Ett ombyggt fyrhjuligt fordon, vanligtvis en personbil eller traktor, som får framföras i max 30 km/h. Benämns ofta i vardagligt tal som EPA-traktor. Åldersgränsen är 15 år och kräver AM-körkort eller traktorkort. A-traktor ska utrustas med en så kallad LGF-skylt som varnar för långsamtgående fordon.
Namnets ursprung kopplas till lågpriskedjan EPA (numera en del av Åhléns) och ska reflektera EPA-traktorns låga pris och enklare kvalité. Under 2010-talet har A-traktorernas popularitet i Sverige ökat kraftigt, och en ny musikgenre, så kallad EPA-dunk, har vuxit fram med popu- lära akter som Fröken Snusk och Hooja. Sedan 31 augusti 2023 gäller bälteskrav för A-traktorer, och det får numera bara färdas en person per sittplats och bälte. Ett medialt mycket uppmärksammat exempel är den 10 ton tunga Scania-lastbil som byggts om till A-traktor och tillhörde en 15-åring på Gotland.
Flagship buildings are promoted as a good strategy to stimulate economic development. Pushed by a range of actors, “best practice” examples are being copied from place to place around the globe. Flagship buildings are accompanied by a discourse of place branding that stresses a need for cities to improve their attractiveness. Drawing on this discourse and ongoing discussions on deterritorialization and reterritorialization in urban and economic geography, the author argues that there is an overly deterritorialized approach to flagship buildings in the place-branding literature. Using a conceptual framework inspired by the reterritorialization debate, she introduces the concept of “flagship space,” emphasizing a dualism in place branding encompassing both deterritorialized and territorial processes that in interplay create best-practice examples. The empirical analysis examines the development of five flagship hotels in Sweden. The author concludes that the five hotels have both created and are constantly reproducing their statuses as flagship developments. However, the creation and reproduction of status is not only upheld by the operators of the hotels but is also a joint effort of actors in the local community. Through these processes and practices the understanding of the hotels is broadened from merely being flagship buildings to creators of flagship space.
Ideas about green cities, good architecture and planning are often shared among professionals working in the field of urban planning and design during conferences, workshops, and meetings. But how is what is considered ‘good’ or ‘best’ in planning and policy decided? And where do we learn about good ideas, places to visit, and projects to be inspired by? Are there any potential risks or challenges inherent to following in the wake of the same ‘inspiring’ reference objects as everyone else—regardless of whether it is a city, a neighbourhood, or a building? This article makes the case for a policy mobilities perspective for understandinghow ideas about the green city are conceptualized, formulated, and mobilized in urban policy. Drawing on a growing body of literature in geography and urban studies, the article argues for the usefulness of adopting a policy mobilities perspective when working with(in) green city policy, also for scholars outside the field of geography. Using the case of multistorey housing in wood in Sweden, the article presents three different perspectives on how ideas about green cities are formulated and mobilized.
Place branding is commonly conceptualized with a focus on big cities, such as London, New York and Singapore, building from concepts and models from mainstream branding theory. In contrast to such conceptualizations, this thesis focuses on place branding in small and medium-sized cities. The present thesis aims to study place branding from a geographical perspective. It starts with debates theoretical and empirical understandings of place branding; what it is and how it is affecting the places where it is introduced. The thesis develops and argues for a perspective of territoriality and relationality to place branding discussing concepts, methods and empirical approaches to carry out place branding research using geographical perspectives. Empirically, this thesis focuses on in-depth studies of place branding in small and medium-sized cities in Sweden. By analyzing the development of place branding over the course of time, nuances and aspects of both territorial and relational origin emerge, situating place branding practices within a wider spatial contextualization. Four individual papers are presented, which taken together contribute to the aim of the thesis. Paper 1 introduces the place branding research field in geography and how it has developed; Paper 2 investigates the phenomena of flagship buildings located in small cities and towns; Paper 3 discusses the relationship between policy tourism and place branding; and Paper 4 analyzes how local environmental policies are affected by green place branding. The thesis demonstrates the complex and continuously interchangeable spatial structures and place contexts that create and re-produce the geographies of place branding. Here, research models and methodological examples are presented to illustrate how place branding can be studied from a geographical perspective and thus improve theoretical understandings of place branding.
Policymobilitet är temat för 2018 års Ymer. Det är ett forskningsområde som vuxit kraftigt under de senaste två decennierna. Som praktik har dock policymobilitet förekommit betydligt längre än så, inte minst inom samhällsplanering och politik. Här har intresset för att hämta inspiration från andra platser och att lära sig av andras erfarenheter varit etablerat sedan länge. I den här boken presenteras en lång rad olika perspektiv på policy, och på dess sociala och rumsliga mobilitet och påverkan. Kapitlen diskuterar nutida och historiska exempel från Sverige i huvudsak, men även från Norge, Danmark, Ghana, Kenya och Sudan. Kapitlen diskuterar policy med olika perspektiv på skala - från det lokala och regionala till det nationella och internationella. Tillsammans bidrar dessa med en fördjupad kunskap om såväl policy som policymobilitet, och om hur makt, traditioner och strukturer påverkar hur policy utformas och sprids till olika platser.
A growing number of cities around the world have taken advantage of their green image of the purpose of place branding. In the research literature, it is suggested that these practices are motivated by place-based competition over financial and social capital, combined with more holistic motives of sustainable urban development. However, although an increasing number of green cities are engaged in place branding, few studies have researched the impact of place branding on environmental policy-making in a city. What happens to local environmental policy-making when a framework of place branding embraces it? Addressing this issue, this paper discusses how the continuity of local environmental policy-making is affected by place-branding practices. To tackle this task, the paper first introduces an analytical framework of the elements in environmental policy-making that have been identified as generating a green status for cities. Secondly, using that framework, this paper present an in-depth case study of a city branding itself as the “Greenest city in Europe”. Drawing on the growing body of work on green cities, this paper investigates the “understudied” practice of using policy for the purpose of place branding as well as the impact of place branding “on the environment”.
A growing number of cities around the world have taken advantage of their green image of the purpose of place branding. In the research literature, it is suggested that these practices are motivated by place-based competition over financial and social capital, combined with more holistic motives of sustainable urban development. However, although an increasing number of green cities are engaged in place branding, few studies have researched the impact of place branding on environmental policy-making in a city, building up to the question: how is local environmental policy-making affected by green place branding? Addressing this issue, this paper critically investigates how the continuity of local environmental policy-making is affected by place-branding practices. To tackle this task, the paper firstly develops an analytical framework aiming to understand how green cities emerge and become famous based on their policy-making. Secondly, using that framework, this paper present an in-depth case study of a city branding itself as the 'Greenest City in Europe'. Drawing on the growing body of work on green cities, this paper investigates the 'understudied' practice of using policy for the purpose of place branding as well as the impact of place branding 'on the environment'.
En årligen återkommande enkätundersökning som genomförs av branschföreningen Svensk Kollektivtrafik sedan 2001. Här inhämtas synpunkter på kollektivtrafiken från resenärer och medborgare över hela landet.
Ett mindre väggående fordon som vanligtvis är utformat som en mindre personbil eller lastbil, men som varken klassas som bil eller moped. Mopedbilar (även kallade triangelbilar) får inte färdas snabbare än 45 km/h, har en åldersgräns på 15 år och kräver behörighet för AM-körkort. Mopedbilen förknippas med en ny form av bilkultur som sprider sig ner i åldrarna, och antalet registrerade moped- bilar har ökat kraftigt i Sverige under 2010-talet, dock inte lika mycket som antalet A-traktorer under samma period.
Ett inom kollektivtrafikbranschen viktigt nyckeltal som varje år samlas in genom den så kallade “Kollektivtrafikbaro- metern” av Svensk Kollektivtrafik. Används regelbundet av de regionala kollektivtrafikmyndigheterna som ett mått på utvecklingen av allmän kollektivtrafik i respektive län.
A growing trend among policy-makers is to regard place branding as a crucial component of regional development strategies. Alongside this shift in policy, research on place branding has increased drastically throughout the social sciences, building on concepts and ideas from corporate branding. This research has been given a number of critical testimonies claiming that place branding lacks coherent theoretical frameworks based on research findings, that it promotes simplified perspectives of places and that little empirical evidence is found to support positive effects of place branding. Branding is at the same time argued to be inherently geographical, since it is situated in and associated with spaces and places. Based on these claims and with the aim to contribute to the understanding of this emerging literature, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the conceptual development of place branding research in human geography making three claims: Firstly, the theoretical understandings of place branding have moved beyond a conceptual framework stemming from corporate branding. Secondly, these theoretical developments are mainly derived from empirically based research. Thirdly, geographers, by studying place branding using various conceptions of place as defined in human geography, are making distinctive conceptual contributions to the multi-disciplinary research field of place branding.
Sedan 2012 är 21 regionala kollektivtrafikmyndigheter ansvariga för planeringen av allmän kollektivtrafik i Sverige. Dessa kan vara organiserade genom den regionala förvaltningen i länet, som ett regionalt bolag eller som ett kommunalförbund. På Gotland är kommunen kollektivtra- fikmyndighet. Ett viktigt dokument för dess myndigheter är de regionala trafikförsörjningsprogrammen som beskriver den tänkta utvecklingen av allmän kollektivtrafik i respektive län.
This paper makes the case that conferences and award ceremonies are important means through which best practices are presented as being successful, transferable and transformative. To do this, it draws on the expanding literature on policy mobilities and a case study of the European Week of Regions and Cities conference and one of the centrepieces at the conference, the RegioStars awards ceremony. Organised by public bodies within the European Union and European Commission, these events take place annually in Brussels, and focus on best practice in regional and urban policy. The paper elaborates on its main argument in three ways. The first is that award ceremonies and conferences shape and are shaped by institutional, spatial and scalar dynamics. The second being that learning and educating are central to the performance of conferences, award ceremonies and the associated mobilisation of policies. The third argument is that such events have important consequences for those hosting the events.
Interest has grown over recent years in policy programs targeting a green, bio-based economy. In the European Union, the European Commission promotes the development of bioeconomy policy and encourages the use of biomass and waste for industrial purposes. Alongside these technical dimensions, European bioeconomy policy also promotes knowledge sharing, learning from others, and so-called ‘best practice’. Consequently, many European places and policymakers that have committed to developing a bio-based economy are now sharing their positive policy experiences. However, sharing ‘best practice’ for green economy policy programs has sometimes been described as producing oversimplified views of complex climate issues. Despite such criticisms, policymakers continue to search for and share bioeconomy policy ‘best practice’. This paper explores the development of bioeconomy policy with a focus on shareability and dissemination of ‘best practice’ in two Swedish regions, Värmland and Västerbotten. Herein, we adopt the conceptual underpinnings of urban policy mobilities to explain green policymaking, and more specifically bioeconomy policy development on a regional scale. So far, policy mobilities research has had a primarily urban focus, whereas this paper provides valuable insights into how these processes take place within regional and more peripheral settings. Thus, we seek to understand the role of ‘best practice’ in the development of regional bioeconomy policies and which elements of these policies are promoted as transferable elsewhere.
Sambandet mellan persontransporter och de globala utsläppen av växthusgaser är väldokumenterat (IEA, 2014; Sims et al, 2014). I Sverige bidrar transportsektorn, och här framförallt personbilstrafik, till en tredjedel av den totala mängden utsläpp av växthusgaser (Naturvårdsverket, 2017). På samma gång anses transportsektorn, och här särskilt kollektivtrafiken, ha stor potential att bidra till att minska den totala mängden utsläpp av växthusgaser (Banister, 2011b; Hultén et al, 2018; Paulsson et al, 2017; Paulsson, 2018). Detta har motiverat att internationella och nationella politiskt uppsatta mål riktar sig mot att begränsa transportsektorns klimateffekter. På den globala nivån är Parisavtalets målsättning om minskade utsläpp för att begränsa klimatförändringens effekter av stor vikt. Genom de så kallade stadmiljöavtalen, som är ett nationellt program i Sverige sedan 2015, kan kommuner och regioner söka medel för att införa åtgärder som ska leda till "energieffektiva lösningar med låga utsläpp av växthusgaser" (Statens författningssamling, 2015). Här är åtgärder för kollektivtrafik ett betonat område. I det här kapitlet är utmaningen om miljömässigt hållbar utveckling för och genom kollektivtrafik den centrala utgångspunkten, samtidigt som detta behöver diskuteras som en del av hållbar utveckling i ett bredare perspektiv. En integrerad syn på hållbar utveckling är en av grundstenarna för de Globala målen antagna av FNs medlemsländer 2015. Mål om hållbara transporter omfattas av de Globala målen, som exempelvis mål 11 i Agenda 2030 vilket handlar om hållbara städer och samhällen (Globala målen och Agenda 2030). Här betonas att kollektivtrafiken är ett viktigt medel för att uppnå social hållbarhet och att utveckla ett "transportsystem för alla" (delmål 11.2). Det övergripande ansvaret för att planera för kollektivtrafik i Sverige ligger på de regionala kollektivtrafikmyndigheterna (RKM). Dessa är dock beroende av att samverka med en rad olika aktörer för att kollektivtrafikplaneringen ska kunna utföras, vilket omfattar kommuner, trafikföretag, resenärsgrupper, handelsföreningar (Paulsson et al, 2018), branschorganisationer, olika myndigheter och angränsande regioner. Den statliga regleringen för regional kollektivtrafikplanering tilldelar RKM en roll som kan liknas vid "processledare" för kollektivtrafiken och som omfattar att organisera för samverkan. Flertalet RKM har som mål att öka kollektivtrafikens andel av de persontransporter som sker. Detta är en utmanande uppgift utifrån den kraftiga tillväxten av den totala mängden personresor. Sett till utvecklingen sedan 1950 har denna ökning i mycket hög grad skett genom ökning av resor på väg varav personbilsresor dominerar. Från 1990-talet kan man dock se en viss andelsökning av personresor med järnväg (Andersson & Eriksson 2017). Ökad pendling till arbetet eller för utbildning är en viktig faktor som driver ökningen av personresor. Det sker över allt längre avstånd (Lindkvist Scholten, 2019) och ofta över kommungränser och regiongränser, något som ställer krav på samordning mellan kommuner och regioner. Detta är bakgrunden till att vi i det här kapitlet riktar ett intresse mot hur samverkan sker mellan dessa olika geografiska nivåer.
This paper aims to contribute to a qualitative understanding of rescaling and its impact on planning strategies and governance relations across scales. By investigating the effects of rescaling for the old scale ‘left behind’ – through the case of public transport planning in Sweden – this paper illustrates how rescaled tasks continue to engage the scale ‘left behind’ (and is a source of ‘tensions’), long after a rescaling process has taken place. Through the lens of rescaling, three main points of discussion are highlighted in the paper: Firstly, processes of rescaling are intertwined with policy layering, and can as such be a source of both ‘good and evil’ for the continued planning on the scale ‘left behind’. Secondly, this calls for an increased geographical sensitivity in research when investigating the effects of rescaling, as the formal and practical outcomes of rescaling can be spatially unequal for planning bodies with similar formal mandates on the same scale. Thirdly, the development of governance relations and ‘tensions’ between new and old scales, are by no means static in time nor space, and calls for increased dialogue across planning scales to aid in the transition of responsibilities from the old to the new scale.
Den här rapporten handlar om förutsättningar för att organisera, planera och utveckla ändamålsenliga och hållbara kollektivtrafiksystem i Sverige. Rapporten tar sin utgångspunkt i den lagändring som gjordes 2012 som innebar att 21 nyinrättade regionala kollektivtrafikmyndigheter (RKM) tog över ansvaret för kollektivtrafiken från landets 290 kommuner. Ett centralt begrepp i rapporten är samverkan, och författarna försöker förstå hur just samverkan inom kollektivtrafik sker mellan kommuner och regioner. I en tidigare pilotstudie där företrädare för sex olika RKM intervjuades kunde två slutsatser dras: 1) RKM och kommunerna är de viktigaste samverkansparterna i kollektivtrafiken. 2) Det kvarstår utmaningar som försvårar en tillfredsställande ändamålsenlighet av planering för kollektivtrafik (se Andersson & Hermelin, 2019 för översikt). För att komplettera det regionala perspektivet för den tidigare studien har vi nu genomfört tio intervjuer med representanter från kommuner i Östergötland och Örebro län. Dessa intervjuer utgör det huvudsakliga underlaget för denna rapport. Resultatet från intervjuerna kan delas in i tre teman: 1) Samverkan för kollektivtrafik; 2) Kommunernas och regionernas planeringsmandat; 3) Relationer mellan land och stad för planering av kollektivtrafik. Slutsatserna utifrån dessa teman har i första hand formulerats utifrån kommunernas perspektiv, vilket har varit syftet att fånga genom denna rapport. För arbetet som presenteras här har inte regionerna intervjuats, vilket är viktig att beakta i relation till rapportens resultat. För det första temat om samverkan för kollektivtrafik visar studien att det tar tid att skapa ändamålsenliga relationer och strukturer för samverkan inom kollektivtrafikplanering mellan kommuner och regioner. Formerna för samverkan varierar mellan olika RKM och mellan olika kommuner i samma region. Rapporten visar att samverkan mellan RKM och kommunerna inte är en standardiserad organiseringsform och att den ändras över tid. För det andra temat om planeringsmandat framgår det genom studien att samverkansstrukturerna mellan RKM och kommunerna upplevts som ”suddiga” och svåra att förstå. En viktig bakgrund till detta är att RKM på olika sätt har delegerat en del av ansvaret för kollektivtrafiken till regionala trafikbolag. Från kommunernas perspektiv blir det då oklart hur ansvaret fördelas mellan RKM och respektive bolag. Många mindre kommuner upplever dessutom att samverkan snarare handlar om anpassning till RKMs planer än vad som kan liknas vid mer öppna samråd mellan RKM och kommunen. För det tredje temat om relationerna mellan land och stad för planering av kollektivtrafik visar vårt intervjumaterial på skillnader mellan hur behovet av kollektivtrafik upplevs mellan befolkningsmässigt stora och små kommuner. Flera mindre kommuner känner sig inte riktigt omfattade av RKMs målsättningar med kollektivtrafiken. Intervjuerna med respondenter för kommunerna ger grund för att lyfta frågan om det delvis råder olika synsätt mellan kommunerna och RKM om vilka samhällsvärden som kollektivtrafiken ska bidra till. Detta kan ha sin grund i hur planeringsinriktningar för kollektivtrafik, som i hög grad är beroende av nationella riktlinjer, har olika relevans för täta respektive glesa geografier och därmed för stad och land.
More and more cities around the world are adopting green-city labels and are making use of their urban environmental policymaking for the purpose of place branding. However, the nature of the relationship between the branding of green cities and urban environmental policymaking is contested. Some researchers have highlighted so-called ‘greenwashing’ and the cherry-picking of easily attained goals. Others argue that green branding is driven by altruism, rather than intra-urban competition and entrepreneurialism. Drawing on literatures on policy tourism and green place branding, this article presents a longitudinal study of green branding in Växjö, Sweden. It contributes to the debate on green place branding by showing how two sets of contradictory impulses – entrepreneurialism/competition versus altruism/cooperation, and cherry-picking/greenwashing versus comprehensive environmental policymaking – affect the relationship between green place branding and environmental policy. In particular, the analysis illuminates the changing role played by policy tourism in shaping both the development of environmental policies and branding practices.
This paper examines the motivations and practices of cities engaging in policy boosterism, ‘a subset of traditional branding and marketing activities that involves the active promotion of locally developed and/or locally successful policies, programs, or practices across wider geographical fields as well as to broader communities of interested peers' (McCann, 2013: 5). The paper draws together literatures on policy boosterism, policy tourism, and place branding to explore the motivations of cities sharing policies in a competitive policy environment through policy tourism. Using the case of environmental and urban sustainability policies in Växjö, Sweden, we examine how the rationale for sharing policy has changed over time, and how this both reflects and shapes the organization of policy tourism through technical visits and the branding of Växjö as ‘the greenest city in Europe’. Our study suggests that policy tourism and urban policymaking co-evolve in the context of policy boosterism. In Växjö what began as opportunistic branding now drives local environmental policymaking as the city strives to remain at the cutting edge. We suggest that detailed, longitudinal case studies are required to build a picture of the relationship between policy boosterism, policy tourism and urban policymaking in a variety of contexts.
For some time it has been argued that cities all over the world have become more entrepreneurial and increasingly competitive. Most research has focused on spectacular events in well-known metropolises, but far less is known about how smaller cities engage in competitive activities. This paper focuses on how, why and what Swedish cities hope to achieve by engaging themselves in hosting the tryouts to the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), which provides an opportunity for a critical case study of place marketing and city competition in Sweden. The empirical material is based on interviews with stakeholders in the tryouts. Our findings show that the local authorities do not compete in the same way as suggested by the literature, but instead collaborate to a great deal. While there are various motives behind arranging a tryouts tryout, it is noted that whereas the ESC presents an opportunity for a host city to 'place itself on the map', hosting a tryout is often mainly seen as an opportunity to show the organisers of the event the city's potential for hosting other events in the future. Our findings suggest that the main outcome of hosting a tryout, an outcome that the local authorities seem content with, is having arranged a glamorous party for the local inhabitants. The paper concludes by discussing why competition was found to be less outspoken than the literature suggests.
With its substantial spending power, the public sector can contribute to green societal transitions through the adaptation of green public procurement (GPP). Albeit described as having extensive potential, GPP is also associated with several organizational challenges and somewhat elusive effects. This article discusses the potential and challenges relating to GPP and how ‘successful projects’ can provide a better understanding of how the elements of the GPP process comes together, especially in relation to innovation. This is done by introducing a schematic model for GPP with innovation, through which two successful Norwegian municipality GPP projects are unpacked. Using data from the National Programme for Innovative Procurement (LUP) and in-depth document analysis, the authors demonstrate the complexity and interaction of GPP with innovation with regards to both processes and outcome, and how this is conditioned by geographical context and dynamics. They conclude that both cases, albeit having different green foci (i.e. building with wood and safer production of drinking water), combine different multi-actor organizational structures, built around dialogue and the fostering of trust between actors. In addition, both cases showcase radical innovation obtained through GPP, with the potential of scaling up these innovations, pending the continued capacity of the involved market actors.
In this chapter, we first discuss how political ecology can provide an important and critical lens to understanding nation branding. The following chapter first traces the origins of what we refer to as the “Blue (peaceful)— Green (environmental)” nation-branding project in Costa Rica. We then analyse the historical events that have come to shape such an identity. Finally, we reflect upon the expansion of the nation-branding project through the establishment of the Si-A-Paz Peace Park. This analysis is based on four months of field research carried out in Si-A-Paz in 2011 and 2012, complemented with more recent secondary sources.
The 1992 Rio Earth Summit represented a crucial point in time at which the key role of the local level for sustainable development was importantly endorsed. However, since this UN summit, ideals about how to design local sustainable development have changed significantly. This paper investigates how local policy in ten second-rank cities in Sweden has adopted decoupling arguments and endorsed green growth concepts established through international governance communities. Using content analysis of politically ratified steering documents in these cities, the main findings suggest that local strategising related to the policy goals of green growth is mainly related to energy efficiency. Derived from the decoupling argument, one factor behind shallow integration of green growth into municipal policy is that green growth could be considered a political and contested concept. The fact that there has been limited implementation of this framework across the investigated municipalities prompts reflections on how the results could be explained by institutional match' or mismatch' between local institutional environments for policy interventions and the green growth concepts promoted by international communities. The adoption of green growth concepts requires local authorities to broaden their commitment for interventions in interactions with industry and business.
In “Alfred Nobel’s Karlskoga”, Sweden, the municipality has placed its most famous former resident at the heart of its economic development strategy. Through an in-depth qualitative case study, we examine the tensions and complexities surrounding this process and fill an existing research gap around personality-based place-branding for regional development purposes. The findings suggests that even with a world-famous figure as talisman, personality-based place branding is a complex endeavor, where old rivalries, tightknit social structures and economic dependencies makes us question – is it even possible to build a brand which is both inclusive and truly representative of a place?