Fifty participants joined the webinar Energy in Urban Planning on May 2, 2024. Electrification and the sustainability transition have several points of reference with cities’ energy supply and urban planning. The webinar started with a report from the EU-funded initiatives that are underway to support southern Sweden municipalities in developing their energy plans, by Energikontor Syd and the County Administrative Board of Blekinge.
«Electricity security is crucial for overall societal development»
said Mrs Cecilia Näslund of Boverket. She commented on a guidance on how to integrate the electricity grid in urban planning that Boverket released in December 2023. Cecilia Näslund emphasized the importance of coordination, as well as careful assessments and conscious design to ensure a pleasant and appealing living environment for residents and local professionals. Electricity security can only be achieved through the cooperation of several authorities. Cecilia Näslund focused on the web of plans that modern urban planning is based on. For example, urban planners need to be aware of local electricity grids, local electricity network companies, local production facilities, and specific buildings that require vast amounts of power. In addition to that, an individual city’s access to power may very well be restricted by neighbouring cities’ power consumption.
The realisation of national plans for electrification will primarily take place on-site in regions and cities. To supply the power required locally and regionally, regions and cities can either increase power production or build energy storage. Solutions may include to upgrade and expand the power grid, to use more alternative energy sources, or to plan the physical environment in a more energy-efficient way. Listen to Cecilia Näslund’s lecture here (in Swedish)
RISE offers education on energy in physical planning
Mrs Stina Stenqvist from the Research Institutes of Sweden AB (RISE) began her lecture by explaining how physical planners can tackle the challenges of the energy system. She emphasised how collaboration within and outside a city, clear goals and plans, as well as political agreement across terms of office, increase the chances of success. To address the organizational challenges of the energy system, cities should break down high level goals into action plans and use spatial scenarios to clarify how the goals can be achieved. Stina Stenqvist also highlighted the importance of following up on the goals.
Finally, Stina Stenqvist introduced several checklists to help facilitate the work and talked about the importance of including the energy dimension in urban master plans. Listen to Stina Stenqvist’s lecture (in Swedish)