Scania ecoguide

Ekostaden Augustenborg

Project data     Status:  Project started 1998, first phase finished 2003, second phase starts under 2004 Partners:   MKB housing cooperation, City of Malmö Size:  3000 inhabitants, 1800 apartments, 32 ha, of this 3 Ha is an industrial area Benefits:  Reduction of negavtive environmental impact calculated to 15 %per capita. 65 % of waste recycled, 60 % reduction in rainwater leaving the area to the wastewater treatment plant Cost:  Total investments 150 million SEK, financial suppo Contact person:  Trevor Graham Tel:   +46 (0)703-43 70 39 E-mail:   trevor.graham@malmo.se

Background

Augustenborg was built in the post war period as a pioneer of the new Swedish housing policy. Construction started in 1948. The area gained international acclaim in Sweden and Europe as a model of future urban living, and consisted of high quality accommodation, schools, shops, local employment, social facilities and a pleasant environment. During subsequent decades industrial decline and associated social and economic problems have hit the area hard.

A number of different departments within the City of Malmö, Fosie SDF, the local city borough, and the municipal housing company MKB initiated the Ekostaden Augustenborg project and have been working together with local residents to revitalise the area, to make it a more socially, economically and ecologically sustainable neighbourhood. The project is partially financed through Malmö’s Local Investment Programme for 1998-2002. Ekostaden Augustenborg is one of Sweden’s largest urban sustainability projects, covering the residential area, the school and an industrial area. The aim is to create a higher degree of resident’s participation and jobs locally, and to make the area a model for similar revitalisation projects in Malmö and Sweden.

Sustainable building

The original character of the buildings had been damaged in the ’70s by covering the facades with external insulation and steel sheeting. This also has had a negative effect on the internal environment in certain houses with problems with damp, ventilation and temperature control. This covering of the walls has been removed and a new insulation layer has been covered with skimmed painted render in five buildings, the remaining to be done in a rolling programme over a longer period.

Thirteen resource houses have been erected with sound materials and green roofs, one of them with straw and clay walls. The school has a new demountable ecological pavilion, with solar panels and a urine-separating compost-toilet. A communal house for the elderly has been built with sound materials and a green roof, as an extension to an older building now adapted for people with mobility problems, and a new house with flats for the elderly has erected on the unsightly concrete roof of a large underground garage.

9000 m2 of green roof has been created on Kommunteknik’s industrial area. The roofs form a unique botanical roof garden, where Europe’s most comprehensive multidisciplinary research and development programme on different aspects of green roofs is carried out.

Green structures and rainwater managment

The large green roof project is a part of both rainwater management and the green structures. The area had problems with flooding of the cellars in heavy rains. As the roofs of the industrial area were a large rainwater-collecting surface, applying the green roofs minimises runoff and the new rainwater management system starts here. Elsewhere in the area the rainwater is led in into a series of open channels collecting the run-off from most of the hard surfaces, taking it into holding and flooding ponds before the water leaves the area. The actions taken will ultimately result in a 70 % decrease in the run-off water that leaves the area. The courtyards and Augustenborg’s park have been redeveloped together with the residents. The ponds and new planting also contributes to biodiversity.

Eco-cycle, waste management 

The residents recycle nine fractions and compost organic waste in huge compost machines in the new resource houses placed within a short distance from the flats. This action means that ultimately 80 % of the waste from Augustenborg will be collected and recycled or reused.
An ecological management plan for the area has been developed that contains waste handling, composting of garden waste and a fossil-fuel free machine park for maintenance of the common green areas.

Traffic

The world’s first electric road train operated in the area providing a link between outlying areas and a central bus depot and local services such as health centres, chemists and banks. The Green Line unfortunatley closed down in 2003.

Traffic The world’s first electric road train operated in the area providing a link between outlying areas and a central bus depot and local services such as health centres, chemists and banks. The Green Line unfortunatley closed down in 2003.

	Links
ekostaden.com

	Photo gallery