Stockholm - SLL Tillväxt, miljö och regionplanering (TMR ...

316SUMMARYThe Stockholm Region in the mid-1990sIn 1994 the Office of Regional Planning and UrbanTransportation began work on further regional planning.Work commenced without a formal decision asto what the final result of the process should be. Nodecision was thus taken to establish a new regional plan,to replace the 1991 Regional Plan, until 1998.When the new regional planning work got underway,the premises for regional planning had changed. In thethree areas which traditionally formed the central focusof regional planning, population growth, employmentand housing construction, the assumptions of the 1991Regional Plan had proved to be substantially in errorwhen compared to the actual developments. The economiccrisis drew attention to the high internationaldependency of Sweden and the Stockholm Region. Thefall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the disintegration of theSoviet Union in 1991 and Sweden’s EU accession in1995 had a major impact on international relations inthe Baltic Sea Region.The economic crisis and immigration of refugeesaccentuated the region’s large social distinctions. Theoverall unemployment rate in the region swelled to adouble-digit figure for the first time since the 1930s;in some areas it rose to well over 50 per cent.The economic crisis also ended up affecting decisionmakingin transportation questions. This was partlybecause it became more difficult to finance the economicinvestments involved in the so-called “DennisPackage”, and partly because the reduced economicactivity in addition resulted in a reduction in traffic.When the government unilaterally withdrew from theDennis agreement in 1997, the result was high uncertaintyconcerning the future traffic infrastructure.In other words, in 1994 the premises for further regionalplanning work were far from clear in a largenumber of areas. There was scarcely any political supportfor the immediate production in a traditional mannerof a new regional plan of the traditional type. Insteada more exploratory approach was attempted. Thework commenced when the Committee for RegionalPlanning and Urban Transportation decided, in November1993, to compose scenarios for the Region’slong-term development as a first step in the process.Part 2: The ProcessThe Uncertain FutureThe Office of Regional Planning and Urban Transportationbegan work towards drafting a long-termstrategy for the Stockholm Region in the autumn of1995 with the presentation of the scenario documentThe Uncertain Future. Three very different future imageswere presented for the Region in the long term. Boththe publication and the new approach attracted a greatdeal of interest.The scenario work began in the winter 1993–1994under the right-wing County Council majority and underthe direction of Ralph Lédel as committee chairman.The work was introduced by studies in scenario workand scenario techniques. It was especially important toanalyse those forces and events which affect developmentin different areas. During 1994, a series of meetingswere held with invited experts and critics, andrepresentatives from the committee, the municipalitiesand various organisations.The basic concerns which the Office regarded as mostsignificant for regional planning and the developmentof the region were its economic, environmental and socialdevelopment, population growth, political decision-makingmandate and the balance between collectivevs. individual solutions. The three scenarios knownas The Gap (Klyftan), Bridge-building (Brobygget) and