Jonas Lind & Tove Malmqvist & Josefin Wangel, 2019. "Key Considerations When Designing Certification Systems for Urban Sustainability and Implications for The Swedish Post-Construction System Citylab," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, May.
    7. Candel, Melissa & Paulsson, Jenny, 2023. "Enhancing public value with co-creation in public land development: The role of municipalities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    8. Zaheer Allam & Simon Elias Bibri & Didier Chabaud & Carlos Moreno, 2022. "The Theoretical, Practical, and Technological Foundations of the 15-Minute City Model: Proximity and Its Environmental, Social and Economic Benefits for Sustainability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Iveroth, Sofie Pandis & Johansson, Stefan & Brandt, Nils, 2013. "The potential of the infrastructural system of Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm, Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 716-726.
    10. Luka Oreskovic & Rajat Gupta, 2022. "Enabling Sustainable Lifestyles in New Urban Areas: Evaluation of an Eco-Development Case Study in the UK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, March.
    11. Michaela Koller & Karl Eckert & Uwe Ferber & Gudrun Gräbe & Maic Verbücheln & Katja Wendler, 2022. "Resource Management as Part of Sustainable Urban District Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, April.
    12. Luciane Aguiar Borges & Feras Hammami & Josefin Wangel, 2020. "Reviewing Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment Tools through Critical Heritage Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-15, February.
    13. Haohui Wu & Yajuan Yu & Shanshan Li & Kai Huang, 2018. "An Empirical Study of the Assessment of Green Development in Beijing, China: Considering Resource Depletion, Environmental Damage and Ecological Benefits Simultaneously," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-25, March.
    14. Zaheer Allam & Simon Elias Bibri & Didier Chabaud & Carlos Moreno, 2022. "The Theoretical, Practical, and Technological Foundations of the 15-Minute City Model: Proximity and Its Environmental, Social and Economic Benefits for Sustainability," Post-Print hal-03997394, HAL.
    15. Paiho, Satu & Hoang, Ha & Hukkalainen, Mari, 2017. "Energy and emission analyses of solar assisted local energy solutions with seasonal heat storage in a Finnish case district," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 147-155.
    16. Udo Pesch & Anne-Lorène Vernay & Ellen van Bueren & Sofie Pandis Iverot, 2017. "Niche entrepreneurs in urban systems integration: On the role of individuals in niche formation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(8), pages 1922-1942, August.
    17. Bibri, Simon Elias, 2022. "Eco-districts and data-driven smart eco-cities: Emerging approaches to strategic planning by design and spatial scaling and evaluation by technology," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4454-:d:365164. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.